research, athlete training, offices, and storage of the training equipment and goods that I’ll be selling as a separate but related venture. Speaking of which, all our equipment is now within 100 miles of us and we just need to clear things with our customs broker and get everything from a port in Wilmington, NC to our storage in the triangle before we can move in to the training facility. We should be signing the lease any day now. I’ve been saying that for about 2 weeks but there were quite a few errors in the lease that needed changed and it’s held things up a little bit. In any case, I can finally see the end of having a homeless business and if all goes to plan we’ll be moving in on July 1. While dealing with customs brokers, shipping agents, property attorneys, and real estate agents I’ve also started taking on some clients. While I don’t have a facility, I’ve just been training at local high school tracks with the aim of generating some relationships that will allow me to ‘hit the ground running’ when we open our doors. I’ve also been doing a lot of web work lately. First, to bring my 2 main sites (ELITETRACK and HPC company site) closer to W3C validation standards; and 2nd to create the new ecommerce site where I’ll be selling DVDs, Books, and fitness and training equipment like squat stands, bumper plates, olympic bars, kettlebells, and glute-ham developer machines. The idea of this venture and the accompanying ecommerce site will not be to compete with the mega giants of the industry that seem to pride themselves on carrying every crapgadget and training gimmick under the sun; but instead, to provide super high quality versions of the products that are essential to well trained coaches and athletes…and provide them at unbeatable prices. Sorry for the rambling post but I wanted to give a quick update while I had a moment.

(tip 1). Number 1 backup, if you can even call it that, was the original warehouse I was going to move in to when I first checked out the triangle area. I’m not sure if this option was really fair to call a backup option since it was the original plan and I never let it slip off the radar even when it seemed as if the Impact facility partnership was a lock. The reason I kept pushing forward with this option even while it looked like the multi-million dollar opportunity at Impact was certain is because you NEVER know what’s going to happen (tip 2) and the time lines given by other people are almost always fatally optimistic (tip 3). The guy I’d be working with at this location would also be a good match for what I’m trying to do. I had also been looking for commercial real estate in the Cary area as a second backup. When Impact fell through, options 2 and 3 moved to the forefront. Temporarily. In no time at all though, the managing director from Impact who was going to bring me in (and was laid off when the new company bought operational rights) hustled his ass of to make things happen. He was on the phone, building connections, and exploring all possible alternative options. He wanted to act fast to keep our original plan intact. He was worried that I would go elsewhere and then he wouldn’t have the sports performance company he needs to create a combination medical and sports facility. He also had some other contractors from Impact who had been laid off who would be able to bring their client base with them if he acted fast to open a facility. We made Barnes & Nobles are new office, made up a new LLC, and visited every existing facility that might be interested in collaboration or sub-leasing for a temporary holdover. I appreciated working with him because he knew the business as well as I did, found a way to get things done, and had lots of connections. It really drove home the importance of surrounding yourself with people who complement what you do and do their job well (tip 4). We managed to get in to another facility but as I mentioned in a previous blog, the entire facility had already been leased and the leasors weren’t interested in sub-leasing. Seemingly bad. What happened though is that the owner of said facility tentatively agreed to build another facility from the ground up that would rival anything in the country as a comprehensive center for athletic excellence. Something like this obviously takes time though which means that I’m back to waiting for 6-9 months (also see tip 3 above). So I need a holdover facility. One that I can have for 6-12 months and get out of if necessary if and when the new facility is ready. So I went back to backup plans 1 & 2 from above. Last week I was scheduled to sign a lease and move in to a property but then I pulled the plug and decided to wait til June. Why did I do that after months of waiting to finally get going? Because I looked at my calendar for April, May and June and realized that between my graduation, teaching three USATF Level 1 schools, one USATF Level 2 school, coaching and providing sport science services at USATF National Championships and several other smaller domestic elite track and field meets, and lecturing in Beijing for a week, I would be out of town for 36 of the next 70 days….not exactly the best scenario to have when you want to put up a grand opening sign. In fact, it seemed like business suicide. With that is tip 5: know when to hold.

So that brings me to where I am now. For the first time since I’ve moved to the triangle, I actually have some sense of certainty. I’m not depending on anyone else’s time schedule or facility availability at this point. I’m looking to open doors to a training facility (either the original facility in Apex or another short term lease somewhere) in June once everything has died down enough to make it work. It might be June 1st, might be June 8th…it just depends how much I can get down between all my other commitments to prepare the facility for ‘doors open.’

So to wrap this up, business startups please take away the following:

1. Have backup plans
2. Recognize the certainty of uncertainty
3. Realize that you shouldn’t count on the time tables or promises of others
4. Surround yourself with good people
5. Know when to hold

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You’re not going to believe this! I just googled the property and it came back on some real estate site for sale. It looks like someone is trying to sell your house while you’re gone. They must be posing as the real owners while you were away. I can’t believe they’d take advantage of such a nice Christian couple. I’ve already contacted Craigslist to make sure they know and have turned the real estate agent’s name in to the local police. I also gave them your contact information and they said they’ll be in touch with you since misrepresentation about ownership of a property is a Federal offense and a cyber crime that is recognized around the world. I’d really like to move in to this house and there’s no way I’m going to let those scam artists try to sell it.

Needless to say, they never contacted me back even when I offered to make my payment. Maybe it’s because I also mentioned that the internet crimes division of the FBI needed their address in Nigeria to send them some paperwork.