"Procrastination is opportunity's assassin." Victor Kiam
I have never been one to set New Year’s resolutions, but from my experience many people resolve that this the year they will go on their own and start a business. Being involved with entrepreneurs, I certainly want people to start businesses. But I worry that those who start the year with a resolution with have that resolution end up stacked in the corner of the room with the treadmill and running shoes.
Part of the difficulty is that when setting a resolution we are quickly struck by the difficulty – and time-consumption – of the resolution. Resolving to lose 15 pounds by jogging, we quickly realize this is going to take a while! And while it is relatively easy to go out and buy the shoes (and kind of fun), it does not make it any easier.
Likewise with starting a business. Sure, you do the structural work of hiring a lawyer to set up your LLC, put together a business plan, do market research, but none of those things make it any easier to find a stranger willing to part with money for your product or service.
This year – turn your resolution on its head: start by selling something, and see if it can scale. If not, end it without doing all the structural work. To use my jogging analogy, get out there every morning and walk around the block. If after four weeks you are still walking, increase the pace.
As we get further into 2019, please continue to seek prospective members for the OVF. Our membership is what makes OVF special. In February, for our luncheon, our Main Speaker is Brian Byrnes, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, The OKC Thunder. The OKC Thunder help fund the Thunder Launchpad - an entrepreneurial accelerator which is in the process of gathering its third cohort of startups. I don’t think we will see any of the basketball players at lunch, but we will learn why the OKC Thunder are involved in entrepreneurship.
Our Short Presenter is Leo Clarke, Paelode Systems. Paelode System provides IT solutions for Oil & Gas Industry, including lodeX — their flagship, end-to-end, electronic ticketing and data workflow solution. lodeX resolves the problem of managing wastewater disposal generated during the production of oil and natural gas.
I hope you attended and enjoyed our After Hours event on January 23rd at Vault 405, a Coworking space in downtown Edmond.
I look forward to seeing you – and a guest! – at an upcoming event for OVF.
