It's all paying off

If you go back and read this entire blog from its beginning in November 2005 you'll see just how much my plan has changed over time. I started as an engineer working on my business part time, then I quit to run SportsLizard. That was struggling so I started iPrioritize. Both were doing OK but I wasn't making enough money to get by, so I started doing SEO work, which led me to my Pure Adapt partners and ultimately led us to forming Pure Adapt, Inc and the subsequent revival of SportsLizard with the help of my partners.

One of the things I think this blog has done well is show the true roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship: coping with making little or no money, believing when no one else believes, struggling with decisions on whether or not to give up on a project, learning to balance your social life with your business life, and above all else remembering to enjoy life and have fun.

It's been a seemingly long journey since that first post, but after a meeting with my partners last week I can say that it's all beginning to pay off. A few months back the light at the end of the tunnel seemed so far off that even the most optimistic among us knew that there was still a long ways to go until we started reaping the rewards of our hard work. While we've always had enough positive re-enforcement to keep us pushing forward, it's nothing compared to what the next six months will bring.

At our meeting we committed to an aggressive expansion plan that will keep the growth fast and furious, without ever dipping the company into the red. Among the cool things we have planned:

• A re-launch of DetailedImage.com with our own custom built shopping cart to integrate and automate all inventory, shipping, accounting, etc. I'm about 30% done with the programming side of things, and I can honestly say this will be the most impressive site I've ever worked on - we're using all four of us (plus a graphics designer) to utilize everyone's best talents.
• Moving the company into a warehouse space. We've all but signed the lease in one of the nicest corporate parks in the area...plus we know the owner so we're getting a good discount. By 10/1 we should be all moved in, which will allow us to immediately expand DI by about 35% (right now we have no space in our basements for more products).
• Steady pay raises. George came up with an amazing plan to raise everyone's salary quarterly by about 30%/quarter for the next year, and also pay out a large birthday bonus on everyone's birthday. We've all worked for so little for so long, that we're all thrilled to finally be able to plan our personal lives out a bit knowing when we'll be making what.
• SportsLizard's Price Guide will break even (remember we've spent quite a bit on PPC) AND hit 10,000 registered users by the end of next month - not bad for a four month old service. We're really going to expand and push the site even further once I finish my commitment to programming DI.
• Hiring a few employees. Starting with a full-time packer for the warehouse, we plan on also adding a few full time programmers by the end of '08. The beauty of living in Albany is that it's a collegiate hotbed, yet has very few high tech jobs in private industry, so it's easy to find skilled programmers who don't want to go to Southern CT or Boston or NYC for work.
  
• Start working on our next big project. I'm sworn to secrecy by my partners, but as DI matures and SportsLizard is hitting it's growth phase, we plan on beginning work on our next long-term project, which we want to launch by the end of '08.

All in all, things couldn't be better. All four of us are much less stressed than we were before because we can see now that we are economically stable as a company, and that to an extent we've validated our ambitious career choice.

Personally, I'm seeing my social life begin to match my work life, and I'm excited to get back to playing just as hard as I work :) I'm glad I've got a great set of business partners, and I'm thrilled to see our business growing well. I'm also glad that this blog started before I really had any success - it's EASY to sit on your high horse after having some success and tell others what to do, but it's hard to allow them into your life to watch you struggle through the ups and downs. That's one of the things I'm most proud of....maybe someday I'll publish the whole thing as a book :)