From the Editor – October 2007 eBiz Insider Magazine. Download the complete issue as a PDF by clicking here.
Our Editor, Kevin Lynn hits me with that phrase whenever I’m having a bad day or complaining about my work load or making up a new excuse why my column is late – again. He’s right. It ain’t easy being king. If you’re a business owner you know what I’m talking about.
It seems that no matter what happens in business, it never turns out the way I thought. It’s always harder than I thought, takes longer than I thought and contains some surprise that no one, least of all me, expected.
In addition to my duties as Editor in Chief of this magazine, I’m also the president and cofounder of a web design and e-commerce solutions company, Solid Cactus. My main responsibility there lies in my real strengths of public relations and event planning.
Kings get to do the stuff they like, right? So you’d think I’d be thrilled when we found Solid Cactus had just been named to the Inc 500 as the 255th fastest growing private company in 2007. Right. When the announcement came down, I had all of one day to organize a press conference, round up the media, alert our local Congressman, write press releases and coordinate website changes with our marketing department so our announcement was timed exactly with the official release from Inc Magazine. Talk about stress!
Kings get to make things happen, right? The Inc. Magazine moment no sooner ended when I was up to my elbows planning and organizing our next Solid Cactus Boot Camp @ HQ. Our last Boot Camp happened just 3 months ago on an ocean liner and I’m already booking hotel rooms, conference space, guest speakers, and working out last minute details to ensure a first-class experience. My fingers hurt from the dialing and typing.
Kings get to do the cool big picture stuff, right? I’m managing the relocation of our company headquarters. We had our new location nailed down, I thought. Suddenly construction estimates were way over the early numbers. Suddenly, six months of planning was out the window and we were being told to be out of our current “home” by the end of March.
Office space isn’t the problem. Everyone has a lease and a bargain until I drop my bombshell. I need 250 parking spaces. All of a sudden, there’s nowhere to move!
Then the governor called and it was fun being king again. After all, we’re a tech company nestled in the middle of a blue-collar area that is trying to shake its image as an old coal town. High-paying technology jobs in Northeastern Pennsylvania make us a real player. Kind of like, you know, kings! Still, there are kings and there are kings, so when the Governor says he’s coming to town to announce he’s helping with our project, I go into overdrive. Again.
Meetings are called, blueprints are dusted off, developers are brought in on conference calls, all in a rush to figure out where our new home will be. Two days before the governor’s visit our site was chosen, the parking spaces were counted and a deal was brokered. Construction starts immediately in order to start a phased move-in beginning in January.
I don’t know if my crown is crooked from all the running around, but my title seems to have morphed from cofounder and president to chief cook and bottle washer. One minute I’m wearing a hard hat and checking on contractors as they feverishly work to finish our space, the next I’m organizing press activities for a ribbon cutting, then I’m putting finishing touches on and run the Boot Camp and oh, did I mention I realized I had no time and cancelled my vacation cruise?
It ain’t easy being king, but damn, it’s busy!
