Monday, April 16, 2007
Dave 2.0 part 3
Once in a while, a man just has to take stock, make decisions and then make it so! Looking back at what works and what doesn't; what is pleasing and what isn't; what hurts and what feels good is a very healthy exercise. This past 45 days I've been forced to reflect on the past and make some life changing decisions.
I've been developing websites since 1995.
While serving my country as Superintendent of Public Affairs in the Air Force, I was offered the chance to learn the basic skills of website development and ran with it. My business started as a part time venture in the basement of my home. I shared my office with a furnace, washer/dryer and countless old books. Little more than crawl space with a cement floor, no windows and an old wooden door as a desk, I pointed and clicked, hunted and pecked, over time I went from part time hobby to full time business.
Interesting note: Had it not been for the greatest Wing Commander who has ever served I would have been stuck on the flight line as a C-130 Crew Chief. The Commander and Public Affairs Officer were able to see past my experience, training and career field and allow me to serve outside of the box I was so neatly placed. My desire for more, willingness to learn and past accomplishments as Crew Chief, First Sergeant, and Public Affairs Representative demonstrated to them that I was more than a skilled mechanic, and allowed me the opportunity that changed my life.
I've enjoyed being a web developer and always will. I've learned so much, accomplished a great deal and made some wonderful friends in the process. Web development is more that just cutting a pasting to the web, it involves a myriad of skills to format text and images properly as well as program websites and data structures to work efficiently. I never thought I could sit and look at a computer screen for 16 hours a day week after week and be happy. Web development is so complex and there are so many different skills needed that it not only held my attention, it's been a wonderful way to make a living.
The past 45 days has pushed me on my heels.
I've had a few unexpected events that have forced me to reflect on my past decisions as well as my overall goals for the future. Some of the events that have forced the retrospective thoughts are; the loss of a key client, revenue source and benefits provider; a failed acquisition attempt for a wood manufacturing company; the waste of 5 months creating and developing an online auction system due to failure to pay by the client; and the car wreck that claimed my beloved 2 door Chevy Tahoe (just 4 days after my health insurance expired, I was uninjured).
There is another influence on my mind and thoughts as I step into the future. On May 31st it will be official; I will become an empty nester when my youngest son reports for basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base. This represents a significant achievement in my life as I made a conscious effort to be a good father to my sons. I had no father and came from what many would define as a broken home. In my heart of hearts I knew that I had one task as a man and that was to raise my sons.
This resolve to be a good father forced me to make decisions and changes in my life. From leaving active duty in the Air Force so as to be home more, to finding jobs that would allow me to be home nights and all the way to not drinking, not going out and serving my household through sacrifice. It was that important to me. I speak and write for myself but I must mention that my wonderful wife stood beside me to this end. Her dedication and resolve to be a good mother resulted in our joint decision that she would remain at home with the boys. This is not easy in this day and age, we both sacrificed many things from material possessions to social activities. No regrets! We remain happy in our decision even now that is complete.
All these influences bring to mind thoughts of what's next.
I have spoken and written about ways to effectively create a business plan. I've used the same concept when talking with friends and family about life decisions and course corrections. It's really a simple concept that many people much wiser than I have been preaching and teaching for years. The business coach and writer who was able to put it best, for me anyway, was Michael Gerber in his book titled "E-Myth Revisited." He writes and teaches entrepreneurs (that's the "e" in e-myth), how to make their businesses better. He is credited with the term that has helped me greatly. "The Primary Aim."
In the context of business, Gerber teaches that small business owners should consider the primary aim very carefully. In business, people tend to declare that the primary aim is to make money, create wealth or be rich. While this is an important motivation for most business people, Gerber tries to get the business person to consider what their personal primary aim is. Simply put, what do you want as a result of this business? I've re-molded that concept to encompass much more than just business which includes life, spirituality, friendships and personal improvement. Considering the primary aim in all aspects of life helps one bring things into focus and make course corrections as needed.
Another interesting note: In 2004, my wife and I, with another couple who were friends at the time, created a wonderful little travel agency from scratch. I asked everyone to consider the primary aim before we started. We all had variations of the same theme but declared that it was "to be happy and have a successful business." In the end, that was too vague. We should have defined more clearly what happiness was and what a successful business was because by the time Carrie and I sold our half of the business, it was clear that our views on both happiness and success were much different than our friends. In the end, our primary aims did not match and it not only cost us our business, it cost us our friendship with that couple.
I've declared that my primary aim is freedom.
I envision a well managed business that does not require me to be there every minute of every day. A business that is financially sound, well organized and creates a good income. My vision allows me to have the time and resources to travel, explore, learn new skills, socialize, help others and work on other business opportunities. My aim is a complicated one because it requires clarity in vision, organization and planning. It requires a good communications skills and many levels of automatic oversight. It's not an easy one, but to me it is worth reaching for.
As I consider my primary aim and the catastrophes of the past 45 days, I have allowed myself to look outside the box just like the wing commander did when he allowed me to do a job that was not my official job description. I reviewed my experience and my skills but more importantly, my desires. I asked the simple question, "what do you want to do Dave?"
I want to be involved in the community! I want to help people and contribute to the lives of those around me. I want to be a source of reliable information, advise and counsel. I want to own a business that is well known, well respected and yes, financially successful. I want a business that allows me to participate in community events and one that can help other businesses do better. I want a simple business that is fun and exciting.
What I don't want is almost as important as what I want. I don't want to have to come to the office at 8:00 AM and be overwhelmed with "duties" until 6:00 PM. I don't want a business that just scrapes by, barely meeting monthly budgets or existing on the edge of the financial knife. I don't want a business that is a chore, difficult or un-fulfilling. I don't want a business that blends into the landscape or goes un-noticed. I don't want to work for my business, I want my business to work for me.
At 42 years old, one would think that it's a little late to change course.
Some of my conservative friends might say that with my 12 years of experience as a web developer, I should stick to what I am known for and ignore the desire to dream. Some people might think it's silly to consider another career path this late in life. I'm sure there are some who would prefer that I stick to what I know and not stretch into other markets. Well phooey on them! Life is short, too short to make these changes some would think, but life can be more full when filled with new and exciting experiences.
I've thought many times of all of the things I've experienced, all of the places I've been, all of the jobs I've had and all of the faces I've seen. 42 short years and my life is more full than many who live twice as long. I've had a great life but I'm just as excited about the next 42 years as I was about the previous. From rock bands to nuclear bombs; from maintenance to management; from chemical analysis to chicken farming, I been a lot of things and had many great and small responsibilities... why stop now just because I'm "old" or because life has thrown a few curve balls? There is no reason other than fear, complacency or surrender.
The first week of March 2007.
A week that will live in infamy! It is the week that I learned that the 5 months spent developing, living, eating and breathing an online auction system would go completely un-rewarded. It was the week that I officially lost my primary source of income as well as health benefits. It was the official week that my offer on the factory expired and on Tuesday of that week, was involved in a serious head-on collision just 4 short days without health insurance. (No injuries thank God!)
What did I do for the weekend? I went on vacation! Yep, after all of the recent events, Carrie and I joined two friends from North Carolina in Gatlinburg TN. We spent the weekend in the mountains just "walking it off" per se. A little diversion to allow our minds to clear. I even read a book called "The Secret," which is a little strange but still removed enough from business and finance (and reality) to allow me to escape. The 4 hour drive to and from the Smokey Mountains allowed Carried and I to talk things through. The 3 nights in the cabin with great friends allowed us to bounce some new ideas off people who care about us. It was perfect timing.
The primary aim and a course correction.
Before we left for our escape to the Smokey's I had been considering a new course for me and my business. Something that was quite a bit different than what I have been doing full time for the past 7 years. Something that would allow me to be involved in the community and hopefully reach the primary aim of freedom and enjoyment. The idea? After discussing the concept and plan with several close friends, business associates and strangers, I have decided to publish a local area periodical that will be a guide to what's going on in and around our beloved Bowling Green, KY.
This new direction allows me to build on past training, experience but more importantly desire to build a business with purpose and reach. It will allow me to help the community by providing a useful resource that will digest all of the events and entertainment opportunities in our region. It will also allow me to build a resource base of talented writers, graphic artists and sales people to continue to build this and other businesses. It is something that I've wanted in my heart for about 4 years now and now I've allowed myself to follow my passion.
My skills as a web developer as well as marketing consultant will play a big role in the development of this new magazine. I have experience with layout and design as well as writing, communicating and strategies to reach the intended audience. I have served as Superintendent of Public Affairs which produce a monthly newspaper in two short days. I have been exposed to advertising sales as well as effective advertising design for the past 3 years that will help me serve my advertisers well. I feel I have a good foundation of training and experience that will get this project off the ground and become all it can be.
More different than I thought.
Since my return from the Smokey's, I've been totally immersed in the new project. With the help of several contacts and friends, I was able to find a printer and keep my costs down, came up with the name, colors and strategies in the first week or so. Everything from legal filings with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to marketing strategies, accounting practices and process management seems standard for most business, but there is more to this print publishing business than I thought.
My experience publishing online has helped a great deal but it's vastly different than print publishing. Everything is different from the colors you can use to the size of the graphic elements. Suddenly dpi (dots per inch) are more important than anything else for images and graphics and the software used to go from concept to paper is painfully different than I am used to.
How different? I'm glad you asked! I've been on a personal computer with Microsoft installed since before Microsoft Windows. I think it was DOS 1.5 if I remember correctly. I learned the PC while employed as Senior Chemical Analyst at US Pipe and Foundry in Birmingham Alabama from 1987 to 1991. It's a long story but our lab was connected to systems engineering and I was allowed to learn from the engineers at the foundry. My point is that I'm a PC guy and could not comprehend a change to a different way of computing.
I have learned (the hard way), that layout and graphics for a print publication is "typically" accomplished on a Macintosh computer. At first glance, one would not think this is a problem. For someone as entrenched in the PC as me, even so far as to be a programmer for Microsoft servers and a Microsoft Partner, considering the Macintosh wasn't even on the radar.
You want me to use WHAT?
When we returned from the Smokey's, I consulted with one of my best friends. He produces an annual book of about 700 pages. Andy is a great friend and knows the print business inside and out. Andy's book? Actually three books, they are the local area phone books for Warren, Simpson and Logan county in KY. I talked to him about my plan and the ways I intended on producing the periodical. He suggested that I use Adobe InDesign and PhotoShop for layout and graphics explaining that the software is the most accepted by commercial printers.
Not being too proud to take advice from someone I love and trust as much as Andy, I downloaded the trial version of InDesign (PC version) and got busy. It is significantly different than the layout software I've used for years but gave it a shot and even produced a nice new rate sheet for the company. I was having some trouble however, the PC version of the software, or maybe it was the PC (say it aint so), was painfully slow and would lock up, freeze up and shut down unexpectedly. It was explained to me that the Adobe software is really made for a MAC and I should consider getting one. NO WAY! I thought to myself, I'll make this work.
I considered my options carefully.
Andy, being the great friend he is, provided a solution to my cost issue as well as the method most widely used by print graphics professionals. He offered me a Macintosh to use that already had a licensed version of InDesign and PhotoShop on it. I gave it a half hearted try I must admit. After installing the MAC, getting it on the network and even configuring it to use my main display, keyboard and mouse, I had trouble finding commands, menu items and the files I needed. I gave up and notified Andy that it was too hard and I was going to stick with Microsoft to speed things up.
As a Microsoft Partner, I already had a copy of MS Publisher which was promoted as being the Microsoft equivalent to Adobe products. As a loyal partner I thought I would stick to the products I know and it would save me time. My thought process at first was to learn InDesign because that is what my potential employees would know, but with the problems I was having and the fact the software costs so much, I decided to go with what I know to speed up the process of laying out a mock-up of the new publication.
I spent the next 9 days or so laying out an 8 page example or mock-up of my new periodical. Starting from a white screen I was able to create a unique, albeit very basic layout including the 2 page spread weekly calendar grid. This is the focal point of the publication as it provides a daily reference of everything going on. I was proud of myself, especially when I considered all of the effort it took to ensure my graphics, colors, fonts and measurements were perfect for commercial printing. Then... I packaged it for printing and printed a copy for myself from the resulting PDF file.
I could not believe how screwed up it was!
The 200 megabytes produced by MS Publisher included a PDF that could be viewed and printed. This was what the commercial printer would be using as the foundation to the whole publication. Everything was messed up from fonts to images. I was so disappointed. I called Andy on April 4th and he said, "fire up that MAC, I'm coming over and showing you how easy it can be on the right computer with the right software." I did what he told me to do and he did what he said he would do.
Sitting in front of the little used Macintosh with a 15" screen and one button mouse, Andy commenced to demonstrating the Macintosh, InDesign and PhotoShop. Within an hour he had a printable version of my cover which he more or less laid out from scratch. I missed much of the nuts and bolts due to a phone call, but was able to learn enough in the time I was paying attention.
Stubbornness cost me about 10 days.
I must admit that I was impressed! Sure, he has been using the MAC and the software for years, but it did everything he said it would do. It was a performance thing! Where my PC would slowly display the thumbnails of the images in a folder, the MAC would open, edit and save many at once. Where I would have to close applications just to be able to edit something, the MAC would be able to keep several programs open and working at the same time. Where the resulting files created by the PC were gigantic, the MAC would save them in a much more compact, easy to manage manner.
Note: I'm no engineer but my understanding about the MAC and PC different methods of working with files and software is a simple as ones and zeros. Each have their own way have handling files on the computer. MACs are known for being better at handling large files and this is why they are so popular with the graphics people. For example, a 5" X 5" image at web quality (72 dpi / 360 pixels wide) easily fits on the screen but for printing, the same size image at 300 dpi is almost five times larger (1500 pixels wide) or... too wide to view at 100%. The way the two save the files are almost as extreme in file size and bytes used.
On April 4th, Andy had shown me the "new way" to layout my publication and I was excited. I decided right then that I was going to learn this no matter what. I called Carrie and told her I was staying at the office all night so I didn't forget what Andy just taught me. Even being brand new to the MAC, never really using the software AND taking great care to set global colors and styles, I was able to learn and use the MAC in no time. By 7:30 AM on April 10th, less than a week since Andy showed me "the way," I printed all 8 pages of my mock-up using nothing but the MAC. But wait, there's more... during that time I had also laid out 3 business card designs for my sales manager, Carrie and myself and sent those to the printer.
Willing to admit wrongness is not a sign of weakness.
I was wrong! The MAC was much faster than the PC, I was able to learn it quickly, and it is much better at accomplishing the tasks related to print publishing than the PC. I have no trouble admitting it. If I've learned anything over the years it is that admitting you were wrong is a strength not a weakness. Admitting you don't know all the answers is about as important. Being willing to learn new and difficult skills is what it takes to accept new challenges and become better than you were yesterday.
I know more than I did and I am better than I was because I was wrong and didn't know. Isn't that what growing is all about? Saying the words that I accept the challenges and will learn new skills is one thing, actually doing it is entirely different. I've done it! In one short week I turned my reluctance to learn the MAC and Adobe into some new basic skills that will allow me to be more productive and build my business. The skills I refused to learn are skills that I can teach future employees who will take over the day to day tasks of layout and design. The new skills will allow me to continue to learn and grow and isn't that what I wanted to do anyway?
Dave 2.0 is even more different than part 2 of this series. Many things have happened since I wrote part two, but some of the foundational concepts have helped me survive what could have destroyed my desire. To be flexible and accept life as it comes has allowed me to endure what comes my way, learn from it and then press on. To be willing to make changes and find my own flaws helps me correct mistakes and improve on things that work.
I accept it!
Like the head on collision I was involved in, life will throw some pretty crappy pitches at you. Having confidence to accept life as it comes allowed me to stand in the middle of the five lane road and accept the car wreck. As the man in the other car apologized, I explained that this is just one of those things we have to deal with in life and everything will work out. As this stranger and I stared at our destroyed vehicles, I realized that there's nothing we could do about it now, it is what it is and we are forced to accept this as just one of those things and thank God that neither of us were injured.
Did I want the failures and collisions of the past 45 days? Of course not, but sometimes it's the collisions that help us see things differently; sometimes it's the failures that we learn from the most; sometimes it's the so called bad things in life that help us find the correct course and challenge us enough to make the decisions that lead us to places we might not have gone. At the end of the day, I'm glad the auction failed, I'm glad I don't own a factory and I'm glad I got knocked around enough to discover my new course which will lead me to new and better places.
Labels: Bowling Green, change, graphics, Macintosh, print publishing, small business, software
