Day 1 – Well, when you’ve been standing at the edge of the cliff for a year, wondering whether you can take the next step and jump off, in the end does it really matter if you made the step yourself or you were pushed off? Either way, you are no longer on the cliff, safe on the ledge. You are off, on your own and starting it all over again.
It’s an interesting feeling—excitement , anger, anxiousness, motivation, contemplation, reflection, happiness, and contentment all at once, sorting themselves out. In the end, it’s a great feeling.
Then, it’s on to the real stuff: pick out a name, a mission, a direction, a game plan. Then the new words and their true meanings come into play: articles of incorporation, corporate bylaws, unanimous consent, Form 2553, Form SS4, Action of Incorporators, and many more. Plus, the dreaded five letter swear word: COBRA. This brainchild of an idea, born from our nation’s finest legislatures, is a testament to a “fill out the form madness” exercise, designed to make you miss. Try it some time; it’s better than a Rubik’s cube.
Next on the list: bank accounts, stationary, corporate ID numbers, IRA rollovers, software packages, hardware purchases, office tours, and the next wonderful visit you must endure: Verizon World. I dare you—go open an account and try to switch your phone number over from an old blackberry. I dare you. What the average person would think of as a simple flip of a switch, is more complicated than a heart transplant. You need five people, two managers, your IT department, their IT department, and quite possibly FEMA, and the Green Berets. I will never get back the hours I have lost from my life, sitting there staring at a blackberry that wouldn’t work. Then finally—the first email! Who cares that it was from my wife, telling me to pick up my daughter from soccer—she told me to do it on my new PDA! I have an email! We’re officially back in business!
Now comes the fun part: designing, creating, and building the next generation website that our business will use going forward. Yes sir, being a part of the innovation after so many years in the business, knowing exactly what is needed, exactly what the buyers and sellers want in a site, and finally being able to deliver it to them. No more excuses, no more sorry sir, sorry ma’am, no more letters of apology that unfortunately I got good at writing, no more mistakes. This time we do it right, and we listen to the public. We build it for them, as they are the users. The feeling is coming back again now, and it makes me smile.