Day 5

Like I talked about on Saturday's change report, I am scheduled for 2 interviews today, Monday, 17th, November---With Oh Boy!Print Shop at 11am and Aces Jiu Jitsu Club at 3pm. So I left the house early, at about 9:43 am

So, I just got back to the apartment after Day 5. My interview with Oh Boy! went well, but the other one with Aces Jiu Jitsu was rescheduled. Coach Mikal had a filming crew coming over to film his new DVD and remake his website. We rescheduled for Thursday, 10 am.All in all a good day. 

Taking an early bus, I got to the neighborhood around 10:22 am, and went straight to a Jack-In-The-Box restaurant to prepare.

I had prepared a structure for my line of questions, and alloted time for each response. Here it is, below. I sat and got very clear on the questions, rewriting them down on a sheet of paper.

The Structure

35---40 minutes overall:

1 minute: Introduce myself, the owner, my project, and how I came to know the owner.

3-4 minutes:

1.Tell us a little about your company---what you guys do, where you are based, and what makes you guys unique in the marketplace.

3-4 minutes:

Tell your story---how did you get started? What got you into it? When and how did you make your first dollar?

3-4 minutes:

What did you do to grow from the beginning? What were some of the early challenges, and how did you handle it?

3-4 minutes:

Share your cookbook---what has been the principles, personal skills, collaborations, and things of chance that has made you and your business.

3-4 minutes:

What are your current goals, why, and how will they be useful to your clients? Do you have 5 year vision, or do you make it up as you go?

3-4 minutes:

Any new deals/announcements, opinions to correct, and products to release?

3-4 minutes:

What has been the most challenging part of running your own business? What has been the most rewarding?

Wrap up:

What would you tell folks who are looking to start their own thing? Is there anything else you would like to share?

Last thing: Where can people find you---online and offline?

Close and thanks

With that done, I walked to the office. Rob and Mimi welcomed me warmly, and even offered me an egg, bacon, and cheese taco he had bought for the office. Having had only taco and a small cup of tea earlier, I knew it would come in handy later since I will be talking to other business owners for about 2 hours after the interview, and would need the fuel. I saved the taco.

We sat and went over a few things on how I would like it to go, and got started.  Here's the file uploaded to my sound cloud account, and on to the project's podcast page.

Take a listen here: The Oh Boy Print Shop Convo

With the interview wrapped up, I quickly emailed it to myself to save a copy of it somewhere else. If my phone were to fall out of my pocket and get damaged, it may be difficult to recover the audio file. So I had to give it more than one home. 

But my voice definitely needs work there in the conversation. It's seems very low---I wanted my voice lower than Rob's, and I think I ended up making it too low. Well, it's my first, so hopefully it gets better. 

We were done in about half an hour, so I had the rest of the day to go meet some new owners. 

I simply walk in and introduce myself and my project, Iike you probably know by now. So onto it, to make my time count.

I stopped by Star finishes. "Try back later," the attendant told me. I went on to Mav Computers, where  I got a card to follow up with the owner. 

I noticed a lady taking her traveling bag out of her car's trunk, and dragged it over to the entrance of my next stop, Penguin Air & Home Furnishings. I asked if she worked there. "No, I don't," she said. I saw a man come to the entrance to check who the lady was talking to. 

"I hope it's not a solicitor, right?" he asked. I thought well of my project, and didn't consider myself one, but all things considered, this could be a solicitation. I introduced myself and my project, and asked to speak to the owner. "Yes," he said." I assume you are the owner," I said, to make sure. "Yes," he confirmed. 

"Well, tell you what. We are a start-up, and would be interested in something like that. But right now, we have an important meeting, and can't talk now, so let's talk it over later." He requested. I knew I had to fill my calendar with meetings to at least put me in front of owners, so I suggested we do something tomorrow, Tuesday.

"Okay," he agreed. "What time tomorrow?" I asked."Let's do 10am," he offered, and I said okay, and he went back inside. Soon as I left his door, I realized I had made a mistake---I am scheduled for an interview tomorrow with Triple J's at 10 am, and can't cancel that. I made a few more stops, and came back, when the meeting was over, to suggest that Wednesday will work better. He agreed to it.

Mr. Tim Gibbons is the owner of Penguin Air and Home Furnishings, and he gave me his card for contact. 

I spoke to D&D Rug Custom Rug Binder, whom were not interested in my project nor anything  I offered since they have so much business on hand for the holiday season. 

Ms. Sonya Miranda is the wife of the next business I spoke to. She was friendly and courteous, and listening to my project, suggested I come back to see her husband who would be a better person to talk to, and would know more about the story as the founder. "When you see a black truck parked here, come back," she said.

I made a few more stops, and saw the truck drive in.  I waited a while, and went back. Mr. Chris Miranda, was equally receptive, and even filled out my survey, complete with his information. 

But he suggested I follow up sometime next week since the rest of the week is booked on his calendar. I tried to find at least a 30 minute block on his calendar for this week for an interview, but really he was booked, as he explained his schedule a little more. I will get back to discuss sometime next week.

I went on to talk to folks at Maid Brigade, A-Tex Shredding, and Tropical Sensations. Of all three, only Tropical heard me out, and wanted to know more.

They offered me a seat, filled out my survey, and a possible time to follow up to set something up later. The lady I spoke to Ms. Sherry Powell owns the live plants and flowers business with Jim, her co-owner. Their business card calls it "plantscaping." They had started the business about 5 years ago, after both of them  left more established companies in the same industry.

How do they get clients? "We go cold calling businesses, pretty much what you are doing," she said."Okay," I said. Judging by how busy they were, and being in business for 5 years,  they've done pretty well getting business that way. 

She told me a few things about where they get their supplies---Florida, California, and Hawaii, and nothing they use is grown locally; how long she has been in the industry---since the 7o's; and how she met Jim----when both of them worked for another company. 

She was open and receptive, offering me a seat and all, and I enjoyed chatting with her. I will follow up with her later, at least to interview her, and learn more of her story.

My last but one stop was at Torres Plumbing. I met the owner, went through my intro and project, and scheduled an appointment for Thursday at 4:30 pm. I also stopped by LifeSafer, which is owned by an individual living in New York, and cannot be reached. 

I wrapped up the day and caught a bus home. Starving, I got a quick bite to eat, and sat to upload the interview and post it.

Well, Day 5 is in the bag. On to Day 6.