When I started this idea over a year and a half ago, oh the dreams I had. Tatewick Enterprises was going to be the vehicle through which all my entrepreneurial explorations would start. I was going to post weekly/monthly updates. I was going to treat this like a private equity firm. Stick it to the man and show that empires can still be built from the ground up with blood, sweat, and tears. Then I proceeded to try and start two of the worst businesses to start and the war has been raging ever since. Though a lot has happened, I still have my conviction. So, I am back for the first time to finish what I started.
I launched Tatewick Treats in the fall of 2016. What people don’t tell you is that I started working on Tatewick Treats in the spring of 2016. I set the company up, got the domains, made a logo (technically used Fiverr, which is a whole other rant about how Fiverr is just the online version of the crackhead who offers to do or sell you stuff for 25 cents), and thought I was ready to go. Now I knew I needed to use a commercial kitchen. I assumed that would be a simple process. Oh, the bureaucracy! To get your permit you must have a letter of intent from a licensed kitchen. You also need a food safety manager certification. To get that you need to take a class and pass an exam. Ok, so done and done. I’ll just file my paperwork and be on my way. (Oh BTW, taking a food safety class totally sheds light on why food businesses fail. The things we must do to protect your precious stomachs and protect us from lawsuits is ridiculous at best.) No, you’re not done. You need to also file a list of what you’re making and the ingredients you’re using so that a health inspector can review it. No part of this process is clearly laid out anywhere and it’s very annoying. Mind you I’m just starting a pop-up to do markets and festivals, God help me when I go to open a store. So, by the time fall came around I had missed the farmer’s market season altogether, but was finally ready to do our first market (don’t forget you need insurance). It was a brutally slow start, but Tatewick Treats is still alive, and we are now working to solidify the foundation and bake in some slow steady growth.
Now at the same time I was also working on an investment consulting start up. This was going to be my baby, my crown jewel. To even start marketing your services you need to register as a person and a firm with the state and pass a regulatory exam. Registering with the state is so cumbersome that there are companies that exist purely to go through the process for you. And this whole thing was a failure before it even started so I’m sooooo glad I went through all that hassle. All is not lost though, as you will see I’m taking another crack at it.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. You quit your job to chase dreams. You have a few false starts. You get knocked around. You burn through all your resources. You even start applying for jobs again because you’re in full survival mode and you have real adult responsibilities. Weird things happen when you start staring into the abyss. Visions start to crystallize, disappointments become anger which become fuel for the conviction that you do, in fact, have what it takes. You will all have this moment, because you will all fail, because there is no success without it. I respect you failure, but we just don’t see eye-to-eye.