I applaud you as well James!  This is a journey that is even exciting for us on the sidelines...so, I can't even imagine what it must be like for you.  As always...I'm sending you all positive vibes!

Truly exciting news, James. I admire your perseverance.

Thank you for the kind words,

I had to learn how start my financials. I mean the Accountant will build them out but I had to start him with good information. 

I created:

1) Product build procedures 

2) Hiring Schedule

3)1 year sales projections

4) 3 year Projections

5) Startup costs

All before the accountant said "Wow, There is a lot of work here for me to do." Now he wants the estimates and quotes to put with the financials. This is super intense!

They wont be complete until the end of March. Ugh! The waiting!!! but I am preaching to the choir on waiting aren't I? 

How exciting Chappy!!  So happy for you... you've really hustled and made this happen.  I'm proud for ya!

In the eloquence of literary employment that I am certain Mr. Chapman will appreciate;

"Get 'er done!"

Kim,

Yes, hustle has been a necessity and I think the hardest thing I have encountered is "singularity." As an "inventor" I have and I think most of us try to solve MANY problems. It is our common trait that we all share.

Having a single focus means that I did not pursue my bubble invention... Instead I focused the time I would have spent on building my business plan and creating my sales forecast which is much less fun than if ideating on new solutions. I had a really good one and it is still on my mind. I MUST focus though.

Speaking to this tendency, I have been asked to a meeting with an electric motorcycle company looking to open manufacturing in the US. Whoah and wow!

But that only happened because of my singularity of focus on electric watercraft. I have no idea where it might go but I am open to all possibilities.

Jacob, 

The eloquence of your vernacular serves a talisman upon the summit we all are perservere to achieve!

Gettin it!

Wow, that's really cool Chappy!  So many exciting things coming around for you nowadays.

Focus is a real struggle for me, and it seems to be getting worse.  Too many distractions, I suppose.  It's hard to forego things you want to do in order to do the stuff you have to do, but that's life - there's always time for fun later.   I imagine that doing what you're doing has to give you a level of satisfaction that most of us never experience, and that's gotta be worth the sacrifices.  Party on!

Kim,

The day with the French Electric Motorcycle company was crazy in a good way! It turned out to be not one, but 3 companies that came to Florida to pitch their products that they want to manufacture in Florida.

I was one of 5 panelists invited to weigh in on the pitches. It was a company with an App, A Fruit Juice and the Motorcycle company. What a fun day. They pitched from 10am to noon and then we came back for Q&A in the afternoon.

After the pitches, we had a chance to give some comments and ask questions sort of like Shark Tank. Out of the 5 of us 2 worked for the county 1 worked for our local university and there were 2 of us from the private sector.

The other private sector guy's name is Stefan and he was being especially hard on our french guests about their numbers like Kevin O'Leary. He was hitting them with production costs, burn rates, customer acquisition costs, rates of repeat customers, sell through rates (fruit juice). He was tough and it came off as belittling to me. Especially with the language barrier. They had a translator but man was he tough.

Well, it became a bit of a battle between he and I. You probably couldn't imagine that, right? 

I asked a lot of questions that promoted the strengths of the products and pointed to where the products could be better. I did this because I knew that if it was a good product that could be produced at the right price with a large enough market that the people in the room would do the heavy lifting in making their products market ready! We were in the Naples accelerator, that's what they do!

In the afternoon Stefan did a presentation. He turned out to be the only investor in the room. All of a sudden things started to make a lot of sense. At the conclusion of his talk about how important numbers are and presenting with energy there were no questions... He pointed at me and said, "any questions?" I said "uh, no." and proceeded to feel 2" tall. 

When he concluded and the session broke up for Q&A I was stormed by people. The News Press, the French Entrepreneurs, the University  and people from the accelerator... I only wanted to talk to Stefan because he is an investor who likes the technology sector... I need to mend fences.

The day was incredible. I caught Stefan, I knew my numbers, He was going paddle boarding on Friday... bottom line, we have lunch planned for next week. I was invited to the University to oversee some of the students' solar based products. I met with 2 international liaisons who want to discuss my international growth plans in Europe and South America for the Bay Glider.

If there was a dream day I could ever go back and live again... it would be the day before yesterday!

That's fantastic!  You're becoming the expert to go to, and that carries a lot of weight with it.  Congrats!!

James, that's AWESOME!  A lot of people think the 'destination' is the best part of the venture.   I and many others think it is the 'journey' along the way that makes it more memorable.  Enjoy the ride!

((((COLONEL!!!)))) Long time no hear... Busy with that move and all your other "stuff"? Good seeing you. You don't thaw out until spring, I know. Good to see you survived hibernation!

Ralph, 

I agree with you whole heartedly. I like to cherish the moment. When good happens feel it, recognize it, share it so to not forget it any time soon.

Kim, 

I don't know about "expert" but it is certainly a great feeling. I received my official invite to tour Florida Gulfcoast University's newly opening "Emerging Technologies" facility next Tuesday and sit down with the Director of their entrepreneurship program to discuss a role moving forward... I am honored to have this opportunity for sure.