3 Biggest learnings from starting a business?

The business plan is for you - but all investors or the bank want to know is

  1. Does the cash flow work?
  2. When do you break even?
  3. Do you have the collateral to cover the financing to get started?

They will approve a very mediocre idea/plan of the collateral is there - and will pass on something huge if it’s under leveraged.

So! The biggest foundation on being able to live your passions and make an idea reality?

Save your money - get out of debt - obtain financial discipline.

This experience has been even more proof that “having an idea” is nearly worthless of you don’t have enough courage to live the simple disciplines to make it possible. It’s not just execution once you have the idea, it’s the lifestyle of character before it that matters. Live so success can happen - and it will.

“Think about a legendary innovation initiative your company undertook. Now think of the person who drove it. At some point you may have described him as a hero or a jackass. We are certain you called him something: the project lead, the idea monkey, the ringleader, the champion, the dreamer, the idealist, the bully, the General.”

An Army of One - BusinessWeek
before! trichology inside hair did!

I probably need to write more about it, but I’m a huge fan of the people and culture in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In fact when I was in the midst of making a decision on what to do next as I was leaving LifeChurch.tv the one thing my wife and I did know for sure is that we wanted to stay in Oklahoma City. That’s saying a lot as we came from southern california when we moved here 3 years ago, but like I said, that another post.

For the longest time I’ve always wavered between quality and price when it comes to personal aesthetics. I don’t buy new clothes… ever. And it shows! I also have always been intimidated to try and use a nice barber / salon cause I didn’t really know what I was going for in a personal style. Well, I did, but look awesome is a little too general to walk in with.

This year I’m much more focused on just taking more ownership of those things. I’m not becoming a fashionista but just actually starting to pay attention to it now. That brings us to today. It’d been about 6 weeks since I’d had a hair cut, and just rolling to the typical chain didn’t seem like the best choice. Anymore it’s not all that inexpensive ($20) and the quality varies GREATLY. Plus I’ve never really felt (and I obviously have limited exposure) that many of the stylists I’d met had the confidence for artist and creative license with my look.

Translation: I’m not a hair stylist, and not up on look and need help with creating a style.

So, today I decided to take a chance to go a different place, spend a little extra, and see if I could find an artist to help me with my style. The first place I looked was in my KeepItLocalOK App for the salon’s around me. This isn’t just for the ease of use in a directory of the best businesses locally, but in my opinion if you have the drive and confidence to start a business you are more likely to have the expertise I’m want.

I found Trichology on there and remembered hearing many friends talk about them, I’d seen them on Social Media, and new they were a local startup only a couple years young. I went to their site and they had online appointments you could set - but I’m lazy so I just found them on Twitter and asked if they had any open spots. Knowing I’d gone around their system I was pleasantly surprised when they just set me an appointment 30 minutes later!

I got to meet Travis and as soon as I sat down I knew I’d made the right choice. Travis’ first instinct was to start thinking and visioning what sort of haircut would look the best, not just doing “rinse and repeat” of whatever style I’d be going for before that. The conversation was great, the attention to detail was a fresh experience and I love the new haircut. The group in Trichology were super friendly, glad to serve, and responsive on social media in a way that made my experience easy, fast and helpful.

I’ll be coming back every 2 weeks or so to Trichology. They are a hair salon that hasn’t hidden from technology or new expectations of the people they serve - but have instead embraced it and it only reveals more of what’s great about their business.

The final kicker? With my keepitlocal ok card the cut was only $10 more then I usually pay with a cut and experience that was great.

What local business in Oklahoma City do you want to brag on?

(Oh, and a special note, in Trichology they have “Free Wax Fridays” if you’ve got some pesky eye brows that need handling’.)

The Career Of The Future Doesn't Include A 20-Year Plan. It's More Like Four. | Fast Company

For the past ten years I’ve beat myself up because I wasn’t fitting into the long term, 20-30 year job. But now I see the flow in my career as a significant advantage and not isolated.

“Any business that ignores these transformations does so at its own peril. Despite recession, currency crises, and tremors of financial instability, the pace of disruption is roaring ahead. The frictionless spread of information and the expansion of personal, corporate, and global networks have plenty of room to run. And here’s the conundrum: When businesspeople search for the right forecast—the road map and model that will define the next era—no credible long-term picture emerges. There is one certainty, however. The next decade or two will be defined more by fluidity than by any new, settled paradigm; if there is a pattern to all this, it is that there is no pattern. The most valuable insight is that we are, in a critical sense, in a time of chaos.”

This Is Generation Flux: Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) Frontier Of Business | Fast Company

Dwolla Meetup: Come check out a new mobile payment service for Small Business in OKC - at @elmentalcoffee

As a new small business owner (for two startups in 2012) I getting very used to the “lean eyes” it takes to save money as much as possible. Like one of my partners Brandon once put it “You don’t get rich by spending money.” With that in mind you start to see all the service charges for actually getting paid, sending money, and getting money to the right spots.

Tomorrow (January 5th at 5:30pm) there is a meetup around a new mobile and online payment product called Dwolla at Elemental Coffee. What is cool about Dwolla?

  • If people use it to purchase things $10 and under at your business there is NO service charge.
  • If people purchase over $10 it’s only a $0.25 charge.
  • Need a send a friend money? That’s free (not a 2-3% transfer charge like on Paypal)
  • It’s got an App for Mobile Payment by customers and to receive by Merchants (note: artists!)
  • and on.

This is a chance to come and check out the service, meet Sam Duregger their Business Development Leader and have some great coffee in downtown OKC.

Here is the Facebook Event

Here is an article on Forbes about Dwolla

Here is an article on Entrepreneur on Dwolla

Here is Dwolla’s site

Here is Dwolla’s iOS App