A look back

Many of you know that I sold a company called Vitabase last year. Vitabase was my main focus for the past fifteen years. In fact, we built an office/warehouse for it a few miles from my house.

When I sold Vitabase, they originally wanted to stay in the building so I could be around to help with the transition. Now, 18 months later, they are preparing to move to a place closer to the owners. I have kept my offices there too but with them leaving, it makes no sense for us to stay there. It is way too big for what we do so I am going to move out too and rent the space to another company.

Today, I was packing up and going through years and years of business records. As I flipped through folders, memories flooded back. Memories were everywhere–the various vendors we used, the banks we used, the dicey legal issues, the trips we went on. Some of them seemed like a long time in the past and some of them seemed like yesterday (but weren’t).

I stumbled across this picture that I want to share. This is a picture of my first internet business back in 1999. My business consisted of one tiny desk in our tiny house in Rhode Island. That was our only computer and only desk. Our inventory consisted of those two bottles you see on the shelf. I remember being scared of my first inventory purchase of $150. I would have never dreamed at that point just how big those inventory orders would get.

I heard Barbara Corcoran recently say something on Shark Tank that resonated with me. She said that the two most satisfying things in life are raising kids and growing a business. As a Christian, I think her priorities are a bit off but I do understand her. There is indeed something intensely satisfying about growing a business, especially when you build it out of the ground. We built the Vitabase brand out of nothing into a multi-million dollar business. Here is what part of the shipping warehouse looks like today.

So as I took a look back today through fifteen years of my business life, I was a bit of emotional wreck. My family was working with me and I tried to hide it from them. I felt pride in accomplishment and I felt the alarm of realizing how fast it all went by. I felt the thrill of seeing big growth and I felt the pressure again as I saw the dark times we went through. I felt thankful for the journey but I also felt pain when I saw evidences of things I did wrong along the journey.

Folks, don’t let Shark Tank fool you. Building a business is not so glamorous. Sometimes, it is a very rough roller coaster with euphoria one day and a crushing weight on you the next day as you realize you are in danger of losing everything. Much of the time, it is just a very tough grind where you go day after day trying to hit singles and stay in the game.

I am going to drop a bit of advice on you now. Many years ago, a psychologist tested me. I found the results of that test today and as I flipped through them, I was struck by how accurate and prophetic they were. I have strengths and weaknesses like everyone but I am wired to take risks and I have the personality and skill set of an entrepreneur. I would not be happy doing anything else. I can’t imagine doing anything else. It is me.

But just because it is my thing does not mean it is your thing. It is a myth that anyone can and should be a business owner. Don’t start a business unless you have the right personality for it or it will destroy your life. Even though I have the right personality to be an entrepreneur, I still feel like the last ten years in particular have taken a lot out of me.

I am not completely walking away from internet retail of course. My music is now my focus and I sell it online. But it is still hard to say goodbye to Vitabase and that chapter of my life. I am walking away thankful. I am thankful for those years: the success during the good times and the education at the school of hard knocks during the bad times. I am thankful that we survived the mistakes along the way and that I now know better than to make those mistakes again. I am thankful that the pressure never ruined my health or my marriage. I am thankful that we never had to struggle financially personally even when the company was struggling to stay alive.

And I am thankful that we ended successfully even while so many of my entrepreneur friends that are far more savvy and talented than me lost their businesses during the difficult economic environment of the last ten years. We were protected. We were blessed.