…what’s your dream?
The question I still get ask the most frequent is “How did you start your business?”
Well, it may not be the question I’m ask the most, that question would be, “Mom, can I have some money?”
But I do get ask a lot about starting a business and I’m not altogether sure why. It’s true, I’ve owned by own business, Alpha-kidZ, for 15 years, and by normal standards in the life of a business, that would be enough time to get my company on the New York Stock Exchange.
Don’t I wish?
Sadly, I’ve had some detours, some potholes in the road. And by potholes, I mean craters, Grand Canyons, ravines…you get the picture, right? Many of you have been with me on this fractured journey and watched me experience some of those detours.
Cause I’ve been through some stuff.
Which is why I chose to make this blog about some of those experiences, things I’ve learned, things I wish I could do over, mistakes I’ve made, mistakes I still make, wisdom I may can impart to my readers.
You may be asking how in the cat hair I consider myself an expert at building a business when I haven’t even finished building mine?
And that would be a really good question.
Here’s my answer: We all have “an idea,” right? We all have a book in our heads, or perhaps one already on our computer.
Maybe you’ve invented something or you’ve always had a secret desire to own your own bowling alley. Not really, that’s Scott’s dream, but this blog post isn’t about Scott’s dream, only one of us in this family can afford to be a dreamweaver.
If that’s the case, then you are probably plagued with how you muster the courage to bring your dream to fruition?
I hope that’s where I will come in, in the blog posts ahead, in the days ahead that we spend getting to know each other.
Because if there is an emotion that I’m very familiar with, it’s fear…fear on a lot of different levels. Fear of failing. Again. Fear of getting sick. Again. Fear of losing one of my children. Again. Trust me…trying to live my life in the absence of fear is a daily grind for me, but that’s another post for another day.
But for now, and how fearful I was to start my own business, well, I’m not sure I remember a time when I WASN’T scared to start my company. But after I put the wheels in motion, after I took that first step, well suddenly my dream and my ambition grew larger than my fear.
And that’s when I did it.
I do distinctly remember sitting in my garage after I had 6,000 books delivered and thinking, “Okay, what’s next?”
Truthfully, when I started Alpha-kidZ, I had no business plan, I was under capitalized and I had no idea about distribution.
HUH?
Let’s just say I’ve come a long way since those early years and thank the good Lord for that. I wouldn’t want to go back to those initial years of uncertainty for any price, because readers, it was hard. And fast forward 15 years and I still don’t have it all figured out.
But it’s the dream that will not die.
And for the first time since the great flood of 2011 (I’ll elaborate more on that a little later), I feel like I am getting there. I still believe, with all of my heart, that I have been gifted with something “extraordinary” and I am closer than I have ever been during the entire scope of my business in seeing this “extraordinary” future come to fruition.
In my industry, publishing, the landscape has changed so drastically that I hardly recognize it from when it all began. Oh gosh, from when it all started…to this date…and all the craziness in between…it’s been quite a ride. I’m still learning, everyday, in fact, I think I will always be on the learning curve.
But, here’s what I do know, I will never regret what I started.
It has been a long, arduous journey, filled with sleepless nights, financial uncertainty and backing up and starting over, many, many times.
But I’m still here.
Still here armed with more excitement and more knowledge than I ever thought possible.
Still here with the world at my feet, literally, and by the world at my feet, I mean, the internet. Yes, the internet has brought the world to my feet, just like it does for millions of businesses every day.
Then why can’t it be mine? Why can’t it be yours?
I’m READY and I’m ready to continue this road less traveled with my readers. Because there is an outside chance that the chasing of my dream could somehow influence yours.
Positively.
So, welcome to today’s post with a big ole’ welcome mat.
Because on days when I’m not posting about the world’s greatest chocolate chip pound cake, I’ll be posting to my readers who are sitting out there with a vision, a dream, but not exactly sure how to get started. Scared. Intimidated. Uncertain.
And I don’t have all the answers, I learn something new every day. But here’s what I do know, and listen to me very carefully…
If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs.
Quote by Tony Gaskins, Jr.
I’ve been hired, multiple times, to contribute to someone else’s dream, we all have, or we are all in that crevice right now. It takes a lot of courage and some thick skin to start a business and then navigate it through the growth curve.
But what I’m telling you is, if I can sit at my computer today, 15 years post my initial book launch, with the world at my feet…so can you.
So, what are you waiting for?
Commit those ideas to paper. Write a business plan. Research your industry.
It’s never too late to get started, even if it starts out as a “side business” initially.
Because the way I see it…you’ve got two choices…
You can get busy building your dream.
Or you can stay busy building someone else’s.
Question: Are you in your dream job scenario right now, or do you dream of something else?