Post 1,000!
It is just a matter of time…

One day they will all come running!

Starting a business takes time. Most of the time it will be slow growth, just focus on perfecting your craft/product/service.

Today I listened to a @howibuiltthisnprwith the founder of @mmlafleur and listening to her speak about her timeline is a refreshing take on being patient.

She started her company almost 10 years ago.

She grew it with the help of an already recognized fashion designer, a combination of her own money and then eventually raising almost $1M, while bringing on an ex-coworker from Bain who was willing to work for equity and having to run around for years doing trunk shows with litte to no budget for ad spend.

Even then, it took almost 10 years for @mmlafleur to be what it is today.

Do what you are passionate about, so that you can happily spend every waking hour of your life doing it. Think big, take small steps and ultimately be patient.

Patience & persistence: She had spent years trying to fundraise only to hear no after no. It didn’t stop her. It shouldn’t stop you either.

Whether you are doing it all on your own or plan to fundraise money, it’s going to be a while, so figure out how you can sustain paying your bills until it happens.

For the founder of @mmlafleur she tutored as many kids as possible whenever she could so that she could survive, pay herself very little and reinvest back into the business.

Figure out how much you really need to survive, then do what you need to do to stay afloat. Block the haters that say, “well if your not willing to do this full-time”

You are full time, just on a modified schedule!

For me, that means a regular 9-5. I don’t want to raise funding, I plan on keeping 100% of the company. That also means i’m willing for @kicksforgents to take even longer before it can really hit scale. I’m ok with that.

Those are my tradeoffs, what are yours?