Friday September 2nd, 2011 - Fox Lake, IL I haven’t had to deal with any crisis situations in a while, so it’s good to stay in practice. Today’s had the potential of doing a lot of financial damage, but I got it handled. It boiled down to a race against the clock, and I felt like I was in a scavenger hunt. I barely made it. What happened was, my trademark application for Uranus Factory Outlet had run out as of the end of business today. Apparently I had applied for it on this day in 2008, and I had been filing for extensions every six months since then to hold the application. Apparently that can only be done for three years, and then it has to be proven that the mark is in use. Why it boiled down to the last day I don’t know. I’ve meant to get it done for years now but life just keeps getting in the way. That’s the reason, even though it’s not an acceptable excuse. I could have done it had it been a priority, but I allowed it to rot. I’m embarrassed but also motivated because I stood to lose about $2000 I’ve invested to keep it registered. Some other guy in Florida had filed for a trademark to use the word Uranus for pairs of ladies underwear. It was blocked pending the outcome of my application, and had I let the deadline pass, I’d have had to get back in line behind him, even though I had filed first. In a perfect world, this all would have been taken care of years go, but it wasn’t. My fault. I needed to get a sticker or label that said ’Uranus Factory Outlet Clothing’ and put it on one of my t-shirts. Then, I had to email a picture to my trademark attorney and he then put in the paperwork to keep the trademark in my possession. It took some running around for a couple of hectic hours, but I managed to get it done with his help. It was a wake up call. If I’m going to do this, I’ve got to DO it. No more excuses. I have to totally immerse my whole being in this project, at least part of every day. It’s not my number one priority just yet, but that’s only because it isn’t brining in any revenue. When it does, this is my career. I am a now a mail order entrepreneur who sells funny products via a website. I’ll still do live shows, but those will be phased out more and more as the business grows. I intend to shift my focus to the internet, and my shows will be put there and used to sell my product line. It’s a similar principle of doing what I’ve been doing, but I’ll get to ease off the road. There’s SO much to do with this, as I’m starting from ground zero. I knew that from the start, and maybe that’s why I’ve let it sit dormant this long. Maybe I was intimidated a bit then, but not anymore. This kick started me and I’m ready to launch it with all my energy. I have to dust off everything I’ve had sitting around, and make at least a few hours each day available to keep building until money starts coming in. That actually shouldn’t be all that long, as I’ve got a lot of the groundwork laid. Jim McHugh has been a huge help too. The main thing is, this project is FUN. It’s educational too, but I wanted to learn how to run a business and every day I learn something. Today I learned to stop procrastinating.
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