Day 30 – You have to give it away

Okay so I will start off by apologizing because this is late. I had an evening appointment then went to help a friend and learn some things and I completely forgot that I had not written my blog yet!

Anyway today after waking up at 4:37 am (who knows why) I spent most of the morning working on a power point presentation for the Export Broker in Florida. It was only five pages but I agonize over the details on things like that wanting to get them just right. He seemed pretty impressed by it and I also made a copy for the Distillery salesman to use as well. It will be a useful tool for Distributor inquiries. Later I had a phone meeting with a fellow Shark Tank pal and we discussed an upcoming project that I am super excited about but, I cannot quite share yet. It has to do with our Moonshine line and the distillery but, you will have to stay tuned for more information on that.

After spending the afternoon with my lovely bride watching one of our current shows on Netflix I scurried off to another meeting. Last week I was contacted by an acquaintance of one of my kids asking if we could meet and talk some business. I vaguely remember this kid but to be honest not too much. I sent a text my son and he told me that he was a good guy so I took the meeting. He said he wanted to pick my brain a little so we decided to meet tonight.

This is not an uncommon occurrence for the entrepreneur. Any one who is in business knows the value of networking and that building relationships with like minded people is a very valuable skill. I am often reminded that networking is a two way street , because if you are at it long enough, someone will want some knowledge from you and you have to be willing to share. Even though I was the one sharing tonight, as I was listening to this young man’s questions I was notably impressed. He was articulate and focused. He had an agenda and specific questions and was respectful of my time and listened. He has a very good skill of actually listening and not trying to think of the next thing to say.

He was asking about all of my projects but specifically Eve’s Apple Pie Moonshine. He is looking into perhaps starting a distillery or finding a partner and trying to take his product to market. He also shared a couple other things he was working on including a new app for smart phones. I was very impressed and a bit jealous at the same time. This is a young man who I believe is around 22 years old and is already way ahead of where I was at his age. Yes, I had businesses at that age, but I believe that with today’s technology and access to information it is so much easier to start something new. We talked for about 1 1/2 hours and he asked me two things that really stick out. First he asked I had ever attended college. My answer was no. Other than the University of Hard Knocks I have no formal business education. Trust me when I tell you I have spent just as much and probably learned twice as much. The biggest problem with Hard Knocks U is that you never graduate. My business is my classroom and the only thing that is close to graduation is retirement. Even when I am on the beaches of Belize I am sure there will be something for me to do! The second question was, If there was anything about Eve’s that I could do different what would it be? Now Eve’s Apple Pie has only been on the shelves for 2 1/2 months and we are already operating in the black. We have made back the initial investment and I am actually taking a commission based salary. I am proud of that. It is really to early still for me to say if I would do anything different so as of now I told him I would change nothing, but ask me again in a year! Honestly anything that I could change I probably still wouldn’t because that is how we learn in business. That is the curriculum of Hard Knocks University.

I really enjoyed sharing stories and advice with him and we agreed to keep in touch. I think the kid is going to do really well and I am happy that he has invited me to be a pert of it. My friend Ron did the same for me several years ago and I am just paying it back. I believe if you want to be successful, you have to help other people and to do that, sometimes you have to give it away.

Day 29 – Obstacles

So Wednesdays are usually a bust day for me already. I have to get up and gather scores and pictures from my Pub Quiz the night before, edit the pictures and write a blog on the previous night. No big deal but, I have to have it done by 1:00 pm. So because I am out late on Tuesdays I sleep in later than normal. Usually it is harder than it sounds as I am laying there thinking about all of the things I need to accomplish today. So I get up Have a cup of coffee and dig out my camera. I download the pictures and edit and re-size them in preparation for the blog. Another cup of coffee and I launch the web page for me to upload my blog and my computer takes a big steaming turd on my morning. I try to click on the hyperlink I need and I am in the middle of a dealshark window bomb. click another button and I am invited to enter 42 different sweepstakes. I spend some time working on this. I restart my computer, I try another browser, and I even contacted the Geeks Who Drink Administrators to see if maybe it was their site and not me. NOPE. So I cannot even get to the page that I need in order to upload my pictures let alone write my blog. Luckily for me there are 2 other computers in the house and I was able to pivot and get my stuff done on one of the others. After I finished I was tasked with trying to clean up my computer. Anyone who has ever done this knows that it is the biggest time suck in history. You can lose 3 hours like singles at a strip club, it is really that bad. Finally my youngest came home from school and in a matter of about an hour he was able to eradicate 98% of the problems. There is still something on my computer called conduit that like to try and hijack my searches every so often but we are working on that too.

I was able to get the utilities switched over for the warehouse and put it under VISCRO Holdings LLC. It is a brand new company so they said we may have to put down a deposit. I did not share with them exactly how much power we will be consuming, because I did not want to get a bill for $10K for a utility deposit. I was able to get a lot done today actually even in the face of and unforeseen urgent obstacle. It is times like that that as a business owner I have to take a step back and really count my resources and allocate my time accordingly. I had back up computers. I had my son coming home that could help me and I could still do work on the phone that needed to be done. at the end of the day I had check marks on my list and while the obstacle may have slowed me down it did not stop me. In fact it helped hone a skill of stepping back and assessing the situation before plowing ahead. Obstacles are a part of growth and success. I have heard it said that, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.

Then late tonight I received an order from the Casino! I just invoiced them their first 4 cases of Eve’s Apple Pie Moonshine! After that delivery we will get both of the Tribal liquor stores and we are in! I also received a very special and top secret delivery today that is a major component to an Eve’s Moonshine product we are coming out with in the fall. Stay tuned for that! It could possibly be the biggest and coolest niche thing to hit the spirit market in the last several decades, it is a real game changer.

Day 28 – Lots to do, lots to do

So lots to do today so I was up at the crack of 7:30am! Oh the horrors! Yeah, I know you all feel really sorry for me. I am sure that most of you get up way earlier, half your day is gone, blah blah blah. I will let you know that I am doing you a favor by staying in bed a bit longer. You see there is a finite amount of oxygen available before 8am and I and simply allowing for you to enjoy more of it. It is all balance and conservation. You’re welcome.

So Tuesday is a busy day normally because of the Pub Quiz I do on Tuesday nights. So I have a bunch of prep for that carved into my schedule. I had an appointment with an equipment guy and electrician at noon so I had some prep for that as well. I went very well and was very informative. I was nice to have dome the research that I have been doing so not only did I know what they were talking about but sounded reasonably intelligent in my conversations with them. We hashed out an initial budget as well as painted some broad strokes for phases 2 and 3 of the garden operation.

Still working with the Export Broker out of Florida and making final arrangements for getting him product to debut at the Duty Free buyer show in March. Lots to do before that happens. I have a product info and spec sheet to make and create a powerpoint for his international buyers. They want as much information as possible before committing or even getting a sample as it is very costly to sample spirits internationally. We are also designing the promo material for the rodeo event we are sponsoring in May and the label design for Eve’s White Lightning Original Moonshine. Out photographer just told me that she may have a car and a location for the shoot so we have to set up a mock shoot to test the lighting concept and get some pictures taken. We already have the shine we just need the label design done and approval from the TTB. We hope to have that out in May.

I can’t believe that January is coming to a close and everything seems to be moving ahead at 206 miles and hour but thats the way it goes. Hold on to the steering wheel firmly and focus on the road ahead.

Day 27 – Sometimes you just have to figure it out

In Chapter 5 of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill told us about the time Henry Ford sued The Chicago Tribune for libel. The Tribune had published several editorials claiming Ford was ignorant. The case actually went to trial and Mr. Ford was put on the stand.

Ford was asked about the date of the Revolutionary War. He didn’t know the answer. When asked who Benedict Arnold was, Ford said, “A writer.” Ford thought “chili con carne” was a large Army. References for the questions here.

 

Finally, according to Napoleon Hill, Ford grew so irritated with the questioning, he learned forward and said:

“If I should really WANT to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY should I clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?” Who can argue with that?

Ford understood the power of locating intelligence. Locating intelligence is as simple as knowing where to look. Ford was a master of this.The illustration shows that Ford’s tool for this was the phone and the people on the other end of that phone. My brother is studying for his Electrical Administrator’s License. The test is simply knowing the resources and how to use them to solve problems and follow codes. Today we have the vast knowledge of the internet. A world at our fingertips and answers just a couple clicks away. 

At the end of the day the entrepreneur that relies on this form of intelligence has to master this skill. There are many rabbit holes and experts and clutter to hide the information you may be looking for. The information is there but it is a real skill to be able to filter, narrow and ultimately find what you need.

As an entrepreneur starting out you may not have the resources of expertise at your fingertips like Henry Ford did. You may not be able to afford to hire experts and there is a limit on the “help” that friends and acquaintances will give you for free. When all of that gets exhausted you have to figure it out yourself.  That is why so many business owners are jacks of all trades kind of guys. They can fix the wrapping machine, fill out the Post office form 3602 (yes it is a real form) and drive the forklift better than anyone in the shop. They did it all before their employees did and even before there were employees. They had no one to rely on but themselves. If you are in my shoes than you know what I am talking about.

I spent the better part of the day researching amperage loads and ballast switching! I am not an electrician but I have to have a good understanding in order to be responsible and frugal. mistakes made out of ignorance can be costly. So sometimes I just have to figure it out!

Day 26 – Live the life of no regrets.

So Sunday is a piece where I touch on spiritual things. I have said it before and will say it every Sunday that I am a Christian. I know so many people have problems with religion and you know why? It’s because it is full of people! People are broken and will ALWAY fail and fall. Pastor? He will fail! Co-workers? They will fail! Your mother who has gone to church her whole life? She will fail! The guy on your bowling team that just found Jesus? He will fail! All religions are filled with people and people are flawed.  I hate to break this to you but if you judge Christianity on me or my blog . . . you will be disappointed because I too am flawed. I long to be perfect and live the way I am called to live but, I stumble, I fall, and to be honest I crash.

Anyway, let me step away from the lectern and talk about my friends the Jamersons. They live a life that I think a lot of people would be jealous of. They travel all of the time and have awesome adventures. They are in Curacao and have been for a week. They take big trips like this about twice a year. They have been more places than I can even name writing this blog. Ireland, South America, and they even lived in Russia for a year! This is just the major travel. They spend countless weekends every year going to local festivals and spending great weekends with friends and family in cabins and hotels. They live the life of adventure and are loving life. I have just honestly scratched the surface on the adventures these two take and if you are human, you are imagining these trips and may even be a bit jealous. Maybe you think they are rich people who own their own company or are inheritance babies spending the money of their parents. Well that is not the point I am trying to make tonight but, in case you were wondering, She is a daytime bartender at my local Applebee’s and he is an engineer for Boeing (or a contractor, I am not sure). They are working people like us. They have made a choice on how to live their life and they are doing it!

I was having dinner with them just before they left on this last trip and I told them how awesome I thought they were. They live life to the fullest and when their life is done they will look back and be able to say that they did just what they wanted to and live the life they wanted with no regrets.

I looked at them and said, “I love you guys, but that is said out of admiration and not jealousy at all.” I felt I needed to tell them that because it would be easy to look at their life and covet it. They have no kids and they can take off when the want and live this great life. There are lots of things I want to do and travel is definitely one of them. I however have just chosen a different path that, I have no doubt others like the Jamersons could look at with envy, the same way. I have a family. I have four boys that are turning into the most amazing young men a father could ever hope for. They are smart and driven each in their own way. I am immeasurably proud of all 4 of them. We have struggled, laughed, and cried together. We have gone on some great trips to the lake and Disneyland. We have driven across the country and have spent hours on trains and busses. each an adventure of their own.

You see I chose a family and I have poured my life into it, when the end of my days come I will look back with no regrets. Sure there will always be things I want to do and places I want to go but I will have no regrets. My friends the Jamersons will look back and be able to do the same thing. Though they chose a different path they are living life to the fullest based on the decisions they made and will have no regrets ever.

Are you living that life? The life that you chose to the fullest? Will you look back in your final days and smile? If not . . . embrace your life and your decisions. Live THAT life to the fullest you can.

Day 25 – The Week in Review and the Mastermind group

Okay I know Saturday is supposed to be for my week in review but I have a little more to say. So . . . This week has been moderately productive. Lots accomplished but most of it has been administratively. I guess that is to be expected for the month of January but, I would like more. We signed the lease for the warehouse on the I 502 Project and that was a very big deal. Certainly a milestone. I met the electrician last night and he gave me a challenge but I got it all figured out. and we are fortunate to have everything on that project screaming ahead at break neck speed. Eves was good this week as we are getting lots of national inquiries and may even be presenting to Kroger & Walmart in the next couple months! YES!!!! Something definitely happened in Wired Waffles this week as we had several orders come in from out of the blue. Looks like  Men’s Health writer mentioned us somewhere! Man! looking back I would say this has actually been a kick ass week!

So, I am sitting here and taking a moment scrolling through “wastebook” and I see a recurring ad for Damon John Shark University. Coming soon to the Seattle area! Register now! What a load of shit! Damon John is not even coming. It is a company he has put his name on with sales people selling some program claiming to be able to “jumpstart” your business and get the investors you need. Here is my problem: Damon John for one did not pitch to investors. He did not go out and have to get polished to talk to some angel investor. He knew LL Cool J from the hood and got him to invest. The same way you or anyone else goes to family and friends first. now he is a smart guy I have no doubt. I have stood face to face with him and talked business for over an hour, but he is certainly capitalizing on his tenure as a shark on ABCs Shark Tank.  Before you spend your hard earned money on a seminar that no doubt is going to get you to spend even more money I would like you to investigate what Napoleon Hill calls the Mastermind.

The Mastermind is a group of your peers that all have a common goal that coome together for the betterment of all. The Mastermind principle has worked for years and profitable for some of the richest men in the history of our country. Henry Ford, John Rockefeller, and the great J Paul Getty have all been a part of a Mastermind group. It cost them nothing but their own time and talents being shared with a few select peers. In have a Mastermind group. I group of men that I respect in different areas of business that I can bounce ideas and challenges off of. They objectively look at decisions I make and ask good and sometime hard questions about how I have come to certain decisions. They offer advice and criticisms and I have given them permission to do so. These people know me and care about my success because I am doing the same for them. I do not have to pay them not do they pay me. We are gathered together for the collective success of the group. Take for instance previously mentioned Henry Ford. His mastermind group was not made up of inheritance and trust fund kids but self made men. All of whom were successful after joining forces. These men included: Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel and Charles Lindberg. How would you like to have been a fly on the wall of that meeting? These guys influenced or directly created things from the car and electricity to the Boeing 747 and the artificial heart.

Trust me when I tell you that you have friends like these in your life! Find them and approach them! If you have not read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, you should pick up a copy.

Day 24 – Where did Friday go?

So yeah, there are days that you look up and realize that it is already 4 o’clock and today was one of them. Amy said she would be home a little after noon and we would be able to just hang and maybe watch a movie when she came home. Yeah, that happened around 5 o’clock tonight. I am not so sure where all the time went or really even 100% sure of what I got done. Lets just say that pricing equipment on a budget is time consuming.

Probably the best thing about today was calling and checking on the references of an export broker that approached me last week. I talked about him in my blog about picking up the phone. Anyway, I talked to him more yesterday and I asked him for references. I can tell you my opinion of brokers is not the best. The brokers that I have had the most experience with are food industry brokers. They want all this money up front like a retainer to push your product. After 3 months of nothingness they don’t understand why I am upset with the results. Of course I am! There are NO results and I just blew a few thousand bucks. Nothing make me more upset than a zero return on investment. Now, I really check someone out before I even waste anymore time even talking to them.

So I called a couple of the companies he represents and I heard good things. He does not represent a lot of companies, everyone knows him, been exporting forever, and he is great with startups and getting them exposure that would not be normally available. Okay, now we are talking. So I call him back we start talking turkey. I am asking about retainers and fees and he just stops me. He tells me he only takes commission and that if I would permit him and send him some product he will be happy to take it and sample it out to get international feed back at this upcoming tradeshow for international buyers only. Wait, no costs or sponsorships? He just wants some product for a show that I can confirm that he is registered at and has been for the last several years running. He has amazing referrals and he has already mentioned our product to a few of his best contacts. This is all going to cost me under $300 in product and shipping.

They have appointments with all of their regular international buyers, there are 3,300 buyers that will come buy the booth to see and sample Eve’s. There is also and open bar in the evenings of the show that is for primarily new product which we will be featured. All in all a pretty good return on $300 bucks! Normally for that kind of exposure we would have to go to and pay for a tradeshow which costs thousands.

Not to sure of what will come from it but the owner of Twisted Shotz said that they moved 5000 cases with this guy in their first year. He played it like it was no big deal but 5000 cases to me is a pretty good start to that first million, in fact it is just shy!

Stay tuned!

Day 23 – Punctuation added for your pleasure

So here we are day 23. I was talking with some friends last night. It was a serious business meeting in their hot tub and there may have been a few adult frosty beverages but, hey that is how we roll sometimes. The first question was about my blog. “Do you have anyone proofread you blog before you publish it?” HAHAHAHA, I seriously laughed. The answer is no and that, I am sure is no surprise to my regular readers. My editor at this stage is a squiggly red line under a word. However that does not cover know instead of no and it does not stop me from ending a sentence with a preposition or starting . . . which ever is a faux pax. I will be happy to share my English transcripts with you all and it will be no surprise that I did not do very well. I try to write this blog like I am speaking, conversational and well, that is not very great either but that is not the point.

I maintain that I have created this blog as mostly an accountability tool for myself. I have a habit now of writing every day and that being said I look for things to write about all day long. I weigh the experiences of the day and try to figure out what will be the best to write about. Last night my friend told me that even though that may be why I started, there are people reading this for more than just to hear my stories. Believe it or not some are actually listening to what I say and maybe even learning something and looking forward to hearing what I have to say.

That still being said, I cannot change who I am or how I communicate. I am a high school graduate with lots of street smarts and unfortunately English is not a requirement at Hard Knocks University. I hope you all can see past that and deal with it. I will try to do a better job of at least reading through it to find the obvious know vs. no mistakes, but that will be about as far as it goes. At the end of this journey if I decide to turn it into a book, that will be the editors job!

Today was a good day. I spent all of it in the office and never set foot outside. I have several things I am working on for wrapping up 2013 and others moving forward with 2014. I learned a new program and got a little bit better with Google Sketch-up. Lots of emails and a few phone calls. I actually got out of my pajamas only to put them right back on. Yeah I know my office life sucks LOL. It is nice to be working hard in your pajamas, don’t get me wrong, but I feel way more productive when I am dressed and even looking professional even if I am not leaving the house. You will just have to trust me when I say I feel a lot better talking with a customer or distributor when I am showered and dressed than when I am in my pajamas still.

Did I use the right word there? I can never remember if it is then or than.

Talk to you guys tomorrow!

 

Day 22 – Sometime you have to trust someone.

So the last couple days have been pretty stressful as we signed the lease on the new warehouse for our I-502 operation. The days leading up to the signing were some of the most stressful in my life. I had been charged with all initial operations. Compliance, forecasts, cost analysis, and facility location. I am not exaggerating when I tell you I have over 100 hours into just facility location and several tanks of fuel. I covered the better part of 4 different counties in my search, spent time in meetings with City Mayors and spoke at city council meetings in closed and open sessions. When I found the perfect location I was so excited and  thought the hard work was over. Little did I know it had just started.

You see my partners are very smart and professional guys. Experts in their fields and I know they know their stuff. My expertise lies in this side of things. Leases, contracts. and start ups. Things that I just do automatically and see as tasks they approach more cautiously. A simple commercial lease agreement is a daunting thing and took 10 days to go over and decipher. There was a lot of education that happened at several stages of the process. Now it is important for me to point out that these guys are looking at dropping serious cash here. A 36 month lease and 10’s of thousands of dollars before there is ever a crop or the first dollar that comes back. They are nervous and no doubt should be.

When I am faced with a task and there are things I don’t know how to do, I look for partnerships to assist me through those processes. I can easily look at their track record and after meeting them I can get a pretty good idea if I can trust them or not. This is how I have created my last few businesses. I did not know how to make waffles on a commercial basis, Make a syrup or have any idea on how to navigate the federal liquor system. I had to be trusting in the individuals that I chose to work with that they knew what they were doing and could deliver.

The stress from the last week was because as much as these guys said they trusted me their actions spoke otherwise. In the end they signed the lease as it was written with one addendum that in my opinion was unnecessary as I signed a personal guarantee. I made a couple assumptions and could have avoided a lot of this myself. I assumed they knew more than they did when it came to leases and start ups. That was dumb because that is why they have me.

I look at it from the other standpoint though and I come to the same conclusion. If you partner with someone because they can do a task or handle a situation you cannot you have to trust them. If you are going to second guess them you will either ruin it by stalling when you need to act or your lack of trust may cause them to throw in the towel. My wife can tell you I may have been pretty close to just that on a couple occasions. Something someone said to me a long time ago. If it starts hard it most likely will not get any easier. In this case the reward far out weighs the couple days of stress and we move forward.

Scott . . . I love you brotha!

Day 21- Habit Formed!

So they say it takes 21 days to form a habit and here we are. Day 21 0f 365. I would say that it is definitely a habit at this point as I am thinking about my blog several times during the day. What will I write about? What has happened? When will I have to write it based on the days schedule? Well Tuesdays are tough because I have so much to do and it is my night to run the Pub Quiz at my local watering hole The Irishmen.

The last 24 hours have been very stressful. One of my projects has been moved to the front of the line and it has taken a lot of time recently. Last year I was approached by an acquaintance of my accountant. As you may know Initiative 502 passed over a year ago legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Washington state. I was approached by a couple guys asking if I would help them navigate the licensing process, help them secure a location and set up an operations plan. Business is business and this new industry is no different. Its no different from the alcohol business or the food business or the contracting business. There are licenses, corporate documents and vendors to deal with. In return I have been given a 20% share of this company. Now that is a significant part of any business but let me assure you I have earned every point. You see that is my talent. I get things done and make things happen. I use my knowledge as currency and my reputation is my credit score. Never under value what you bring to the table. Especially if its knowledge and experience that you bring.

The guys I am working with are very smart and talented business people. They are not potheads or even casual users. They are like me, they see opportunity and jump. Now their expertise is definitely in starting a business. They understand marketing and food and have great ideas but they needed me to put the rubber to the road. In the last 24 hours I have really had to rely on how much they actually trusted me as we just signed a 3 year lease on a facility that is 6-7 months away from seeing its first dime in revenue. It took a lot of explaining, conference calls and emails. Explaining the basics of a lease, what triple net is and how it is standard on commercial properties, all the while fending off other people that really wanted this property and assuring the landlord that we actually have our shit together. I can tell you it was exhausting. Walking out of the real estate office I felt like I had just gotten married lol. It was a big day in that project and there is a lot of work ahead but it looks like I am in the Marijuana business now too.

Lets see how well I juggle all of this!