What I’ve been up to

Today has been awesome. This is actually the last thing on my To Do list. This never happens. I mean, sometimes I don’t even get past number two.

I have to admit, I have been in a mild funk. After my Starbucks adventure, the next round of business was to make the list of Maybes in my investor pocket into Yesses. I reallllly liked having Maybes. I could pretend that they would all be Yesses or that I would have at least enough Yesses to get this show on the road. I could daydream with a smile on my face. Ooooooh this was going to be EASY. Ha!

In the last couple of months I have been picking the investors off two by two. Each week I would commit to having two hard conversations that would each end in one of three ways: with a Yes, No, or No For Now. Long story short, I got some Noes, some No For Nows, a Yes for $1000, and one You Can Say I Am Giving You $10,000 To Get Others To Do It But Really I Won’t. *sigh* It was interesting, though, that everyone had different reasons. Mostly it was circumstances (surgery coming up, other business/investment ventures to build, waiting to see more investors show up, etc). When it wasn’t circumstances, it was valid considerations like the volatility of the restaurant and retail environment ie. the risk or the disbelief that River Falls can support the business. *snort*

And while that sounds all grim, it’s really not. Despite the “failure funk”, I have a lot of peace about being beyond those conversations. I can focus on the nitty gritty and do some things around my community. I made a list and have been knocking stuff off of it. I have been revisiting the business plan and firming up numbers.

And speaking of numbers, I had to add up my business expenses for 2011. Boy, was that eye opening. I went from starting a business with “nothing” to suddenly have thousands of dollars show up on the paper. WeatherVane Creamery now has a value, a price tag. Not to mention the intangible value of all the branding, fans, views, and other media. Suddenly the dream is a measurable entity. Pretty fricken’ cool if you ask me.

Now I am extremely close to submitting all of those fun numbers to some financial institutions. I have a good feeling about this. I just do.

In the meantime, I entered the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship with my nephew, Ben. What a trip! He was such a good chef and, despite our loss, he was a complete champion to me. I asked him if he’d go again and he said “No.” WeatherVane Creamery is now officially looking for a child aged 8 and up to represent next year. Tell your neighbors. Pictures are up at www.facebook.com/wvcreamery. Oh, and my favorite moment? When a woman from New London, Wisconsin said “You are the girl from the internet!” Who knew? I might be kinda famous.

And finally, last Friday I got the Good News. No, Jesus didn’t come back, sorry. My essay landed me the trip to the National Cheese Society Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina! It feels like winning a trip on The Price Is Right. Except that it is a CHEESE trip. I can hardly believe it. People in Colorado (why is the American Cheese Society headquartered there?) want to meet ME in North Carolina! So cool. I can’t wait.

And that’s what I’ve been up to. Oh, yeah, well and I am working on a side project called the River Falls Business Information Network and that might warrant its own blog someday. Just not today.