I recently read a great newsletter article from my friends at Anchor Advisers asking entrepreneurs and business owners to share the best business decision they made in 2010. This really got me thinking, and remembering all too viscerally, some of the moments of doubt and terror that I faced in 2010 – Chicago Art Leasing's second year in business. There's probably truth to the notion that it's easy to know the right choice to make – it's always the hardest one. If I had to sum it up, I would say the best business decision I made was to staunch the flow of cash as much as possible and to keep fighting; keep bleeding.
January of 2010 was unquestionably one of the darkest and most difficult months I've lived through. Our first year in business I had survived more off of savings than off of business revenue. By January of 2010 I was coasting on fumes. The projects were coming in but not as quickly as the bills. In an act of desperation I had taken a second job as a dishwasher/bar back at a local pub to make ends meet. I would spend the days meeting with clients and making calls and the nights lugging kegs and wiping counters. It was a humbling experience to say the least. Some nights I would be so exhausted and frustrated that I'd walk home in tears, cursing the choices I had made. But it was a means to an end and even though I thought about closing things down almost every day and retreating to the security of a corporate job, I kept going. Every night I would walk North on Ravenswood and I would pass a place called Thresholds. I didn't even know what they did until recently (a charitable organization, they provide mental health services to those in need), but every time I passed the front of that office I would ask myself if I had reached my own threshold – if I was ready to throw in the towel and call it quits. And every time I would convince myself that I could keep going just a little bit longer. It took a toll on my relationships and my mental and physical well-being, but I pushed on.
In March that year we landed the consulting contract that saved the day – a relationship that has continued now for over a year and may go another 12 months or longer. In May the art leasing and sales projects started coming in faster and the economy showed some signs of recovery. Since January of 2011 we've been beating my projections – closing a new project almost weekly, with new clients including huge global companies. It looks like things have turned around, although there's still a long way to go to build the sort of organization I have in mind. I stayed the course and continued to bleed when most sane people would have walked away. It was far more of an endurance fight than a chess match, but we made it through that particular time. I'll never forget how challenging it was and I work feverishly day and night now to prevent ever being in that situation again; it seems like we've come a million miles from that point but I still shudder when I think about it. I hope I would have the courage to make the same decisions again if I had to, but I wouldn't bet on it. I'll let you know once I'm done receiving the financial transfusion.
