Day 5: Elevator Pitch

I woke up uncharacteristically early and was so excited to get my day started that I jumped out of bed and got to my new office to start writing my blog post for today.  It was exciting yesterday to finalize the name for my new venture and register my company with the Secretary of State.  It is now official, Assured Leadership Concepts, LLC is a legal entity recognized by the great state of Washington.

Pictures of my new office

I spent last evening working on my elevator pitch and using the 3 step process outlined in the article I posted yesterday here is what I came up with:

1. Position Your Firm
• HR Departments and individuals use our services to mentor leaders, resulting in an average 10 percent increase in productivity.
2. Differentiate Your Firm
• We have a unique methodology based on real-world business experience.
3. Ask for a Meeting
• If we really could do [insert something of value to the customer here], what would your thoughts be on having an initial conversation with us to hear more?"
• OR
• "I would love to have a conversation with you about [insert something of value to the customer here]. What's the best way to get on your calendar?

I am anxious to try this approach out and see if I will be successful at starting to attract some talent.  Perhaps I am getting a little ahead of myself, I guess I need to figure out my website and engagement approach first.

I did some research today on the credentialing process for coaches.  It appears that this is still a relatively young profession so many things are still being developed.  However I did come across two providers that meet the requirements set forth by the ICF.  They are InviteChange and CTI.  I have scheduled an introduction call for later this week and will write about what I learned and my decision after that.

I found a web design tool that doesn't require an in depth knowledge of HTML or other web technologies.  It is called RapidWeaver.  I purchased it yesterday as well as some widgets to use on my website.  I also worked on some low fidelity wireframes (read as pen and paper) to incubate my ideas.  I feel like I have reached flow, for once in my career and now I know what it means when people say they are passionate about what they do.

In reviewing my mind map today I have completed most of the acquisitions/research that I needed to perform as part of the setup process.  I still have lots of others things to do to get the business setup.  For instance today I went to the bank and opened up a business account for my company.  My sister recommended this so it would be easy to separate business expenses and there would never be any question.

There is one thing left on my list to purchase and that is a bigger monitor.  My small screen is not fitting the bill, especially when I have multiple windows open.  So I decided to splurge on an apple LED Cinema Display (27"), which is a thing of beauty.  Even new business owners need their toys.

In the attempt to get my name out I registered with the GSBA today.  It cost $290 for a one year membership and I get to have my name in the directory.  I thought this was a relatively low cost for some advertising.

In looking back I have accomplished quite a bit in my first week as an entrepreneur.

Day 4: Assured Leadership is Born

I talked with friends and family to gather their insight and opinion for my business name.  Some liked one, others another, but in the end more people than not liked Assured Leadership.  And so Assured Leadership is born.  I quickly snatched up the domain name for Assured Leadership.com, .net, and .biz just as I had planned.

I started writing copy for my website and quickly found that while I could convey the information I was looking for I was in terrible need of an editor.  I looked online and found some local editors but they were all outside of my budget.  I was talking to my best friend Ken and he mentioned that his wife did editing on the side and would be happy to help me out.  I called Krista immediately and we came to an agreement of $30/hour for editing.  I figured I could use her not only for the website copy but also the monthly ezine, and other client facing materials.   Ooh I feel so grown up with an editor on staff.

My mind is swirling with creative ideas for building my website.  Just one problem I don't know any of the fancy languages to create a compelling and engaging website.  I know I cannot afford a web designer so I did some research on the web and found a great development tool called RapidWeaver and some pre-built templates that I could use to build my site.  This will be a fun endeavor for me and will allow me to exercise my creativity.

It is amazing how many people I have in my circle of friends that are able to assist me with my business.  Come to find out my personal trainer is also a graphic designer.  So I have decided to partner with him and for $300 he agreed to create my company logo.  We plan to meet tomorrow to go over the details and then I will let him work his magic and come up with some options.

In reviewing my draft with David he identified some critical activities I had not thought of, for instance I need to craft my elevator pitch.  So I did some research on the internet and came across this article from Inc. magazine, A Better Elevator Pitch, that helped define what an elevator pitch should be. It was very helpful and something I plan to spend some time thinking about.  I need to have this ready for when I meet people and tell them about my business.  The other thing he pointed out is that I don't exhibit the enthusiasm I am feeling inside when talking with others.  I think part of this is apprehension or simply feeling that I am not ready for prime time.  He is right, I need to get out there and treat every interaction as a possible chance to find a new client.

I also went and visited the SBA for Seattle which is called SCORE.  I met with a gentleman that has marketing experience to help get my efforts off the ground.  I took my draft marketing plan, attached below, to review with him.  After all I am not a marketer so I am really in new territory here.  I gained some valuable insight into where I should focus my efforts and how to get the biggest bang for the buck.  His feedback was brutally honest and that is just what I needed.  So I will need to go back to the drawing board and refine my efforts.  I was trying for a shotgun approach when what I needed was a more focused niche.  He said that if I didn't do this my focus would be too broad to be meaningful.  I have attached the first draft of my marketing plan.

Marketing Plan

Day 3: Marketing

I took some time this weekend to think about where my initial focus should lay and it was clear to me that it is marketing.  I will not be able to generate revenue without customers, and I won't have any customers unless they know about me.  I searched the web and was able to find a Marketing Plan template that was simple and straightforward.  It helped me to codify my mission statement, short/long term marketing goals, as well as a SWOT analysis.  I have found this sort of thinking is invaluable to focusing my efforts.

As part of my initial marketing efforts I have decided to perform the following in hopes of getting my name out there.

• Develop a website and promote using SEO
• Advertise using Google Adwords
• Attend local networking events
• Purchase a list for telemarketing
• Monthly ezine

I think this will form the foundation of my marketing efforts in the beginning.  I have to be careful where I spend my marketing dollars and ensure that I get the a strong ROI.

I took my brand attributes, images, and metaphors to come up with some potential company names.  I came up with several that sounded promising:

• Insightful Leadership
• Assured Leadership
• Executive Leadership
• Purposeful Leadership

With my list in hand I set off to determine if there were other companies with similar names and the domain names were available.  In my research the most desirable domain is .com, followed by .net, and finally .biz.  I checked all of three of them with the intent of purchasing all three to limit any confusion and prevent other companies from using a similar name.  I know it may sound hokey, but I always like to run ideas, big purchases, etc by my family in hopes of gleaning wisdom from them and prevent me from making big mistakes.  I will see what they think about the names I have come up with and if they might have any other suggestions.

So I thought about it over the weekend, discussed it with David, and decided to pull the trigger on my office space.  The building I chose in downtown Seattle is a very prestigious address and I was able to negotiate a 1 year lease for $325/month.  That was a little above my budget of $300, however in the grand scheme of things that $25 dollars a month was worth the increased productivity.  I move in on March 1 and I can hardly wait!

If you will pardon me to dream a bit I am so excited about this business opportunity and looking into the future I see great possibilities.  I want to write a book, I want to create a podcast, I want to become a speaker.  The only thing I don't want is employees.  You see the things that attracted me to going into business for myself was the following:  1) Autonomy, 2) Ability to influence others for good, 3) Exercise Creativity, and 4) Challenging.  This is one of the only jobs I know of, for me, that will provide me with all four of these criteria.  That is what gets me so excited to embark on this journey.

Day 2: Developing Focus

I am enjoying the opportunity to brainstorm about my own business.  I thought this would be a once and done activity, boy was I naive.  I was able to capture a lot of ideas in the attached mind map and it was apparent that I need to do a lot of research.  I have decided that I will break each of the major activities up and focus in on one or two.

I have found that working from home is a little to distracting and so I have decided to rent some space in downtown Seattle.  I called a couple of places and went to visit a Regus facility on fifth avenue.  The space was nice and they offer many amenities for the small business (which technically I am not sure if mine actually qualifies as a small business).  I will take a day to think about it and discuss it with David before taking the plunge.

Here is my first cut at the activities and things I need to be doing.  Since I am financing this on my own I will need to be careful and not overspend while I am getting things off the ground.  This exercise was helpful in gathering my thoughts together in one place.  It helped me think about marketing, branding, research, and other activities that will be necessary for me to launch this business.  I will continue to post updates as I make them.

Business MindMap

I also find it helpful to brainstorm on my whiteboard.  So I took some time to think of what I might want to name my company, what my brand will be, and some images that reflect my mission.  Here is what resulted from that session.

The first cut at my mission statement is "To prepare tomorrow's leaders to be effective, build relationships of mutual respect, and communicate the organizations shared purpose to create an engaged workforce."

Day 1: Organized Chaos

I feel ten pounds lighter today as I strike out on my own.  No longer the rush to answer an inbox of overflowing requests, non-stop conference calls, and insatiable requests from clients.  I have settled in comfortably to my new office at the local Starbucks.  I am shocked to find out how much business is actually transacted here.

So I have joined the throngs and while sipping my morning coffee the swirling chaos that is my mind is trying to put things in order.  Right now my goal is simply to settle in on where I should begin.  My sense is there is not a set point but a number of points where I need to begin.  I have decided to treat this like any other project I have managed with high levels of complexity and start mapping out my tasks and capturing all my ideas.

What you may not know about me is that I love "systems" or "processes" or "approaches".  So you can imagine that a simple pen and paper won't do the trick for me to capture all my ideas.  Instead I have decided to use my favorite mind mapping tool - MindJet.  Based on my experience with starting up new projects I know I need to focus on some of the following:

• Goal or Objective
• Mission Statement
• Risks
• High Level Milestones
• Project Plan

The other foundational step I took today was research how to obtain a business license.  It is pretty straightforward and after consulting with my sister who is an accounting/tax wizard settled on creating an LLC.  So once I capture the name for my company I will be able to set things up so that I am a legitimate company.  I also need to consider a web presence to get the word out, develop a marketing plan, and potentially even look for some office space.  The latter being important since I cannot seem to concentrate while I am at home, I end of doing busywork (e.g. laundry, clean the kitchen, etc).  The important thing for my endeavor is to be extremely focused.  I also need to look into certifications and credentialing required to leadership development.  

I can tell that it will be important to tame this beast, that is my new idea, quickly.  Otherwise I keep finding myself dipping my toe back into the chaos ending up with more questions than I have answers.  The important thing is to capture all these ideas and questions and start formulating a plan to get them answered.  I will post the resulting mind map tomorrow for all to see.

Up to this point...

How did I arrive at this place?  I guess you would have to go back to 1996 when I embarked on my professional career.  As an eager graduate I was ready to change the world and brought all my energy to my first job as a consultant.  My job was exciting, I got to travel, eat in the best restaurants, and live on an expense account - what isn't to love.

I jumped in with both feet and achieved success early on.  Then little by little my exuberance was stifled as I was assimilated into the corporate world of performance reviews, company goals, personal sacrifice, and PowerPoint.  I even adopted a new language where I spoke in bullet points and used phrases like "Let's reconnect...".  Then the tech bubble burst and I somehow managed to hold onto my job.  After 15 years I was successfully transformed into the perfect corporate citizen: working evenings and weekends, giving up vacations to ensure successful project launches, and eliminating all distractions to climb the corporate ladder.

Don't get me wrong, I was compensated handsomely for my focus and I fell comfortably into the lifestyle my new found wealth could provide.  I drove a  BMW, "invested" in clothing, and purchased a home.  I had it all...or so I thought.

Fast forward to 2012, I increasingly grew tired of the corporate treadmill and decided to take a dramatic step.  The time had come to set aside my empty existence filled with excess and focus on something meaningful, something I was truly passionate about, something where I could exercise  creativity, and influence on others.

So I quit my job and decided to take a different path that is more in line with my long-term goals.  Some might call this as a mid-life crisis, I see it differently.  I see it as an opportunity to reclaim myself and pursue my dream of owning an Executive Leadership company.  Immediately after making this decision I realized I had more questions than answers, like:

• What kind of company should I establish?
• How do I setup a new company?
• What kind of training/certification do I need?
• Do I want to have employees?
• How will I attract new clients?
• How do I finance my venture?
• And the list goes on...

Don't think for a second that I am not scared to death to embark on this journey, after all there is a chance I could fail!  In the end I determined I would rather fail than wonder what would have been.  This blog is meant to chronicle my successes and failures over the next year as I realize my dream.  My hope is this will inspire others to gather the courage to take what they want and design their destiny.  

And we are off....