Into the Known

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Originally uploaded by Lillput

So...it was crunch time.

I quit my paying job around nine months ago with about 12 months' bill-paying money in the bank.

It was decision time.

So - how has my foray into entrepreneurship been?

Well, I guess that all depends on how you measure it.

Just a recap (or possibly 'cap' if you're not aware of what it is that ExtraVerte do): We want to take empty pockets of land such as building sites that are lying idle and turn them temporarily into pleasant spaces for people to look at and be in. A simple enough dream.


Are TD and still speaking to each other? Yes.
We've had a few heated disagreements. Both of us have overstepped bounds but both of us have been big enough to apologise and move on.

Have we managed to do the things you need to do in order to get a company up and running? Yes. A few hiccoughs here and there, some work and rework on things like the website, but on the whole it was a mostly straight forward process (mind you we haven't done the end of year accounts or company return yet so I'll withhold final judgement).

Have we managed to get people to talk to us on the subject? Yes, eventually. It took quite a long time and quite a few emails but we are getting people to at least talk to us. We've spoken to a leading architecture practice, a large county council in the South East amongst others and we have meetings in the pipeline.
We've been quoted in a couple of trade publications and our website is getting an amount of traffic.

Have we managed to raise the profile of the subject out in the field? Difficult to be sure, but I'm pretty convinced we have. We're not the only people interested in the subject but we're probably one of the few practices that have given the subject and the issues around it quite so much thought.

Have we made any money yet? No.

This last one's a bit of a killer, really...because we both have bills to pay.

So it's bearing all this in mind I had to sit down and think about my next move. Go look for real work or speak to my bank, dig in and keep going.

Tricky

No one other than me has a stake in my financial security. So there's no permission to seek, no one whose life will be adversely affected by a change in my financial circumstances.

I have a couple of meetings with individuals who renew my faith in the idea and reinforce my original view that it's a good thing to do for the good of urban communities.
Both of them have passion for the idea of caring for people who are less fortunate than ourselves. One is a little older than me, the other is considerably younger - at the start of her working life.
I also read a report that has compelling evidence of the effect that access to green spaces has on those in poverty.

TD has a stake in my decision, of course - we co-own the company and share the workload but this isn't a decision it's fair to burden him with.

I've plenty of other friends who have been cheering me on from the sidelines - or helping where they can (thank you DM, GBH, M & S particularly for practical things you've done for us) but they can't help with this.

Where does this leave me? Single, and alone in the decision. Sad, huh?

Well, kind of, but then I realise that it's also a liberating force. There's only me who will be adversely affected if I make the wrong decision.

That realisation and letting go of a little more of the baggage of things past suddenly made things clear. It would be foolhardy to give up now...it would be a waste of everything we've done so far.

I'm going to stick with it.

I have to shuffle financial plans and I'm pretty sure my bank manager won't be thrilled at the prospect, especially as she's already acutely aware of my lack of interest in making money (for me or them) for its own sake.

I can also hear metaphorical rumblings from the 'beyond' and these are trickier to deal with than a pleasant lady in a smart suit, but that's all part of me growing up and moving on.

So, in the style of true project managers I've gone through a rigorous change management process, shifted dates and resources, turned the project back green again and am moving on with it.

It'll be up for another review this time next year.

So - has this all been a success?

I think I'd like to make my success crtieria for the last year about learning about the development and constuction industries; about understanding how the built environment affects profoundly those who interact with; about putting myself and TD in the line of fire with people who know more than we do and us holding our own.

Whaddya mean you can't change the objectives of a project after the event?

I'm a project manager, and I think you'll find I just did.



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