Small business is the engine of our economy. Each small business owner contributes horsepower. I have been a piston in this engine since 2003.

When I was asked to write about how my business began, my first reflex was to share that window of time when I officially brought the pieces together and opened the doors. But after more thought, I realized I was in business well before a traceable starting point.

The Blake Project, a brand consultancy was alive at my very first thought of it.

My proof: The ideas taxed me. I realized a high mental profit. I was confident and doubtful. The business was built and re-built many times in my mind.

Based on this, I was in business even if no one else knew it.

I have a hunch that when defined this way, many of you have also been in business much longer than the records show.

There is a story about the assembly of the nuts and bolts of my company. Let me reserve that for another time. I want to share about my key business influencer. That one major inspiration that helped spark my idea and energize its leap into the real world.

I can trace my key influencer back to my roots.

The 1970’s were not the best of times for women in business. It was very much a man’s world. Barriers were set high enough to help keep it that way. My mother, Pat, and her business partner, Ruth, were determined to scale those walls and capture their American Dream.

An Unmet Need
The setting was rural Maine, 1978. Pat was a single mother who had spent the past five years driving a school bus to support a family of four. Ruth was a nurse at a local veteran’s hospital. In small windows of time they came together to map out their vision of a company that catered to the ‘well retired’. Their idea was not a nursing home. Being able-bodied and in good health was one of the main requirements to live there. It was a very unique concept. And there was a need. If you were 96 and in good health but were unable to live alone, a nursing home was most likely your final destination. Pat and Ruth were determined to offer an alternative.

Determination
The two women pooled their funds. They still didn't have enough to buy the weathered Victorian mansion they felt would suit perfectly. So they began to search for a lender. Bank number one rejected them. Soon after bank number two followed. They began to fear that two women and a business venture did not appeal to most lenders. When two more banks rejected them they were certain of it. But with resolve and belief in their idea, they tried again and on their fifth attempt they beat the odds to become the first two women to be approved for a business loan at that institution in the State of Maine.

Implementation
Now fueled with their ideas and funding their vision could make its leap into reality. They opened a pre-cursor to what we know today as assisted living. It was aptly called The Victorian Manor.

Pat, pondering the days business. Circa 1981

Over the next decade I witnessed the challenges and rewards of small business. It’s a classic story of pioneers; some days they get arrows, others, more land.

Momentum
In 1995 they retired 10 years early having succeeded with The Victorian Manor, a construction company, a health club, a restaurant, and a business consultancy. Fittingly, their first success would create momentum for others. A natural progression when the right formula is achieved.

From those very first thoughts of The Blake Project I often referenced the evolution of Pat and Ruth’s business. How would my concept stand under similar circumstances? Would reality welcome my vision?

I side-stepped those doubts when taking inventory of what I had learned, and discovered a cliché pile with true meaning:

-Don’t be afraid of barriers. There is a way around them or over them.
-If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
-If the answer is no, ask again, or ask someone else.
-If you’re waiting a long time for help, realize you are most likely the help that was sent.
-Believe. Most of history’s greatest achievers were called crazy...at first.
-Choose your partners wisely.
-If it’s not worth risking for, it’s probably not worth having.
-Let resistance be a motivator.

When you can, leverage the experience of your ‘roots’. They helped bring you to your starting point, and may help your vision materialize.

Gratitude
Finally, thank your key influencers whomever or whatever they may be.

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