Snow in Springtime

I'm a big fan of snow, generally - I think it's pretty and tragically Japanese and all that. But in spring, in Seattle? I'm not sure what to think of this...

Regardless, my third week of business planning is well underway, and goddamn this isn't as easy as they say...ok, never mind, I guess nobody said it would be easy. I haven't even lifted a finger to start up the big business plan project, and I'm already tired. I've plowed most of the way through my first official business book, and have just started trudging through my second - a more concise workbook of sorts. I've got budgeting, market research, financial planning, executive summaries, promotional ideas, taxes and sales tactics coming out my ears. I can confidently say that I have the utmost respect for everyone who has ever attempted this, even if they failed repeatedly (maybe especially so). 'Cause some of this stuff is a real bitch. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm trying to squeeze all of this into a three hour stretch every day after my regular 9 to 10 hour work-day, but I know that's no excuse.

Next month I'm looking at some trips to the local chamber of commerce, a couple of business schools (hopefully), and my first dive into the wide, somewhat phony world of networking. I hope all of the real business people don't suck the soul out of me before I'm done with all of this...

Starting up the start-up engine

I've been sorely neglecting this blog since - well, it seems since we got back from Germany, which has been quite a while now. Things of many varieties have been keeping me busy, mostly in good ways. I can't remember how many times I've written a post stating something about how "I'm really going to make an effort to start blogging again", so I'll just skip that bullshit this time around and get straight to it.

As some of you may know, I've been harboring a deep-seeded interest in starting my own business for as long as I can remember. My New Year's Resolution (yeah, I try to do those kind of things) this year was to make some serious forward momentum in that direction, so a couple of weeks ago I started hitting the books. I'll be taking some online classes over the course of the next few months, reading some pretty intimidating books (already cracked into the first 750-pager), and generally doing everything I can to get the ball rolling.

So that's that. One of the things I've read over and over again is to (A) Never pass up the opportunity to ask for advice, and that (B) Advice can be found in places you wouldn't initially think. So...

If any of you out there have any advice, even the slightest bit of information you may have overheard, I'm all ears. If you have anyone in your family, or know any friends (or acquaintances or classmates or people you met on the bus or whatever) that have ever started a business (even if it failed miserably), I'd love to talk to them, email them, or contact them in whatever way possible. At this stage, any information at all is pure gold to me.

Thanks in advance!