Well, I guess it’s one of those rites of passage that all startups go through, so we’re just hitting this point early (so that means it’s only up from here, right?).
Yep, today my checking account was overdrawn $47.99. And I’ve got about $500 left to my name. And sure, there’s credit, but that’s not really a legitimate strategy for business solvency.
The good news is that we’ve just nearly hit our monthly quota for the amount of work we need to be doing (and getting paid for) in order to pay the rent, buy food and do, y’know, basic things to survive in this civilization of ours. (And we’re even starting to turn some work away).
So I’m not too worried, but I don’t really remember being this broke before. It’s all good though; I don’t really do good work until I’m up against a wall, and then I get real creative. So given that we’re here and I’m at financial Ground Zero, as they say, here goes nothing.
If we have to, we’ll fail early, fail often, and fail cheaply. It’s really the only way to guarentee long term success. Right?
Clarification: This post is only about my personal finances as opposed to Citizen Agency, LLC’s…! We’ve got an accountant and there’s good money in the bank — we just haven’t hit first payroll yet; I’m primarily discussing the personal realities that anyone starting a new business will invariably face and for me, what’s it’s like, after months of travel, of event planning, of T-shirt purchasing and the like, to realize — whoa! hey now, time to get real about this business thing of yours and start generating an income!
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Long long ago, shortly after the earth’s crust had cooled, birds of a certain feather congregated to spend most of their time travelling in groups by bus. It was part of a movement that flew the banner of “Do your own thing” which was code for “We don’t like anybody who’s different.” But, as with the traditional campfire, the process of congregation had its benefits. Though the movement died away, leaving “political correctness” to arise from its ashes, still … some peopel remember the serendipity of group process.
In another era, with memories of bus-evenings on the road still vividly in mind, I got into hi-tech to provide myself with income after having abandoned the charade of “peace keeping”. Hi-tech paid well, as it still does, and real-estate speculation paid even better … but bus-like experiences were few and far between. So I trimmed my sails to tack closer to the wind.
Decades later, having raised 5 kids in the hills over looking a large lake, I’m finding that “voluntary simplicity” has slipped into “abject poverty” … _pro bono_ for NGOs doesn’t count for much when it comes to buzz and spin and rainbow-coloured smoke.
Whether it’s OpenSource or CrowdSourcing or whatever, there’s a certain sloth at play these days. (Sloth … an antique word … “a reluctance to do the good” is how I learned it.
My 300MHz machine has developed a wierd bug (85% CPU usage constantly), I get WiFi through a very tentative arrangement (involving a wok used as a reflector), and my monitor’s going blank every couple of hours instead of every couple of days.
It’s been a long haul … and there’s rough sledding ahead of us.
stay well
You guys sure do take your policy of keeping it all out in the open seriously!
I can relate, Chris. I too am a bootstrapper in his start-up year, and I’m financing myself primarily out-of-pocket. Except that it usually doesn’t get to my pocket before it’s right back out there for expenses again.
The future is bright for CA though. You are the standard by which I will measure my own efforts. Keep up the good work, and feel free to disclose all of the great ideas you enact on behalf of your clients.
Hey Chris,
I’m still trying to figure out what it is that you do. I have a sense…I sort of think it’s interesting and try to follow along : ) only because I’m a huge fan!! How for example, and I know this is not the most important thing on your agenda, do you make money and what are your deliverables that clients come to you for? I’m interetested because I like to connect people that I know and get them working together too..so if I could understand more about what you do for clients I might be able to tell others more concisely and recommend you to people who are looking for what it is you do.
hearts,
Laura
Hey Laura,
We’re still figuring it out, but we’re primarily offering consulting services for companies who want to build organic communities, improve their products within the context of those communities or want to build tools for developers to get involved or make use of their products. That’s what we get paid for — and as much as we can give back to the larger community, that puts us in a great position to offer the best kind of work to folks who espouse our values and ideals.
We’re not head-hunters though — we’re very much about equal participation and contributions… So those who do good work for us or bring us work will end up receiving; it’s not mathematical, it’s how community works.
But like I said, we’re still figuring it all out — things look good so far, so stay tuned. I’m pretty excited to see this get off the ground and I’m thrilled to have you as a reader!
Post to Erotic Services on Craigslist… I’m sure you could make a few extra hundred in the castro
Ha.. jk. at least you have a sugar momma
Ok…. another joke
In all seriousness, cash flow is the #1 thing that will burn you in a startup (at least for me). If you can just buffer it a little bit on your credit cards.
It hit me too… the question is whether you sell out and how.
Just focus on revenue. Everything else will fall into place.
Kevin
do you have $8.95 or so by now (to buy a real domain name for your coworking site?!
Well, we set up citizenspace.us… what’s wrong with that? And now the community’s got coworking.info… Seems like we were able to scrounge up enough spare change to lock down those addresses…!
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