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Sunday, April 15, 2012

I was an Accountant

"Living the dream" in Northern California Dave was as an accountant for a large firm, he was also tired of playing the political games. After working his butt off for years and spending countless hours in the office his boss valued his work but for some reason Dave's soon to be raise found its way into someone else bank account. He had had enough of the drama and began looking for work else where.



I emailed Dave a few weeks ago seeking some career advice and offered to buy him lunch. In return he turned down my offer and invited my family and I over to his home for a meal. It was quite a treat.


That place was his own apartment. Back in the 80's when computers were huge and slow Dave bought a printer and as he was trying to connect it to his computer he found that the cord didn't work as described. He was unable to print anything. He decided to make a cable that would work. He studied and learned the ways of an electrical engineer. The cable he created worked like a charm, he was able to print. In the process he created a product that he could make money from. Oh, the other thing about his printer cable, it worked! Unlike his soon to be competitor.

After that everything "fell into place".

After selling cables for a bit while still working as an accountant Dave decided to start selling printers. While is wife was a stay at home mom with two kids they created a small businesses selling printers. What about an office? Their two bedroom apartment became the heart and soul of their business. It grew and grew and grew. Pulling in over 20,000 a month in a short period of time. Dave quit his accounting job and his life as an entrepreneur and business owner began. Of course challenges came with the job. Sometimes wondering if bills would be paid. Never knowing where his next customer would come from. Many sleepless nights on his knees pleading to the one above. Making tons of mistakes along the way. Sounds like an adventure to me. Since then Dave has owned and sold dozens of businesses. Made millions. Lost millions. Retired once, that was a bad idea, golfing everyday can only lead to so much happiness. And yet he has to be one of the kindest and down to earth people you will ever meet. You would never guess he owned a jet and a sweet car collection.

After spending three hours in his home and after some angel food cake Dave he shared some ideas, thoughts and some advice with me that I will never forget. First of all we talked about some of my own ideas and products I have in the works. I bounced some ideas off him. He taught me that it only takes the first business to not be afraid to do it again and again. "It only takes once". He taught me that the biggest challenge in almost any business is paying for marketing. You have to get your product or service in front of your potential customers and that costs tons. Don't do business with family. Another important principle he taught me was to get a partner maybe even two, the best number is three. Your chance of success goes up three-fold. He explained to me its ok to not go crazy with your first idea, its alright not to have the perfect brand or amazing looking website that has cost you hundreds and maybe even thousands. Test it out first. Send out some flyers by mail, that can be very inexpensive, look into the post office, they can send out your flyers for 14 cents, spend a little on google ad words, find out where you can make the most before you spend the most. Be patient, businesses have been around a long time they are not going anywhere. Oh ya, you have the internet on your side, if you missed the latest craze wait 4 months.

My meeting with Dave was amazing! The end!  

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