OK, there's basically two things I'd like to get into words. One is that I'm boggled at the notion that people can express an interest in doing something they're convinced is "good" or "right" or "necessary" or whatever and then not actually follow through with the simple, day-to-day process of communicating and moving forward with that thing, whatever it may be. More on this in a bit. The second is that I've come to recognize that there is what amounts to about 3 months' time remaining for me to work here in New Orleans and after that, it's bite the bullet time. Move back to New York with little or no money in hand, little or no prospect for immediate employment, BUT have a Plan. And a man with a Plan is a wonderful thing! The plan, of course, is to establish the Spirited Raven Energy Coop. To wit, I have embarked on the process of developing the essential presentation of the Business Plan. Time is of the essence. I have only a few short months to get this done, have it polished and packaged and ready to launch when I return. I have to begin NOW.
Back to the first point. On a practical level, I've been making efforts to do two things in the past couple weeks. The first has been to communicate more openly with the people who'd solicited David Blume to come to Ithaca and deliver his Ethanol Workshop this past September. I was directed to one of these folks and she earnestly seems willing to help me get integrated with their group. The frustrating thing, however, has been the near-total lack of follow-through. Everyone's always gung-ho at first and then things fizzle. And I mean quick! The same holds true in the second case in point: The Alcohol Can Be A Gas (ACBAG) member forum. Now, this is supposed to be a group of people who are self-described enthusiasts about ethanol and are either interested in it for intellectual/hobby reasons or are, like me, interested in pursuing this as a real community scaled fuel making venture. Given that assumption, you'd think my repeated pleas for feedback on who's doing cooperatives in other parts of the country would render at least a morsel of information! To date the only person I've managed to find who's actually doing this in the same sense that I've been describing to myself and others is the only person who's actually been responsive to my inquiries and furnished some good feedback.
And therein lie the lesson. Like so much else in life, there must be a winnowing of the grain from the chaff. There are those who espouse and profess to be "into" some thing or another but are, in fact, only observers. The vast majority are spectators. There aren't really that many players on the field. And you know what? That's just fine by me. The less people who actually want to pull this cart through the mud means there's that much more room for the likes of me to actually see this through without the competition of others. They'll gladly hand the reins over to me and say "Drive this buggy, bro!" Giddy up.
As for the Business Plan. A few things to be mentioned in brief as notes about what's been learned. Keep it brief. If the presentation is to be done in PowerPoint, it should not exceed 10-12 slides. K.I.S.S. as the Old Man used to say... There are different audiences and differing circumstances with differing time limitations. The number of people being sold on the subject at a given time may be widely variable. The bottom line is ALWAYS BE CLOSING. Regardless of whether it's a single person or a stadium full, the intent is to make the sale.
Oh, you didn't realize that was what we're doing here? Selling? That is EXACTLY what we're doing. We are selling an idea and we are gaining the trust and INVESTMENT of people in this enterprise. I must make the sale and follow through with the goods. This is the essence of what this is all about. Making a sale and following through with the goods. Make the sale and follow through with the goods!! DEFINE that and DO that.
The marching orders for me this week are as follows: Correspond with the gentleman from Sonoma County who's actually doing a cooperative and has bothered to write me back with information and enthusiasm AND produce a draft story-board of the KISS version of the PP presentation of the Spirited Raven business plan. Also, I'll take some time assembling more web-found photos for a gallery of images to draw on.
Rock on!
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