1st Book
Charting Dreams actually began with a dream of our own…a book.
Sam and I had been working together doing marketing for a number of online businesses when we discovered a mutual passion for small business. After many phone calls (which grew increasingly off-subject of our targeted clients), we came to the conclusion that it a book on small business would be of service to the small business community, specifically the entrepreneur looking for inspiration to forge ahead in today’s economic climate.
First we sought out the success stories, businesses that were expanding or profitable during 2008-2009. Who were these growing small businesses? What qualities nourished the ground from which they grew? What mental game did these business people possess? How did they know that the time was right for striking out on a new venture or way of doing things? What signs told them to expand their businesses?
As students of small business, we sincerely wanted to know what moved these people. And we assumed others would want to know too. So we went looking.
First, let us say that we are well aware of the current social media frenzy surrounding Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, et al. We get it: an online presence serves many, and we’re happy to be a part of the connected worldwide community. But our subject goes beyond “tribes,” or rather, precludes tribes as the online community knows them. What we wanted to find out was what compelled an appliance store to open a new shop in a down economy, what motivated a retired manager of a small manufacturing company to investigate a factory of his own, and a florist to branch out into another part of town.
There are a lot of folks starting businesses who don’t yet even know what the internet can do for them, or who are only marginally benefiting from the online marketing tools available to them. To connect them with this social media tidal wave is not the mission of this book (there are social media and marketing experts who can run circles around us, admittedly) and to show how they can benefit from an online presence is not our aim, however timely a subject this is. Although we certainly show how some small businesses embrace the web to the fullest, we were often more riveted by the businesses who were growing and reaching out in more traditional methods – via storefronts and community outreach! Call us quaint.
We’re in the process of interviewing at least twenty-five small businesses in Texas who exhibit the chutzpah to grow in this economy. These are the fearless ones who are either beginning a new venture, expanding an existing business, or changing up the way they do things in their current business to meet the changing needs of this new economic climate. These businesses came to us through word-of-mouth; not through any online marketing campaign, and with a few exceptions they provide goods and services to their immediate communities and markets. They are indeed “small businesses,” employing less than ten people, and housed in offices and storefronts among neighborhoods and grocery stores. These are truly our neighbors.
We wanted to find out what fuel they used, how they kept their motors running, what inspired them to believe they could progress to the next level of their dreams.
In fact, when we interview these folks – and it’s an ongoing job, so feel free to tell us what you’d like to know — we are seeking not only the obvious answers, like what motivates them and how they decide to expand or begin their businesses, but also to discover how their personal stories and beliefs play a part in their business acumen. We feel this is the real substance: discovering what makes folks tick, how they overcome fear and worry, why they are personally driven to get up each morning to do what they do…
In sharing their stories, they illuminate a universal path. Although we all have our own individual goals, every one of us is on this same small business road in one form or another. We strive for success and meet ourselves in each of these intrepid entrepreneurs.
It’s an honor to relay their stories. The folks we’ve talked with have shared their dreams, their struggles, their successes, and failures, and an intimacy that reveals the real heart of a hopeful entrepreneur. For their confidence in us to tell their stories, we are truly grateful.
Along the way, we will release parts of the book on this website. Expect a finish date around spring 2010. We can’t wait to share what we learn; we’ll keep you posted.
Jen and Sam
