Type written page saying New Chapter

Making a better story

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I was chatting with a good friend of mine yesterday. We were discussing the art of reframing a challenge or negative occurrence in life into something of better use. In the case of my entrepreneurial path, I told her that I making a better story.

What do I mean? Well, there’s no doubt that the failure of my crowdfunding campaign has shaken my confidence a bit. However, if it was successful, then maybe others would have seen that success as something that no one else could duplicate. That perhaps I had more things going for me like education or experience or luck etc.

I purposely started writing this blog to share the ups and downs of starting a business because few seem to do so. Instead, they’re all looking at it retrospectively and the lows don’t seem so low. Well, I’m showing you a low right now, and truthfully it sucks!

It’s hard to continue to take chances when it’s so easy to go back to a high paying job. However, I know that my true calling is as an entrepreneur, not as an executive working for someone else.

Sometimes it’s easier to be a professional in a shadow career than it is to turn pro in our real calling. When we turn pro, we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them. We will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind.

Steve Pressfield in Turning Pro

A good story doesn’t show the road map of a “lucky” person. In fact a true story arc shows false highs and the depth of despair before the “hero” comes out on the other side having faced their personal or metaphorical demons and winning. Of course, this only happens if they don’t quit first. Those stories never get published.

My friend gave me a useful reboot. She reminded me of what I’m good at and what I have done before. Now, I just need to get my mind back on course to move this business past this current low.

Here’s to the next chapter and making a better story.

P.S. For some reason, this Lewis Howe podcast about personal branding and being crystal clear on your purpose really spoke to me today.

5 Ways To Monetize Your Personal Brand with Rory Vaden by Lewis Howes

IS YOUR PERSONAL BRAND MAKING YOU MONEY OR COSTING YOU TIME? The last time Rory Vaden joined the show, he shared some strategies we could use to create influential personal brands – insight that helped me shift the focus of my business and scale it to the next level.

How much do I need to raise for my first product?

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From the beginning of this adventure, the most asked question has been, “What are you making? The second most asked question has been, “How much do I need to raise?” If I tried to answer the money question back in April when the ideas first came to me, my estimate would have been off by a mile.

The answer now that I have real info as of today? About $200k for Product #3!!

Yes, that’s a lot of money! The moulds will be made in China. If they were done in Australia, it would have been three times the price.

However, the manufacturing will be done here in Australia with Australian recycled plastic. We are currently trying to see if we can do it mostly out of milk jugs. Wouldn’t that be a great story where we can say that X number of milk jugs are used in every product?

Today, I just signed off on $7500 in prototype costs. That too is a lot of money out of my pocket personally. My manufacturer asked me if I wanted to sleep on it ,and I told him that I have been waiting to make this decision for 4 months.

It’s essentially all or nothing at this point. How much of the $200k do I need to raise? All of it.

If the crowdfunding is not successful, then I’ll need to look for a job and pursue this business as a side hustle. So, I might as well and go all in now.

Moving forward…

Why I’m considering crowdfunding

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I arrived back in Australia yesterday, and spent today at a crowdfunding class sponsored by The Mill House Ventures. They are a local social-enterprise incubator in my hometown. The presenter was the CEO from Start Some Good which is a crowdfunding platform specifically for social-enterprises.

I’ve been considering crowdfunding as a funding option for a while, and it’s not just about raising money. My two major reasons are:

  1. It could validate the market value of my product ideas which will also increase the value of my business; and
  2. It could fund my first mould without having to give away any equity.

The second reason is more important than the first to me as giving away too much equity too early to investors could jeopardise the social mission of the company. I can already hear them asking me why should we make these products from recycled plastic in Australia when it’s cheaper to use virgin plastic in China.

This is something that people have already warned me about as the rights of shareholders apparently overrides any social mission even if I’ve written it into the Constitution.

I considered a not-for-profit model too, but it really limits the ability to raise funds from outsiders. Furthermore, because we are focussed on selling consumer products to achieve our social mission, the business lends itself naturally to a for-profit structure.

After taking the class today, I’m convinced that this is the right way to go for one of my products in particular. It fits the criteria well, and essentially sets me up to pre-sale products before investing further into the moulds. Plus, if I get accepted into the Mill House program, they’ll give me resources and a little bit of marketing money to increase my chances of success.

After the class, I ran into the manager of the local innovation grant which I looked at earlier. I asked him if it would jeopardise my chances of getting the grant if I received a little money for the crowdfunding campaign. He said it might actually increase my chances because it validates that someone else thinks I have a good idea.

With that info, I now have about two weeks to submit my application for both the crowdfunding program and the grant. I just need the final numbers from my manufacturer so I know how much money I need. That meeting will occur on Wednesday next week when I fly up to Brisbane.

A business is a marathon, not a sprint

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Boy, I’m tired.  My tendency to go too hard is well known in my work life as I tend to burn out every few years.  This time, I have to keep reminding myself that a business is marathon and not a sprint.

While I’m overseas visiting family these next few weeks, I plan to spend some time thinking about how I can reprioritise my time better.  Even though I’m trying to keep costs down by doing everything myself, tiredness reduces my ability to think strategically.  I find myself buried in the task list without asking myself if that’s the best use of my time.

So, I’m committing to myself right now to get more sleep and to become smarter about where to spend my time moving forward.  For I can’t afford to burn out this time.

How to make decisions as an entrepreneur

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One of the best and yet most challenging things about starting a business is the freedom to create your own world from scratch. There are simply too many choices:

What kind of business? What should I name it? What kinds of products or services? Should I have employees? How will I fund it? Online or retail?

You can waste a lot of time trying to prioritise and make decisions even on the simplest things. So, how do you make decisions as an entrepreneur?

For example, for this company I had 260 logo designs to choose from. How would I decide which one?

Potential logo designs

Personally, the hardest decision for me so far was choosing which business to start in the first place. I’ve been writing down business ideas in my journals since 1998, and I’d already had three businesses earlier in my career.

When I decided to start The Refoundry, I had considered the circular economy industry for a while. However, it took months of intense, solid research to decide on the company and narrow it down to the products we currently have in the design for manufacturing (DFM) phase.

Now, even though I’ve already made that decision, I’m still tempted by other opportunities that come to me. The only thing that keeps me on track is the company’s mission – to help Mother Nature by making great products out of recycled product.

What about this other great idea to be made of recycled timber? NO!
How about this app that will go well with your first product line? NO!
We can make it cheaper if we use virgin plastic instead? NO!

While it might not help my decision about a logo, notice how much easier it was to make strategic decisions once I settled on the mission for the company?

So, if you ever have so much entrepreneurial freedom that you’re struggling to make big decisions, try establishing one important rule like a mission statement. You’ll see how restricting your freedom of decision will suddenly make it much easier.

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.