About a month ago, I posted about working with a friend up in Detroit to build a video production company called Bonanza. This was my next step after parting ways with the company I worked for in June.
I started a blog series called Building a Business where I documented what I was doing to build the business every day. We closed some deals, implemented some systems, and had a ton of fun. It was new, it was fresh, and it was exciting. My plan was to co-own this business and help drive it to $1M in revenue by the end of 2018.
The initial trip up to Detroit was designed as a month-long test period to answer all the questions that could only be answered by firsthand experience. Do we work well together, is this something I want to be doing, how am I able to push the business forward?
After three weeks, I realized it wasn’t the right fit. My business partner and I had a difficult but liberating discussion over a beer, and we parted ways on great terms. There were many factors that went into this decision, but it boils down to one thing that I’ll touch on towards the end of this post.
I intentionally jumped into that venture very quickly because I believe that the more time I spend thinking about what I should do, the less time I have to actually do things. I never would have known it wouldn’t be a good fit if I didn’t dive into it head first. It would remain an unanswered question.
What I write about here on this blog is the the reality of my life. I’m not living a predetermined path. I’m walking through an unknown forest, charting my path as I go. I take wrong turns often, but each time I do, I learn more about myself and become better equipped to make a better decision the next time.
I may appear sporadic and unprepared, but those are the very things I value and celebrate about the life I’m creating. I call it exploring, chasing freedom, experimenting, testing new things, going off on limbs, stepping into the unknown, challenging myself, and pushing my limits. I will not live any other way.
I would rather decide quickly and find out I’m wrong than remain undecided.
I left Bonanza because it wasn’t mine. It already had momentum, employees, and cash flow, and even though I was planning on being an “owner,” I didn’t feel like I truly owned the vision. I’ve done many entrepreneurial things since I dropped out of college, but I’ve always had some sort of fallback plan.
This leads me to the next unanswered question that is driving me. What happens when I burn the ships behind me?
I don’t have a job, a business partner, a chunk of savings, or any sort of safety net. I have big dreams for the business I want to build, but I’m starting from square one: doing photography and videography for people. Maybe I’ll fail for a few years, get fed up, and get a job. Maybe I’ll crush it and help millions of people in the process of building my vision. There are some things that cannot be learned out of a textbook or by hearing an inspiring story. There are some things that must be experienced first hand. This is one of them.
To quote my friend TK Coleman from his chapter in Why Haven’t You Read This Book?, “Go get your answers, young man.”
If you want to talk more, email me at scfraser4@gmail.com.