Chasing A New Dream

Saturday October 20th, 2007 - Madison, WI

Productive day today. I stayed in my room most of the day and worked on my business plan. The weather was beautiful and I probably should have gotten out and enjoyed it but I was having too much fun doing what I was doing so I went with that instead. I really love this idea and I’m finding myself getting lost in it but I don’t mind at all. It’s a labor of love.

What I enjoy so much about it is that it’s starting totally from ground zero. When I began as a comedian at least there was somewhat of a set route to take. I had to rise through the ranks with other comedians who were doing the same and there were rules to follow. I did follow some of them but I was always out there doing my own thing. I discovered a lot of detours on the road and took a few of them. Radio was one and even though I got burned I still learned a lot. I also booked pro wrestling shows and that was another learning time.

I love learning but sometimes it can be VERY painful. I have a lifetime of education and this business idea will incorporate all of that into one big idea. I had to come up the ranks as a comedian and follow set standards but with this I am totally on my own and in charge. I don’t think I was ready to be in charge before and that’s why I made so many mistakes. I have learned my lessons well and with this project I feel that I am ready to get my payoff.

There are a lot of things to do and that’s what I was working on all day. I’ll need to find a lawyer and an accountant and start everything off correctly. I will get a tax number and a business bank account and stationery and business cards and a website and everything else that goes with starting a real live functioning business. That will keep me busy for a while.

The main thing is to keep immaculate records and not have tax problems. Ever. I learned my lesson over the years and had real problems with that as a lot of comedians have. Many entertainers and Americans in general have had tax problems. I am not going to let that be me ever again. It’s not that difficult to keep good records and I have learned the hard way that it’s more than worth the little time it takes to organize them. That’s a big advantage a lot of startup businesses don’t have. I had my lifetime in comedy to prepare for all of this.

What I am relying on with this business idea is my creativity and showmanship combined with salesmanship and marketing savvy. I am going to have a mail order business that sells humorous products and I am going to market it better than anyone else. There are a lot of mail order businesses and there are a lot of businesses that sell humorous products. I think there are even other mail order businesses that sell humorous products but I truly believe I can carve out a niche for myself and make a great living. I am willing to make my mistakes starting out as all businesses do but I’ve already made a lot of the big stupid ones already.

I did a lot of dumb things coming up the ladder as a comedian and that’s all part of life. It would be different if I had it to do all over again but in comedy I don’t. In mail order I do. If I do this right I’ll come out of nowhere and turn some heads and people will ask me ‘What planet did YOU come from?’ The only one who isn’t going to be surprised is me. I will come out of nowhere and in what seems like no time turn this idea into a BIG winner.

Mind you I’m saying all this not to be cocky but to put it out there in the universe so I’m able to have a point of reference to come back to later. I’m totally in sync with everything I need to be in sync with and I feel fantastic. I’m not depressed and I know this will work.
I just know it. I can’t say how I know it but I do. This is an inner feeling of radiance that I can feel as a tangible thing and I am following my inner voice or instinct or anything else it may be called. I’ve been out of sync many times and I know that feeling but this isn’t it.

My grandpa used to talk about ‘maximum effort’. He said very few people give it and it is what is required for greatness. Most people don’t care about greatness. They just try to find the easy way out and that’s human nature to a certain degree. Then there are the nuts that have to climb Mt. Everest ‘because it’s there’. Those are the ones who want greatness and I am discovering I am one of those nuts. I always knew I was a wack job but now I’m at least finding out what KIND. I’m totally finding myself with this and I’m having a blast.

Vince Lombardi talked a lot about giving maximum effort. I don’t know if that’s exactly what he called it but he preached about giving one’s all. ‘Commitment to excellence’ is the phrase I think he used and Al Davis stole it and used it for the Oakland Raiders. I have the same desire to make my business great but I am not going to be a perfectionist. That’s not realistic. I am an ‘improvementist’. I want to keep getting better as long as I am working.

This is a business where I will be able to keep improving and give maximum effort. It’s a one man operation for now and whether I hire any employees or not I will be in charge. At any given time there will be only ONE person that has the final say. Me. If it’s a success or a failure will ultimately fall in my lap and that challenge is what fuels my inner fire to do it.

It’s what the American dream is all about. Here’s a kid who came from nowhere and has an idea and turns it into a multimillion dollar entity. People want to hear that story and the media wants to report it. I want to be the one to create the story so everyone is happy. I’m on my own schedule and there aren’t any manuals for it though. I am playing it all by ear.

That’s what makes this so much fun. I was reading all day and surfing the net and seeing what other people are doing and I am not out of anyone’s league. I am excited and will be even more excited as I get it up and running. Being a comedian is still fun but driving all of those miles for low money isn’t. This will be a new challenge and I can feel the exuberance return as I see all the new things I’ll have to do to create this and make it into a real entity.

Comedy work is still coming in too. This week in Madison was out of the blue and I had fun working with my friend ‘Polish Thunder’ Tim Marszalkowski. The staff liked us and it was a pleasure to work with all of them even though crowds weren’t very big. That wasn’t our fault and they all know that. We did the job and the shows were actually a lot of fun.

This is how I have pictured that life is supposed to go. Things are working out and I’m a lot less stressed when that happens. Why they have been so hectic is a mystery to me but it seems to be calming down and I’m thrilled about that. I can feel that I’m on the right path.