Quote of the Week #54

"Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them."

-W. Edwards Deming
found on brainyquote.com

Quote of the Week #52

“Young men are fitter to invent than to judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter for new projects than for settled business.”

-Francis Bacon
found on thinkexist.com

Quote of the Week # 47

“A good wedding planner will invariably save the bride money. Everything is negotiable in this business.”

-Richard Markel
found on thinkexist.com

Progress Report - for week ended 7/27/08

Here are my goals for July 2008:

1. Break even or Increase Net Worth - Not sure on this one now. I might be able to pull it out due to an extra paycheck for the month.
   
2. Set up website for business - Met with my new webmaster, bought the website carteblanchmedia.com now I just need to switch it from an ad for GoDaddy.com to a decent site explaining what I'm doing. I plan to meet again with the webmaster tomorrow.
   
3. Set up checking account for business - With wedding issues coming up I haven't had much time to devote to this. If I get any free time in the next week or so. I'll be on the phone to the State to find out my Businesses' tax ID code.
   
4. Get business cards for business - I still haven't put together a decent thought on what my business cards should say. If there's any downtime this week - I may pursue this further.
   

So it is now T-minus less than 2 weeks before I get a ring put on my finger and I am no longer a single guy. Everything is pretty much paid for and accounted for but it is the minor stuff that keeps on jumping out of nowhere and scaring me.

Progress Report - for week ended 7/20/08

Here are my goals for July 2008:

1. Break even or Increase Net Worth - This is looking like more and more of an unlikelihood. Wedding expenses are coming fast & furious and income is not increasing.
   
2. Set up website for business - Met with my new webmaster, bought the website carteblanchmedia.com now I just need to switch it from an ad for GoDaddy.com to a decent site explaining what I'm doing.
   
3. Set up checking account for business - I need to call the state on this one. I did receive an LLC certificate but it did not include any tax ID#.
   
4. Get business cards for business - I have a temporary logo set up talked to the nice people at FedEx Kinko's today and I really just need to verify what I want to say on my business cards.
   

The last couple of days, I've tried to drop a lot of the things that are going through my mind and focus on one thing at a time. Right now I'd like to get the business about 90% off the ground before heading on my honeymoon.

Quote of the week #43

“Business has been so drab, all grey suits and cufflinks. But there's a whole new generation of entrepreneurs starting to make it fun.”

-Simon Woodroffe
found on thinkexist.com

June results/July Goals

This is basically just a recap for June:

1. Publish Debt Freedom book (online or otherwise) - FAILURE - Got a little input from a family member that the book needs a lot of work. So it looks like publication won't be happening this month. I did send in my forms for the LLC but because a minor omission (forgot to add LLC at the end of the Co. name) the powers that be in the great state of Ohio sent the form back to me - along with my check. You'd think the fact that I was filling out an 'LLC application form' would make the LLC part inherent but, what do I know - especially about state bureaucracy.
   
2. Join (or start) an entrepreneur's group - SUCCESS - I just went to great group last week and I plan to check out another one this coming week and a 3rd at the beginning of next month. I'm pumped. Hopefully the next two are as great as the one I went to on Thursday!
   
3. Post at least 25 blogs this month - FAILURE - As I look at my blogs for June it looks like I've published 21 so far including this one. Close yet no cigar I guess. handling last minute wedding issues hasn't exactly helped the matter either.
   
4. **Subscribe to Inc Magazine - SUCCESS -Done - yup I finished this simple goal way early. Maybe as a confidence booster for my other goals.

This month is going to be tricky - it's just slightly over a month before wedding nuptials so I think most of the goals might center around that. Did I mention that my 401k went down from last month? That's with me contributing + my company contributing 50% too - it still went down - almost makes a brother want to give up the long-haul investing mentality but I digress.

Goals for July - here we go:

1. Break even or Increase Net Worth - this will be a task indeed with all the wedding spending that's likely to occur in the next 30-40 days.
   
2. Set up website for business
3. Set up checking account for business
4. Get business cards for business

OK that last goal - the business cards is kind of just a 'gimme' goal - the rest though will be a challenge to say the least, especially since goal #1 is in direct or at least indirect competition with goals # 2, #4 and probably #3 as well. Oh well, if I can just remain focused and centered I think I have a chance of making it through.

June Net Worth: -2.17%

Man, oh man - word to the wise - DO NOT try and start a business the same time you are trying to pay for a wedding.

I've decided to take down the actual Net Worth graphic as I am working on Networking and may make this site a little less 'anonymous' in the process. Thus, I don't want everybody I meet to know my 'bidness' shortly after handing out a business card.

That being said, this past month has been rough 1) with gas prices rising every day 2) new, unexpected wedding costs coming out of nowhere and 3) trying to start a business/LLC to market my upcoming book - things have not been all peachy keen as I would like.

Unfortunately, I think it will get worse before it gets better. I expect this coming month will be nothing but wedding expenses, possible business expenses & increased gas prices with a hint of inflation thrown in for good measure.

If only I can find a way to start making money from the book before it's published. Right now with all the craziness going on in my life I don't expect to publish until say September 2008 at earliest right now.

Progress Report - for week ended 3/30/08 [late]

So here's the last report for the month of March

Goals by the end of March 2008 -

1. Decide on a part-time business to focus on for at least 2 months. - I"m fairly certain I am going to switch to re-focusing on blogging. But Something inside won't let me 'pull the trigger' so to speak. I think there may be more profitable uses of my time but, I'm not sure.
   
2. Save $2750 or more into Wedding savings account. - SUCCESS - As of today, the wedding account is at approximately $4972 - and it would be up another $200 if not for the deposit we put down this weekend on a great Honeymoon someplace sunny.
   
3. Do local and regional taxes - SUCCESS* - OK the procrastination officially ended this past Sunday. Unfortunately, it brought with it a $277 tax bill (ouch!) for my regional taxes - which honestly i don't know why I pay. On the bright side my local school. district taxes will give me back $6 whole dollars - So I'll be ready to buy a Value meal once that hefty check comes through.
   

Again, I'm really pumped now that the wedding account is actually starting to build up some cash. I talked to the bank that is holding all our money about switching accounts and said the crappy interest rate and terms are 'unavoidable' because of 'market conditions'. I personally think that's crap but we didn't have enough time to shop around.

*As far as taxes go - I have them done - I just have to mail them and double check them for mistakes and make copies. Man I need to get on the ball.

Do I stay or do I go?

So I've gotten a new job - accomplished my goals for the month of February.

Now, I am debating over taking a secure path to meeting the goal of paying for the oncoming wedding - OR - taking a semi-risky path with the chance that I might not meet my wedding budget goal or I might blow that goal out of the water and have money left over to put a down payment on a house or go on my fiance's dream Hawaii honeymoon or both.

The secure path: Work my new job which pays about 10% less than I was making and work 2nd job which is fairly unfulfilling and keeps me up until 10Pm most nights BUT - will definitely help pay for the wedding bill faster.

The semi risky path: Work new job which pays about 10% less than what i was making and with my newly stress-free free time, work on a part-time business or businesses that I will enjoy running but may not earn me anywhere near what i could make at the part-time job in the short-run - OR - could possibly pay much more than the part-time job in the long (and possibly short) runs.

I'm torn as to what to do. It's 12:30 AM here now and I know this is not good sleep-wise because I need to get up around 6:30 to go to my 2nd to last day of work at my higher-paying yet more stressful job.

I'm debating whether or not I should just try and hit a certain goal mark for the wedding account and then quit the second job so I can sleep like a normal person and have time to work on a business at the same time.

What do you think?

Part time business

I'm starting to think about starting a part-time web-based business with some friends.

Not sure where to begin but i have a feeling if we worked pretty hard in the front end we could reap the rewards in the back end.

I think Logistics will be the most difficult part. we shall see.