I don't really know why I'm blogging this- but I think it might be therapeutic & help me keep things in perspective. As you know, I've been working on the Enercient Project for nearly two years now, and we've got quite a team together. Each stage of progress brings a whole new set of problems and needs, and this is just the latest. It might be something completely different next week or next month- but here's where we are.
1. Steady Stream of income for me personally. I have this wierd conflict right now, where I am attending more and more meetings/ appointments with prospects/ customers/ vendors so I have decreasing amounts of time every week to get out there and do work that puts money in my checking account. We're at the point where I've got to start DEPOSITING money.
2. A web developer. I have also reached the point where my webdev abilities are stretched beyond my capacity to continue being the one to do it. We have products, data, and relationships we need to get online, and I'm ok at creating static content, but static content isn't getting it any more. I need someone versed in LAMP, CMS, and in design- I know this will be difficult to find, but I haven't started looking.
3. An admin. I have also reached the point where I am missing appointments and opportunities, and I need someone on whom I can start dropping some of this workload. I need someone to start setting my appointments, ordering supplies, and some billing help would be great too.
4. An HVAC mechanic. I'm pretty close to being covered on this one, but I could start selling more if I didn't have to be the one doing the hands-on work at this point.
5. A full-size one ton van. I know I should start working on not being the one doing the hands-on, but now that blue is dead, I need somewhere to keep my tools and be able to do work when needed.
6. 52 thousand dollars- heck, I might as well make it 63K. The breakdown is simple:
a. 12k to fund our presentation and presence at the AHR expo
b. 10k to pay Photon Infotech to set up our web 2.0 web presence
c. 10K/ month for next three months to pay Enercient operating expenses
d. Enercient owes us more than 11K at this point, but we're carrying 4K in Enercient credit card debt and 7K in a personal loan from us.
7. Advertising, stationary & collateral material. We need some stuff to hand to potential clients. I've developed a few things, but it really helps to have it professionally printed.
8. A Systems admin with Linux experience. I'm tired of hosting 5 different wb sites with 4 different hosting providers, and I'm tired of tring to figure this stuff out myself. I see this person being someone who is looking to grow, and could expand "into the cloud" with us.
9. A fast commercial connection to the internet with a rack. Actually I don't care if it is just one hot machine with a massive hard drive running several vitual machines and a massive backup storage device- but you get the idea. Dedicated hosting would probably work too.
10. A technical writer. We have 20 vendors with hundreds (thousands?) of devices and we've got to create O&M, and installer instruction manuals for our installing contractors.
I know everyone starting a business has a lot of these same needs, but the tricky part is determining what comes first. At this point its starting to feel circular. I need "A" to get to "B" to get to "Z" to get to "A"
We've got a great team, some really great products, and some really good leads/ proposals out there. All we have to do is to remember to keep pushing, keep driving, and keep moving this thing forward one day, one week at a time. Anything you can do as a friend, associate, partner, or relative would help greatly.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
I guess it gets harder the closer you get
Over the last 2 years, I've been working on the Enercient project, and I'll admit that there've been a few ups and downs- but overall we have been able to keep our eyes on the goal and to stay focused on where we need to be.
However, Lately, It's been exceptionally tough. I know that there are several things contributing to this, but the recent abrupt change with PCF didn't help. I really wasn't planning on going full-time into doing my own thing, and was counting on the part-time salary I was getting from them to pay the bills. Alas, I suppose there are more important buttercups in the fields.
August went quick, we stayed busy, and we paid (most of) the bills. We had a couple nice projects, and I actually had to hire in some supplemental help. September is a "whole nother" story. The phone ain't ringing for service work because its been relatively cool all month. The other ventures I'm working on will be very lucrative in short order, and the Enercient project overall is going along well. We have a new salesman coming on board, we are nearly complete with the prototype, and we are beginning to make some traction in potential sales.
It's just that right now, this week, this month we are slow, I'm outta cash and I'm praying for something good to happen soon.
However, Lately, It's been exceptionally tough. I know that there are several things contributing to this, but the recent abrupt change with PCF didn't help. I really wasn't planning on going full-time into doing my own thing, and was counting on the part-time salary I was getting from them to pay the bills. Alas, I suppose there are more important buttercups in the fields.
August went quick, we stayed busy, and we paid (most of) the bills. We had a couple nice projects, and I actually had to hire in some supplemental help. September is a "whole nother" story. The phone ain't ringing for service work because its been relatively cool all month. The other ventures I'm working on will be very lucrative in short order, and the Enercient project overall is going along well. We have a new salesman coming on board, we are nearly complete with the prototype, and we are beginning to make some traction in potential sales.
It's just that right now, this week, this month we are slow, I'm outta cash and I'm praying for something good to happen soon.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Enercient Updates
I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I'd hit a few highs and lows from the last couple months- so here's the update.
Last year, after reading GTD, and the 4HWW- I decided I needed to diversify my income portfolio. I took on a consulting gig last August that actually lasted for a year. Some of the things I learned from it are:
1. Set an end-date for the contract. My feeling is that the customer is going to want to set some pretty lofty goals for completion- and as a consultant you don't have much influence over how much work the customer is going to do, or what changes they will make based on your recommendations. So when you write a consulting agreement, write it with an end date. This way you can do what you promised, and leave it up to the customer to implement the changes and make the improvements you recommended.
2. Make the things that you are going to deliver very clear. You are there to help them improve something, change something, implement something, etc. So create a clear and definite list of your deliverables and deliver them.
3. Don't give away freebies just because you're excited to sign on a customer. It will be tempting to act like a member of the team when you are in a customer's office, and start picking up slack- just remember you don't actually work there. Give them what you promised, and don't pick up their problems. Let the phone ring. Let that person who comes in with questions ask someone else. Be polite, and don't let the building burn down- but remember you are there to accomplish a list of tasks related to an agreement. You're not there to be supplemental staffing for every crisis that comes along.
Enercient has had its highs and lows- The strides we've made in development have been amazing, and the list of vendors and trade agreements we've made is almost staggering, but I have to admit there are times when this thing feels like a very expensive, time consuming hobby.
I know that we are making progress, and I know that things are going to pick up soon, I'd just like to have a little money in my pocket at some point that isn't earmarked for something else.
We're trying to buy a house in Frederick, and we haven't been in business for 2 years, so that's been a real adventure in rejection...I keep telling myself the stupid Col. Sanders story.
Finally, on the positive side, We moved into our new office in Clarksville this week, and it feels good to be able to say "at my office" again. Since I left Amtek, a bunch of my "stuff" has been sitting in boxes in the basement, and it felt like a part of my life had a big unknown black hole- "Where's my...oh yeah- it's with my office stuff"
Enercient has it's bright moments, We still have a great opportunity with some investors in Baltimore, and we're going to get a blurb in the Baltimore Sun in a couple weeks. We have a few commercial contracts for the "local office" and our proto
type is almost done. here's a peek
Things are going to get crazy as we approach the beginning of next year, because I've stacked the deck so I guess I should be grateful for the quiet right now.
More updates to follow...
Last year, after reading GTD, and the 4HWW- I decided I needed to diversify my income portfolio. I took on a consulting gig last August that actually lasted for a year. Some of the things I learned from it are:
1. Set an end-date for the contract. My feeling is that the customer is going to want to set some pretty lofty goals for completion- and as a consultant you don't have much influence over how much work the customer is going to do, or what changes they will make based on your recommendations. So when you write a consulting agreement, write it with an end date. This way you can do what you promised, and leave it up to the customer to implement the changes and make the improvements you recommended.
2. Make the things that you are going to deliver very clear. You are there to help them improve something, change something, implement something, etc. So create a clear and definite list of your deliverables and deliver them.
3. Don't give away freebies just because you're excited to sign on a customer. It will be tempting to act like a member of the team when you are in a customer's office, and start picking up slack- just remember you don't actually work there. Give them what you promised, and don't pick up their problems. Let the phone ring. Let that person who comes in with questions ask someone else. Be polite, and don't let the building burn down- but remember you are there to accomplish a list of tasks related to an agreement. You're not there to be supplemental staffing for every crisis that comes along.
Enercient has had its highs and lows- The strides we've made in development have been amazing, and the list of vendors and trade agreements we've made is almost staggering, but I have to admit there are times when this thing feels like a very expensive, time consuming hobby.
I know that we are making progress, and I know that things are going to pick up soon, I'd just like to have a little money in my pocket at some point that isn't earmarked for something else.
We're trying to buy a house in Frederick, and we haven't been in business for 2 years, so that's been a real adventure in rejection...I keep telling myself the stupid Col. Sanders story.
Finally, on the positive side, We moved into our new office in Clarksville this week, and it feels good to be able to say "at my office" again. Since I left Amtek, a bunch of my "stuff" has been sitting in boxes in the basement, and it felt like a part of my life had a big unknown black hole- "Where's my...oh yeah- it's with my office stuff"
Enercient has it's bright moments, We still have a great opportunity with some investors in Baltimore, and we're going to get a blurb in the Baltimore Sun in a couple weeks. We have a few commercial contracts for the "local office" and our proto
type is almost done. here's a peekThings are going to get crazy as we approach the beginning of next year, because I've stacked the deck so I guess I should be grateful for the quiet right now.
More updates to follow...
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