No surprise the economy has played it's hand in what could be on record as the slowest start-up year in history. Unfortunately a few devastating personal matters took their toll to round the year out. After realizing my entrepreneurial effort was moving at the speed of moss, I partnered with two other start-up businesses. Why start one, when you can start three? Well, what do you know, the other two have gained traction right out of the box.
The second biz, can be classified as collaberation between, an ad guy, a photographer, a set producer and yours truly. Our model is simple, bring together complementary creative talents in a compelling setting and offer that to corporations to partner with charities so all benefit. Do good, get paid. Well, our idea has the corporations excited and the project is moving close to the start line. I've been around long enough to not get too excited until the ink dries on the contract, but my greatest excitement is to see this "crazy" idea work out so well, so soon. We have the next two project mapped out using this current model and I'm really looking forward to building this "side" business up.
The third business started with the premiss of; "I have a good idea of an ad for Brand X, let's sell it to them!" Of course this is a daunting and most impossible task to undertake, but what do we have to loose? So, that same set producer, a director/photographer and me met on a Monday to talk about it. We chose a name, a general creative model and discussed the first client (an up and coming fashion designer, who is winning the PR battle). But before the first meeting was over, the client called us and wanted to meet with us the next day. So, we brainstormed the pitch, structured it out and broke. On Tuesday afternoon we met the potential client, pitched him the 30 second spot and he loved it. We have our crew, our shot list, our location, our models and now, we shoot the spot this Thursday. Just over two weeks, from pitch to shoot. So that's a positive response.
What about biz number one? Well, I've been busy all last month and I have had four solid client leads in the last week. I may have to move office space, increase size and steal away a great young designer to come and work with me, because it looking to be much more than I can handle solo.
So what gives? I don't think the economy has snapped back, that's for sure. But I do believe that many companies are spending the remainders of their budgets to ensure more money from Finance next year. I also believe that networking has paid off here, I have been laying the foundation all year and nudging things along where I can and now there is life. Finally, I think some reckless abandon has been good here. I tend to plot, plan and move cautiously. Here I tossed some caution to the wind and choose to act and react. It seems to be working.
More to come...
