Never forget the mission of the business

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Just about every time I paddle, I’m reminded that Mother Nature has a plastics problem. It also encourages me to never forget the mission of the business.

With spring in the air, I went out for a paddle a couple of days ago in my surf ski. Because it’s more stable than my other boats, I actually had a chance to look around while paddling and to enjoy the scenery rather than worrying about falling in the lake. Everywhere that I looked were wildlife protecting their new nests.

Then suddenly, I hit something on the side of the boat and then again on my rudder. My first thought was that I hit a hidden tree branch. However, upon on closer inspection I saw something black floating in the water. What was that?

I made a u-turn and found what looked like a broken mud guard for a car. It was covered in a silky brown slime that stained my boat as I picked it up and stowed in near my feet. From there, my eyes were suddenly tuned into all the other rubbish that was lying in the water.

Rather than getting in the solid workout I had planned, I decided to spend the next half hour picking up those pieces that I could reach from my boat. It didn’t take long before my foot well was full of plastic rubbish.

Collecting plastic rubbish while paddling helps me to never forget the mission of the business

This year, I’ve offered to organise the Clean-up of Lake Burley Griffin again. I did this last year for the first time, and we pulled 78+ bags of rubbish out of our local iconic lake in about 3 hours. There are some government hurdles to get through first, but I’m aiming for 30 November right now.

Someone asked me why I was still trying to organise the event when I have so much on my plate at the moment. My answer? For one, it’s always easier the second time you do something, but this is also the reason why I started my company in the first place.

While doing a local clean-up effort may only help the waterways and wildlife for a day, it’s one way to help me to never forget the mission of the business.

Making my career change official

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While I legally started this business in April and was working on the idea before then, it was only today that I finally told most of my connections. Why did I wait so long? I guess – like other people, I was scared of failing in front of everyone.

I still am, but I rather live with failures than the regret of never trying.

I started to realise that I was missing out on opportunities by keeping my business a secret from my greater community. And I can also see other benefits in sharing my journey. For one, someone other than myself is holding me accountable now. 😉

Here’s the video that I posted earlier today about changing careers and starting this company. It will hopefully give you some insight about why I would choose to take such risks at this stage of my career.

Who holds an entrepreneur accountable?

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Who knows if I worked today?

Who cares if I checked off tasks?

Who sees me advance my goals?

Who even bothers to ask?

_______________________

It’s the mission that drives me.

It pulls me from bed each day.

It works me late every night.

And without a cent of pay.

Milestone: Request for Quotes sent to Manufacturers

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I sent the design and tender documents to the three manufacturers today. Since I didn’t have any industry experience, that was actually a huge milestone for me and the business. I should be celebrating.

Instead, my monkey brain wants to think about the potential worst case scenarios: the manufacturers not wanting to work with me or the quotes coming in way too high to have a business case.

In a weird way, I welcomed the distraction of having to figure out widgets and custom theme issues with one of my new websites today. IT help desks are starting to become my best friends!

The challenges of working at home with a pet

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Nasa, my 18 year old, bossy cat made it impossible to work at home without constant interruptions today. I finally grabbed my laptop and drove to the lake – working from my car all afternoon. Not a bad place for an office, though I don’t want her to think that she’s in charge either.

Despite having to take up office space in my car, we finalised the design for Product #3 today. If I can only afford to fund one product at a time, I reckon this is the one to help all the others just because it’s less complicated from an installation point of view. 🙂

Today, I was also contacted by an executive recruiter for a large international charity CEO role. I respectfully declined. I already have a job – even if it’s not paying yet.  

Business Accelerator #2 opportunity

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Last night, my parents asked me how I was going on a video chat. I told them I was just working on the product designs still. Suddenly, they went deadly quiet. I realised then that I hadn’t told them that I started a new business. Oops! I’ll write a proper article about this here.

I received an invitation to join a business accelerator program today. This is after I pitched my start-up to them a few weeks ago. It’s a real honour to be considered, and I certainly wish that I did have some help. After all, it’s been a pretty lonely journey so far. Though, I had a quick read of the T&Cs this afternoon, and I’m not convinced that I need as much support at they’re offering, especially for what they want in return in terms of time and comms – though no equity this time. I’ve asked for a meeting to chat.

Found My Tribe

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A few months ago, I spoke to a friend about my desire to do something in the circular economy. That is – turning waste like single-use plastic into something of value.

I’m passionate about keeping plastics from going to landfill and waterways, and I thought there was a business opportunity. However, most of my research at that point had been done via internet searches, books and conferences.

“How do I move forward?” I asked her looking for advice.

“We need to find your tribe,” she said.

She knew about an environmental idea hackathon where they needed mentors. She suggested that I volunteer. So, I did.

The hackathon itself wasn’t that useful for me though I do hope I provided some business value to the teams. They planned to announce the winners the following night at the organiser’s monthly networking event.

Even though my job was done the day before, I came along to the presentation. There, I ran into some of my old IT contacts and met other really interesting entrepreneurs that were excited about their work. I knew instantly that I wanted to spend more time with these people.

Last night, this memory came back to me as I attended the monthly networking event for this group again. We had just listened to a dozen or so entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and needs. These people were interesting. They were excited about their work and ideas. They were optimistic and moving forward. These were the people that wanted to change the world – just like me.

I’ve found my tribe!

Business #4 – Why Purpose Matters

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I was chatting with my 17 year old cat-sitter yesterday. While telling her about my new business, she asked me two important questions that made me think out loud.  They were (modified for clarity):

  1. Was this new business my career going forward, or just a side hustle or temporary thing?
  2. How is this business different than the other three I’ve had before?

I’m sure others have had similar questions when they hear my story – especially if they know that I’ve never made it to five years in previous jobs and businesses.

However, I do feel that this business is very different from previous ones, and I thought it might be useful for you to know my answers in case it helps with your own dreams and future plans.

My answer to Question #1:

Yes, I do see my new business as something I can do for the rest of my career.  When I looked at other job opportunities, I realised that if I said yes, none of them would keep me interested for more than five years again (if that). Then I would be looking for another job and possibly industry again when I’ll be in my 50s and its even harder.

Because I don’t want to go through another job search any time soon, I’ve spent months trying to figure out what I really wanted to do for work.  As I’ve done so many interesting things already, I had a huge list of what I didn’t want to do – a starting point.  Then it was a matter of finding the tugs on my heart and interests, and then finding matches to a market need or opportunity.

My answer to Question #2:

The difference between this business and my previous ones is that I think my “Why” is much bigger.  Previous business were more about what I wanted – mostly wanting to be my own boss.

My new business is about trying to solve problems in two areas of my own passions regarding plastic waste and pets.  I think this makes all the difference in the world. That’s because when you are starting a business, things often don’t work out the way you plan.  And because cashflow is so tight, you can’t just throw money at a problem to make it go away.  Instead, you have to find the mental fortitude to creatively solve challenges to keep moving forward.

Now that my “Why” is beyond my own needs, I have a bigger reason to make this business successful rather than just taking another job that pays the bills.  Furthermore, I’ve burned a lot of bridges behind me by using my savings to fund this venture.  I have no choice now, but to go full throttle.