After 6 months of working on my new business, I’d say that about 50% of my time is spent on project management, 25% on materials and competitive research, 15% doing something creative (branding, marketing, and designing) and 10% on relationship building. Once my business launches, I wonder whether this percentage breakdown will stay the same. I really hope that my time spent on project management doesn’t increase to more than 50% of my time. I’m pretty good at project management, but I didn’t leave Microsoft just so I can master Microsoft Project and Gantt chart development.
I knocked a few things off my to-do list today: I followed up with the fabric people to make sure the sample materials are being woven, I confirmed with the leather tannery that the sample leather would be shipped soon, and I emailed the list of potential company names to my attorney. She’s going to do a preliminary trademark search to see if any conflicts arise from any of the names. There is one brand name in particular that I really like, I just hope everything is clear from a legal perspective. Once I get the attorney’s feedback I’ll meet with her about whether I need to file a new trade name, or if I can still operate as Jones Market within the state of Washington.
I’ve also put together a dummy-proof checklist of all of the materials the manufacturers will be receiving. I am hoping this inventory list will make things easier for the manufacturers, and hopefully they won’t get confused when the bag components start arriving from various vendors.
It’s 5pm. Quittin’ time. See you tomorrow.