Comments on: Quick Day 12 Site Update

By: Just Having Fun | Adam McFarland's Blog - Musings of a Balding 26 Year Old Entrepreneur

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:13:35 +0000

[...] past week has been the most fun I’ve ever had running a business. Part of it is seeing the positive results of what we’ve done. We’ve accomplished everything as a team, and accomplishments are [...]

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:33:54 +0000

Rob -

Yea I’ll have them come on and do a guest post about their start. Everything was sort of a mess when we started. Everyone was making a living but just barely. George and Greg were doing physical details and running the online store in addition to doing that (DI was a much more local business)…I was doing SEO/Web design in addition to SportsLizard/iPrioritize, and Mike was managing a cell phone store while running a now-defunct cell phone e-commerce store. Honestly, our faith and perseverance were the biggest factors in everything coming together. We believed we could make it work…but it took a long time and there were a whole lot of times when we could have given up.

Adam

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:29:26 +0000

That sounds like a brilliant idea – I’m really looking forward to reading about that! I guess one of the things I’d really like to know it some more of george & greg’s backstory – “D.I: the early years” sort of thing!

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:22:08 +0000

@Rob -

Funny you bring that up. I was planning on doing some sort of weekly “flashback” post where I take a post from a few years back and re-post it with some current perspective. I sort of scrapped the idea thinking no one would be interested…but I think you just changed my mind

You’re right – most people have the hardest time getting started, and it was no different for us. It’ll be nice to see what I wrote back then, in addition to what I think now. Hopefully that will fill in the blanks and answer all of your questions. I’ll obviously try to tackle only the most important/interesting topics.

I’m actually about 2 hrs worth of work away from a blog revamp, including a redesign and a slight change in the way I post. Whenever I get around to finishing that off (hopefully within a week), I’ll start a weekly or bi-weekly look back at the way things were when we started.

Adam

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:04:36 +0000

nethy makes a very good point here – one that’s been intreiguing me more and more over the past few months. I know you weren’t with D.I. from the start but I’d really love to know how you (as a team) broached those first hurdles.. where did the idea come from? what was the first sale? Was it from yard sales and bulk buying for friends that just spiralled, or a concious plan? How well developed was the commerce website before the first sale, and you proud or embarrassed when you look back? How did you overcome the inevitable cashflow problems of carrying inventory and growing it?

I think with any business it’s far easier to grtow than it is to start, and although you should be so proud of the incrimental efficiency changes you make and the fantastic cart overhaul, it’s the bootstrapping that I’d really love to know about, because as exciting as it must be to have $$$ credit lines and be able to pull a comfortable salary completely by your own doing without suckling at the teat of big corporation, I don’t know as it has quite the same rollercoaster of emotions as when you’ve got to make the decision (and did!) between growth and paying yourself…

What was D.I like when the four of you incorporated? What was the turnover compared to now? Was it livable in itself, or more of a side project?

So many questions I know, and I’ve tried to read back through the archives but to me there seems to be some key information missing from what must have been very scary & exciting times.

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:27:30 +0000

Thanks Tim. You’re totally right – no matter how big of a “sure thing” something is, you still need to see it play out successfully before you can feel satisfied. I feel like now I/we can stop focusing on whether the cart will work or how well it will work, and start focusing on how much we can use it to grow our business.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:26:20 +0000

Awesome! I know there is always a little apprehension in the back of an entrepreneurs mind when you create drastic changes – regardless what all of the supporting data claims. To know that your research proved correct, and all of your hard work is yielding results is the ultimate “pat on the back.” I know I had many sleepless nights before we moved my business, all of our research said it was the right move, however, you never know how the consumers are going to react.

I am very happy to see all of your hard work paying off!

By: Adam McFarland

Adam McFarland — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:45:04 +0000

I could definitely use a break. I’ve got a 3 day weekend trip planned in June…does that count? I’d love to get to Australia some time in the next few years though. Looks like an awesome place…

By: nethy

nethy — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:16:30 +0000

Adam, I feel like I’ve been reading you for decades.

When did you get so big? Weren’t you running out of a basement on a half-hacked oscommerce cart a month or two ago?

*You sound like you need a holiday. Australia is nice.