Important lessons

Indelible Adventures has a busy summer planned with trips planned to Minneapolis, New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale and of course my annual trip to Italy in September.  I'm also available for personalized Photography tours of Toronto if you're in the city and want to experience Urban art at its best - email me at terence@indelible-adventures.com

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Since starting my business last September I've learned a couple of invaluable lessons around what to do, but also what not to do.

I realized early on that I needed help with my new business, and that I couldn't effectively do everything required to be successful and have a life, which was the whole point of creating Indelible Adventures in the first place. ☺

Clearly there are a number of challenges when you start a new business; one of the most common issues for a start up is having enough working capital to do the things that need to be done to build the business.  It's the age old question, no matter the size of the business that you're running; whether it's a mom & pop shop or a major corporation.  With limited funds where do I spend to have the greatest impact on my business?

Out of the gate I felt that having a solid online presence would set me up for some level of visibility on which I could build.  So my first priority after incorporation was to create a website to at least get to a baseline, then go from there. After securing a number of quotes from local agencies and web developers I decided to “offshore” the development of my site to a firm in India via an ex-colleague.  My website requirements were rather straight forward but the local quotes I received were multiples of the expected range. I'd had experience using an offshore model during my consulting days so I felt confident that I could make it work.  Yes, my cockiness was my achilles heal on this one! 

As with many ventures of this nature it’s all about the relationships that you create between yourself and your team, but being so far away from the team and not really having a solid relationship with the team lead or his organization prior to the arrangement I soon felt at a distinct disadvantage and now in too deep to back out, even though my senses were telling me otherwise...  Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing???  

The first of many red flags was the team's willingness to commit to dates without really understanding the scope and nature of my full requirements.  I soon realized that I was likely one of their first customers...but again this realization was too late.  The team constantly promised me delivery dates for core features and functions, and more often than not missed these dates by a wide margin.  In addition the volume of simple errors that should have been picked up before sending it to me for user testing was maddening.  These errors often took many cycles to resolve which added to my level of frustration. Grrrrr!

Eventually after three months I had a functioning website, albeit the team had promised it to me in a month. Its not all doom and gloom, the positive thing is that the website is relatively stable but not really what I had expected or had in my mind's eye when I had drafted the requirements. There are still a number of important features that the site doesn't have - for example the ability to sell my book, photography, or register for one of my photography tours.  The company quoted me an exorbitant amount to add this feature after the fact so I've had to rethink my entire web strategy.  Why would I pour more money into a site that I'm just "okay" with - clearly it doesn't make sense.  Next time I'm going for quality no if's, and's or but's.

Lesson learned - don't scrimp on the important things that position you and your brand.  

One of the most positive experiences I've had is hiring my PR agent – Jessica form Upon a Star Books Inc.  From the moment I met her for coffee she’s been both an inspiration and a dynamo in terms of getting me lots of opportunities to be in the spotlight including two book signings with Indigo (largest bookseller in Canada), one of these at their flagship store at Bay & Bloor in downtown Toronto in a prime Sunday afternoon slot.   Add to this a couple of press releases, interviews and photo ops,  In addition, earlier this week she was able to get me on the Daily Toronto morning television show on Rogers Channel 10 hosted by Val Cole.  It was a fantastic opportunity for exposure by both introducing my book, as well as talking about a topic very near and dear to my heart – “the Myth of Work-Life Balance”.  As you may recall I recently wrote blog as well as a LinkedIn article which both garnered strong readership and feedback, a very popular topic indeed.

After we concluded the on-air interview another of Val’s guests, the extremely talented singer/songwriter Amanda Martinez who had listened to my interview offstage wanted to exchange a copy of her latest CD for my book, which I happily agreed to.  In addition, a couple of the crew were also interested in getting a copy of my book so a wonderful experience overall.  Thanks so much Jess!

Our latest, and scathingly brilliant plan has been to approach Barnes & Noble in New York about the possibility of a couple of book signings in Manhattan, especially given that much of my loyal readership is based in the US and notably in New York.  Ideally the optimal time for me would be around Father's day given that the underlying roots of my book germinated during the time with dad before he died and so a definite connection to Father's day.

While we're in New York her plan is to continue to hustle and generate additional buzz and media opportunities, which undoubtedly will happen knowing Jessica's drive and energy. 

Lesson learned - always hire for passion and energy! ☺

As I reflect on these two important lessons I realize that what makes the difference in any venture is the people that you surround yourself with.  Sometimes the emperor needs to be told that he has no clothes and it's hard to do when you don't have trusted advisors and people around you provide input, guidance and advice.  


Stay tuned as I continue to expand and broaden my network of influencers, advisors and energetically positive people.

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This week I'd like to share with you two sets of images.  The first are a couple from my TV appearance on the Daily Toronto show with the second grouping of images from a photoshoot I had last weekend both in High Park to see the blossoms, as well as more urban art that I uncovered as I walked along Bloor Street.  Enjoy!

Getting ready to go on-set for my on air interview

On-air with Val Cole - host of the Daily Toronto show

With the incomparable singer-songwriter Amanda Martinez

TW and Jessica at the Daily Toronto show

The Cherry blossoms in High Park

The gardens at High Park

Vibrant street art on Bloor

Colossal murals along Bloor Street 

A massive mural at the Eritrean Cultural Center on Bloor

The car park mural at Bloor near Ossington 

Brightly colored summer footwear for sale

Gorgeous flowers on Bloor

Honest Ed's on the corner of Bathurst and Bloor
an institution for over 70 years

Honest Ed's - the end of an era

Inside Honest Ed's it's a throw back in time 

These classic old school signs adorn the walls outside in the alley way

I don't think the 1940's ever left Honest Ed vernacular

Crazy...

We'll only see these for another year before its torn down to
make way for a new condo tower - such a shame!

Honest Ed's wasn't the only old school thing I found on my walk along Bloor
an early original Vespa