"Little Things Are Big Things"

Were the words of my college basketball coach.  His point of course was that success in hoops depended on doing the little things.  Cutting off the baseline, taking the right closeout angle and setting proper screens amid a host of other "little things" were the keys to winning, not scoring, dunking or nailing the 3.  Now we know that's not true but his point was well received then and is applicable in business now.  When I birthed Cakedy my vision was build a brand to rival Snickers.  I wanted to hop right into corporate financing, national strategy, and demographic marketing models.  But little things are big things.  Vendors who hand make the product with care.  Team members who can press the flesh locally and present the brand with a smile.  And most importantly a founder willing to start at the bottom.  That last one is tough, but it is a little thing.  While I've had success in my corporate life I've had to admit that I don't know ANYTHING about retailing or confections.  And in order for this brand to rival Snickers I've got to figure this thing out along with the thousands of other struggling foodies.  You don't jump the line to global corporate strategy because you have an MBA.  "Little things are big things Ryan, little things are big things!"

Running a Candy Bar Co: 2:48 AM Edition

I've never been a huge late night party animal.  Even in college a single late night (defined as 2AM or later) was enough to last me for a couple weeks, if not a month.  I know, I know, I'm a nerd.  Yes, being lucid for the vivacious debate in my 8AM Industrial Management class was much more important than Tuesday night banger off campus...sorry just how I'm wired.  But it wasn't until business school I realized that I could stay up really late working through case studies or putting together spreadsheets and pop up next morning with no lingering hangover from 4 hours of sleep.  This persisted in my professional life as well, I could take a 2AM meeting with offshore resources and still be up and at 'em on the treadmill at 6AM.

When I launched my second venture Office Face, late nights were a common occurrence and so were 8AM presentations for my client that I handled with aplomb.  I'm learning that the same will be true for Cakedy.  I believe in this product and this venture more than with the last.  I also believe that execution, discipline and aggressiveness are critical to any business success.  This sometimes means checking off on a backlog of to do items that necessitate a 3:45AM bed time.  The thing is, I was back up at 8:30AM, prepping for a client meeting and in the words of James Brown....I feel good!

Sincerely,
Motivated

I thought this would be easier....

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post I am a serial entrepreneur.  I've got experience in running a startup (financing, marketing, sales, etc)...not a lot and my previous ventures haven't been very successful but I have real life experience.  That said I will admit that that experience doesn't seem to lend itself to running a startup candy bar company.  The two areas for which I thought would be easiest to manage have turned out to be incredibly complex...incredibly.

I WAS SPOILED
For my two previous websites I was privileged to work with a developer who was experienced, timely and incredibly professional.  The guy would set a deadline and then meet it.  If the site crashed he'd pick up his phone at 3AM and get right on it.  He had a host of clients and made a pretty penny as a solo contractor and after experiencing his customer service it was easy to see why.  The guy was "set it and forget it".  Meaning talk through your specs or issues with him and then no more worries.  Presto fixo!!!  Unfortunately he was unavailable (due to personal reasons) for our Cakedy ventures.  We've worked with awesome developers on this project, but it has required much more involvement than before.  I chalk up some of this to the newness of the relationship but nonetheless it is frustrating.  My personal style of management is to be very hands on with vendors/employees/partners at the outset until they are comfortable with what needs to be done.  But after some self reflection and discussion with internal team members I don't think that approach will work when it comes to our website this go around.  Being actively involved day to day will require somewhat of a mindset change for me, but like I keep telling our team, I truly believe in this product and I believe the extra effort will be worth it.

Happy 4th Weekend Everyone!