"If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks, and that means you're not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more chances to learn and win." -John Holt Jr.
The first anniversary of winning the Willamette Angel Conference is coming up. I got a call today from the local paper, wanting to hear how it has gone since last year. I was surprised to be remembered, as the WAC has all but given up on me, so much so that I haven't even been invited to join this year's contest.
The year has been full of successes and challenges, steps forward and a couple back, like the lives most of us lead. Actually not to boast, but our team is more effective than ever before. We have grown sales by 40% over last year at the same time.. We added some 40 big customers and hundreds of new outlets for our products,.We have relocated to a organic certified lab and are on our way to certifying our product. My first book was published and will be launched nationally in the fall. We had and lost a management team and are close to finding a better match. We are being considered by investors all over the state.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the WAC for helping to make all of this possible. We would not be where we are today if they hadn't believed in us. We have not achieved our full plan yet, but we are more ready than ever before to scale Good Clean Love to stores nationwide. We can already feel the strain on cash flow at growing at just 40%- Ramping up to 200 % growth of more can only succeed by a well-funded and well-executed plan.
We also have a revised and updated a plan that was completed with the help of our MBA intern's marketing class- We like to call Ben our CFO in training. I hope I have enough capital to retain him when he graduates. All in all, at this anniversary I am celebrating and feeling at ease.
In lieu of being invited to their party, I am making one of my own- and I am going to give away lube , some free gifts and free books. Stay tuned for the details. Coming to a town near you soon.
