Choosing a Title

One of the cool things about starting your own business is getting to choose your title.  there are plenty of legal documents and licenses in which I’m listed as “owner” and “proprietor,” but…well…<yawn>.  Perhaps it’s my exposure to the MMORPG world, but those titles are just boring.  (They are also a little scary, but don’t tell anyone I said so!)

So what is it I do around here?  I write.  I design.  I maintain, update, research, and crunch numbers.  I could extract a lot of titles from such tasks.  I’m sure they’d all sound professional and look great on business cards or a resume.  But…Do they describe me?  Am I willing to settle for a run-of-the-mill designation?

These days, the web is all about community and the sharing of information.  With this has come the acceptance of a little whimsy and the individual personalities  of your favorite bloggers and editors.  There is no way you can come to Write Your Mind Journals on a consistent basis and not learn about me as a writer, teacher, or encourager.  My passions–love for the creative process, journaling and metaphor are all out there and exposed as well.

Since all these things are clearly exposed, you learn quickly that I’m a “half fun, full earnest” kind of gal.  Humor might be subtle, but it’s usually in there somewhere.

If you are accustomed to the spirit of Web 2.0, you’ll be able to handle a little whimsy and humor without a blink.  Keeping this in mind, I have chosen my title.  It’s descriptive enough for all but the tax men.

Everyone here at B J Keltz Company has been invited to create their own title.  We already call our web guy the web maestro, for example.  We all wear many hats, but have one primary area of responsibility.  Why not choose our own?  Created titles are far more descriptive than “shipping manager” or “bookkeeper.”

So, given that I enjoy humor and a bit of whimsy and believe our readers do as well, I have appended the title “Chief Pen” to my name.  It is, after all, the most indicative of my personality and my primary responsibility.

Create your own title!  Why not?

B J Keltz, Chief Pen

Write Your Mind Journals and B J Keltz Company

We Are Now Live!

Welcome to my first official blog entry as the owner and Chief Pen of B J Keltz Company and Write Your Mind Journals at http://www.writeyourmindjournals.com.

There are so many people to thank for getting us to this day.  Mark, I love you forever.  Pablo, I owe you one (or a dozen) forever.  Jason, Amy and Brandy, we’ll make you proud.  To all the parents, thank you for your faith and encouragement.  Will, thank you for your encouragement and support.  And to The One who makes all things possible…thank you.

For all the individuals who put pen to paper or are considering doing so, this is for you.  We put together an E-Zine that will grow into a strong database for you.  Please feel free to tell us what you do and don’t like, and what topics you’d like to see.  YOU are my priority.

Head on over to our shop for a great new journal or to the E-Zine and check it all out.  I look forward to hearing from you.  If I’m not helping you put pen to paper a little better, I’m not doing my job.  Feel free to tell me about it.

Okay, enough blab.  Let’s write!

B J Keltz

Write Your Mind Journals

http://www.writeyourmindjournals.com

Harry, I hear ya!

Echoes of Harrison MacLeod’s recent posts on the Men with Pens blog about the sudden desertion of his external hard drive wafted through my mind Saturday afternoon. Harry’s experiences with recovering his data make for sympathetic reading…a wake up call for all of us. Here’s another one:

A week before the launch of a new internet business, I’m working hard on Saturday morning. Articles are coming at a good clip. Save one, start another, keep moving. “This is great!” I thought to myself. “I’ll be back on schedule in no time!”

Enter a text message from one of my photographers asking if I had reviewed the photos he sent. I replied quickly that I didn’t have the software to open the file. Did he know of a free version for viewing? I was promptly provided with a URL and opened up Foxfire.

The download didn’t work. I saved it, but the file wouldn’t open, nor would it open the file the photographer sent. Still wrapped up in production, I shrugged my shoulders and put in on my list for later that afternoon.

Ten minutes later, while trying to load a document in Adobe Reader, I had an inkling. Five minutes after that, my heart dropped to my knees and my face went pale.

I had a bug.

Or rather my computer did. I would be happy, thrilled even, if it was a run of the mill stomach virus, but no. For those of you experienced with the frustration of malware taking over your computer, can I have a sympathetic hug?

Of course, I scrambled for my anti-virus software, only to discover it had expired and would not cooperate. Reluctant to continue on line or opening files of any kind, I tried the home remedies. I had just begun to scan my internal hard drive with my back up plan when I received a phone call from my business advisor. I explained the problem with concern. My computer had been scheduled to attend a meeting with us that evening.

“Sounds like malware,” he said. “Bring it over and we’ll clean it up.”

I dutifully loaded up my life (computer people know what I mean; please, for the rest of you, don’t get offended) and drove to the meeting.

He immediately set to work putting my tower’s video on his laptop. No go. An hour later, we resorted to “borrowing” his wife’s monitor. Relief! We could not see my computer and start the process. At this point, I was kicking myself for not bringing my recovery disk. He laughed and said we shouldn’t need it. My mind kept going back to 2005 and the last time I had caught a bug. That nasty Trojan resulted in a formatted C drive. I had my software, but could I re-create all the writing I had done that morning?

Once we could talk to my computer, we located the file names (and one ominously blank line) in the applications list and he set about working his magic. Our meeting that evening was punctuated with soft (and not so soft) swear words and the transfer of a flash drive back and forth with scans and cleaning software. We gave up at 2 a.m. and I headed home alone. As he glanced at my woeful expression, he chuckled. “It’s just malware. We’ll get it.” It was a long night.

By the following afternoon, my computer was cleaned and backed up. Whew! It had taken him more than eight hours to complete the extermination and restore my registry. As I dug eagerly into my files, I was startled to find how much information I could have lost. I thought my backup plan was adequate, especially since I had begun using Google Document (“the cloud”) to store important articles for the web site. Only afterward did I realize just how much volume I had produced in a five day period. Roughly a third of it had been moved to the cloud. Not good enough.

While Harry and the Geek Squad reminded us how important back up systems (and redundancy!) are, let me remind you how important it is to keep your anti-virus software up to date and your subscription active. Always verify what you are attempting to download. I had recently loaded quite a few plug ins and widgets, so had become subtly used to the “unsigned” notice my computer gave me when I downloaded the bug. And one more thing…excellent and redundant back up systems can’t do their job if you don’t back up often. In my case, I should have moved every document to the cloud as it was completed or stopped every hour or two to back up. I did not and nearly paid dearly for that mistake.

Harry’s loss was far greater than my potential loss professionally, though we both stood to lose irreplaceable items such as photos and personal records (Harry did). If you’re in a commiserating state of mind, Harry’s posts on his recent experiences can be found at http://menwithpens.ca/.

How Much of Me?

I spoke with several business owners today in the course of my Day Job.  The closer I get to opening my store, the more courage I gather to ask them what they think of owning a business.

 

I asked one gentleman today how much of his personality and “self” was in his business.   While he runs a business that employs 14 people today, he started out with a truck and helper 20 years ago.  My question caught him off guard.  A look I can only describe as sadness or nostalgia passed through his features as he thought about his answer.

 

“Honestly, Barb,” he said, “My whole self is in this business, but the bigger it gets, the less personality is there.  In the early days, I got jobs based on my ‘talk and walk’ as they say.  Today it’s all about reputation and economic factors and so much other stuff.”  He got wistful for a moment, looking out the window at his new 4-door truck and the boat attached to the back.  “I miss the old days.”  He turned to me and grinned.  “But I sure like the solvency!”

 

He got me to thinking about what success might mean to me.  I read frequently about SOHO (small office, home office…typically a virtual office or web worker) businesses deliberately choosing not to grow.  Various reasons are cited, including not wanting to lose the immediacy and responsive report they have with clients and not wanting to evolve into something that would provide less control.

 

What would success mean for me?  On a practical basis, it would pay the bills and allow me to work from home full time.  This might, at some point, entail a very small staff to assist with packaging and shipping orders, stocking inventory, perhaps even the bookkeeping.  But what if it went really big?  Would I then become just another person tied to an office and a job, even if it’s my business that I love?

 

I think, for me, success means paying the bills, doing some good in the world, and having more time to research, write, and share. I can outsource some things (and already have; hubby is on board for customer support and shipping, and I have a webmaster/marketing genius working with me), but I imagine I will always stay active in customer service.  Not only is it enjoyable, talking to people interested in what I sell, but I am always aware that it is their interest allows me to be a business owner. 

 

Of course, I’d want to do as much of the writing as humanly possible.  It’s what I do and my first love.  My grand passion is writing.  My love affair is with journals.  Might be an odd set of similes, but there you go.

 

Ultimately, I’ve decided I’ll cross the bridge of growth when I come to it.  As long as we are providing a good service, a good product, and good information, I think I will always be content.

 

Watching Grass Grow…Sorta

I love my products, but even being totally enamored with every journal I will sell, I still find loading an online shopping cart about the most tedious thing I have ever done.  It’s right up there with watching grass grow.  Can you say boooorrriiinng?  /YAWN.

 

I do feel a sense of accomplishment that I’ve gotten the essentials entered.  I even figured out how to use associations and options.  I’m proud of that, lol.  But, oh my, that was four hours of mind-numbing click and click and click, type, click and click again.

 

Didn’t help to find out the photos I took were too big to upload.  About the time I was ready to try again, hubby needed bandwidth, so I sat for 5 minutes, timed out, logged back in, then crashed the page because I tried to save the same time the SSL was being put on the site.  It’s funny now.  It wasn’t funny when I thought I’d have to quit four items from being done!

 

Done is a relative term, anyway.  I will rapidly expand my inventory as the money comes in from sales to do so.  The “click, click, and click again” process and I will be very old friends before long.  The kind of friend you hope you don’t see while out running errands because they drone on for an hour about the most tedious thing they’ve done in the last 30 days.

 

Ah, well.  The preview looks good, I learned a lot, and my SSL is installed, making me secure and safe to shop with.

 

It’s a good thing I’ve finally found a sure-fire cure for insomnia as well.  I’m off to bed.  Tomorrow, I’ll step it up a notch and spend time watching the front lawn.

Keeping a Calendar…Encouraging Progress

Two weeks ago, I found a magnetic calendar stuffed in between some books on the bookcase.  It’s a pretty pink paper with roses on it…a leftover gift from my bridal shower more than 18 months ago.  Seven days are in columns across the page.  It’s undated.

 

I’m not sure why I started writing down what I did for the business, but after three days, I was hooked.  We’re in the stage where there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but little visible progress.  I’m working hard, but wondering what the heck I’m accomplishing.

 

Now I know.

 

I have two weeks’ worth of progress…a record of the time I’ve spent making this business a reality.

 

One thing I see much more clearly now is the fill and empty pattern of my creativity.  It looks as if I accomplished little on Tuesday.  The calendar says I did research for about three hours and revised web content.  And yet, Wednesday evening, I wrote three pieces, added to and reformatted the web content, and was off to other projects…all in about 90 minutes.  The pieces I wrote required little editing.  The content is done.

 

I also didn’t realize how many small decisions I make every day until I started writing them down.  I feel as if I’m working.  Now I have a record to prove that I was, indeed.

 

Of course, some days are more productive than others.  Much of my physical energy still goes into my day job, but even so, things are stewing and percolating in the back of my mind.  If I can stay awake for 5 hours after coming home, I can get it all out onto paper in a form I can go back and revise later.  Those nights I nod off at the keyboard frustrate me.  I understand, however, that I have been working long hours and it will happen on occasion.  I quit beating myself up for it when I realized it rarely happens more than once a week.  Consider it my “down” time. J

 

It’s the best little business exercise I’ve started to date.  I can look back at the week and see progress.  Visible on the web site or not, it’s there.  Things are getting done.  All is good.

Are We There Yet?

My primary thought today is of how worn out I am.  Between day job and new business, I’ve put in close to 120 hours a week for the last six weeks.  I wish I were joking or exaggerating, but I’m not.  The final push is coming up, along with some of the more rewarding tasks prior to opening the business.  29 days to go…and my task tracker is a whopping 42 items long.

 

I make a lot of lists, but find them less and less helpful.  Things that can wait must wait.  Things that I know I will put off (procrastination) or that will take a while must be started today.  Everything else falls into the spectrum of a drop dead date.  I might not start the project until a day or two before the deadline, but it will get done.

 

This wonderful thing happens almost every day, though.  I am worn to pieces during the afternoon (I go in at 5:30 a.m. and get off at 4 p.m.) but somewhere around 5 p.m., especially if I have items in my in-box from vendors or a note of encouragement, I catch a second wind.  I want this business to be, and I enjoy what I do.  That provides me with a little spike of energy that will sometimes carry me until 11 p.m. or midnight. As tired as I am at this moment, 10 minutes before I head for home, I know that second wind is coming like a cool breeze on a southern summer afternoon.  It is this “extra measure of Grace” that sustains me and makes pursuing my dreams possible. 

 

I have it in my mind that things will settle down and be more peaceful after opening and the initial flurry.  I expect this is true, but, depending on how fast we make it onto the Google lists, it might not last.  I am looking forward to the differences involved in running a business as opposed to starting one.  Accounting, legalities, licenses, and structure will be completed.  Expanding inventory, providing the best customer service I can provide, and launching the new line are tasks I look forward to.  No more agonizing over domains, start up money, initial web design, logos and account set ups.  All of that, for the most part, will be behind me.  Once routines are established and we are operating somewhat smoothly, I’ll have more time to sleep, write, and talk to my family.  While I have my hopes, I don’t expect us to hit a level of sales that is not sustainable on my current schedule for a little while yet.  Breathing room.

 

There’s some fun stuff coming up in the next three weeks.  Placing and receiving my first orders for inventory will be fun.  Photographing all the items to be uploaded into the shopping cart will also be an enjoyable task.  Watching all the elements of the web site click into place will be a relief; test driving it will be fun as well.  I am looking forward to it, though I don’t have the energy to get too excited at the moment.

 

 

Building a Business

Starting a business is a lot like building a house.  You believe, at the outset, that it’s one big project or several big projects in succession.  In reality, it’s a lot of little steps, little tasks, and little projects punctuated by a few larger events. 

 

From the blue print (or business plan) to the final touches, the total number of small steps would boggle your mind.  Don’t think about it, lest you be discouraged.

 

The larger events such as watching the stud walls go up, getting the roof sheathed and shingled, installing drywall…those are the days you see and feel progress.  In business terns (mine, at least), these events are similar to setting up your accounting software, loading text into the web pages, receiving your first inventory orders.  Big events that show progress, but of themselves do not a house or business make.

 

I liken the tedious, mind-numbing work of setting up your online shopping cart inventory to that of installing all the electrical wiring.  Drill through each stud–load your descriptions.  String electrical wire around the walls…all of them…sometimes more than once–load your images and select your categories.  If you are working with two other people on nights and weekends to build that house, the wiring alone can take a week, especially if you burn out your dad’s favorite DeWalt cordless drill in the process.  Building a business with one part time advisor (again, evenings and weekends), the process takes longer.

 

Then you start on plumbing.  From water heater to three sinks, two commodes, a dishwasher and four exterior spigots, it’s full of little steps punctuated by angles, channeling through studs and preparing for the post inspection tie-in…All of this, punctuated by choice swear words on occasion, takes time and skill.  Similar is the process of writing your varied and necessary policies, links and pages.  But the first time you turn on the water on is priceless.  So is the first time you turn on the power and see light, or the day you put in cabinets and countertop to reveal a real kitchen.

 

The first time I toured the partially completed website for my upcoming business, I felt as I did the day my dad told me the house we built for me and my children was done.  All those little projects strung together produced a home for the three of us that we loved deeply.  All these little projects strung together produced an internet home I could call mine (bare bones inventory and all).

So close…or am I?

I read somewhere that a new business owner has somewhere between 500 and 5000 invested in the business before ever opening the doors. 

I wonder if this includes the time spent dreaming about it? 

I can now attest to the hard work involved in setting up a business you care about.  I don’t open until the middle of August and already have 350 hours under my belt…not dreaming or just thinking…actual research, contacts, correspondence, and all the little pieces that go into opening the doors.  I can only imagine what it would be like if I were opening a physical location rather than a web-based business.  Coupled with the necessity of retaining the “day job” for a while, I have become one tired designer.

My husband asked me why I was pushing myself so hard.  He got a look of surprised confusion for reply.  My business promotes and sells something I am deeply passionate about, so it’s always interesting, even when it’s tedious.  Moreover, the busier I am, the less time I have to be afraid, overwhelmed, or just shy.

Six weeks to go.  I had to give up the web site to someone who knows what he’s doing so I could concentrate on the contents and set up.  So many things left to be done.  Most of them involve money I don’t have.  Pressure is at a steady rate now that the legal stuff of setting up and registering domains is out of the way.  Time to look for investor angels and plug away at the content. Deadlines are written in ink and, although they can be intimidating, they do provide focus and priority.

I’m amazed at the help available on the web for small business start ups.  I’m also amazed at how difficult it is to drill down through all the information to find legitimate wholesale suppliers.  Looking for true trade printing?  Better find a list from someone who knows, because most of the printers on the web are not.  I owe a lot of progress with printers to Writer’s Weekly and Angela Adair-Hoy.

In my Dad’s day, starting on a shoestring meant having a box of tools and knowledge.  Today, that shoestring means cash if you are selling a physical product, contacts, knowledge far outside your area of expertise (unless you have enough money to hire it out, and even then you have to know enough to know what you want done), and some serious marketing savvy.  I have a pretty eclectic background, but the learning curve is still nearly straight up for several areas, especially in small scale financing.  The less you need, the harder it is to find in some cases.  Interesting twist, I think.

Will it be worth it?  It already has been.  I have learned far more than I ever imagined and expanded my understanding of the world  While I have every chance of success and would find failure a bitter disappointment, it is still worth it.  Should I not succeed, I will recover.  And then I can take all this knowledge gained into another project that might do better.

For now, I work on my priority list and complete all the tasks I can in any given day.  I don’t dream about starting a business now that I’m doing it.  What I dream about these days is SLEEP!