Well, here I go again. By rough count this would be the fifth or sixth time I’ve kicked off a business venture (not counting my many youthful entrepreneurial endeavors). After graduating from RISD in 1991 I started a freelance illustration business which did fairly well. That lead to a season of producing my own line of letterpress-printed greeting cards and broadsides using my own wood engravings on my Vandercook proof press. That one did not work out so well. So I took a full time job in advertising for the steady paycheck.
After my first agency experience I returned to freelance design and illustration for a brief time, but with a second child on the way I accepted a generous offer from another advertising agency. It was through that job (way back in the days before Netscape!) that I begin my web design company Newfangled Web Factory. The original name of Newfangled, was “Old Fashioned and Newfangled Graphics.” That’s because in the early days I was alternating between writing HTML and working on fine-press projects. Surprisingly the demand for websites dramatically outpaced the demand for wood engraving, so soon the “old fashioned” part got dropped.
Newfangled was where I really learned how to run a business. It was fun, frantic, and frustrating but in the end very fruitful. In 2009 Mark O’Brien, an employee, and I entered into a long term process of transitioning ownership which we completed in 2013. In between those years I began a short lived consultancy called Agency Critique focused on helping design and advertising agencies use their websites effectively. But in the midst of starting that service I felt the call back into ministry and began the process of planting Redeeming Grace Church in Durham, NC (not sure if that counts as another business venture but it did have some of the same facets as starting a business). I’m still pastoring at Redeeming Grace but now that I’ve gotten my feet underneath me in pastoral ministry I am kicking off the consulting business which I have hoped to pursue alongside my ministry.
It’s a familiar feeling starting a new business. There is the fun part of crafting the positioning and service offering. There’s the fearful part of not knowing if it will be successful. There’s the excitement of starting with a first client, and the reality that getting that first client can be the hardest part. I’m also curious about how this endeavor will compare with some of the others. In this case I’m already a salaried pastor, and I have plenty of start up capital from selling Newfangled. Will my lack of financial desperation hurt me or help me? Proverbs 16:26 says,“A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.” On the other hand if I had not been successful in my business, why would I think I had anything to offer other business owners? We’ll see.
For now I’m mostly looking forward to helping others. When I reflect on my work at Newfangled, I think that was my most driving motivational force. Helping clients, helping business partners, and even helping my employees thrive and grow in their roles. So building a consulting and mentoring business hits the sweet spot of all the things I enjoyed in business.
If you are a small business owner in a project-oriented, professional services business, particularly in the design, internet or marketing industries who could use some help, let’s talk.