The Year of Growth
I am excited to announce I’ve been accepted into the 6 month Bunker Labs + WeWork Veterans in Residence business incubator program starting this January! 2021 will be the year I take my business to the next level!
Its been a while since my very first story. I had a hard time figuring out how I was going to go about writing stories for my business. This is really hard for me since I am a electrician not a writer. However I want to share my experience. I want to give a honest representation of my journey to employee to business owner. I will begin with not giving up. You will fail. It will happen a lot. Its a requirement for growth. If you don’t the chance of failure you will never improve. A few months ago long before I even knew Bunker Labs was a thing. I applied for the Street Shares Foundation Veteran small business Award.
This was a big thing for me because it would get my name out to the public on a nation level and it came with cash prizes for getting into the top three with first place receiving a $15,000 Grant to put towards my business. There where a few requirements that needed to be fulfilled just to complete, one requirement was to make a short video pitch about your business. I won’t go into detail but I did a horrible job with the first video draft and enlisted the help of some good friends to make a some what quality video. I took me a nearly two weeks to finish it. In the end I was one of 160 entries. With 3 of when winning anything. However if you look at it from a different perspective. I had to develop some new skills (very poor new skills being self taught on the fly), and entering a contest that was a nation challenge with only 160 applying. I never even made it to the finals but I did compete . I will be entering the challenge next year.
While working on that contest, I was also nominated for a business award by my local Chamber of Commerce.
I faired so much better in this contest. I actually made it to the finals in the “Launch” Award Division. However I was clearly out classed. It was fun and the food at the ceremony was great. When I entered these two contests I started to get a little confident in myself. I believed I could win. Which led me to apply for the Veterans in Residence business incubator program. It was by chance that I even heard the name Bunker Labs. I receive an email from a veteran outreach program that helps veterans start businesses. At this time I already knew I lost the first contest. By the time my application made it past the first round of approval for Veterans in Residence, fell short of winning the Chamber of Commerce Business Award. Who am I kidding I knew the chances of winning was low. Everyone was so much better. I did not feel dread, rather it was encouraging that people believe I was good enough to enter and possibly win.
This makes me 0–2 right now. Veterans in Residence was my last chance out of the 3 major tries. It was going to be my only chance if I failed but it would have been a real bummer if I lost there too. But I didn’t after a few weeks connecting with other hopefuls with no idea of what Bunker Labs is even looking for I made it into the 2021 Cohort. I was so happy. 3 big tries 2 loses and one victory. For many people this would be seen as a major lost and not worth the effort. I disagree every move I made be it a lost or a victory has pushed me closer to my goal and that’s what matters. “It the journey not the destination” right? I think, not really sure on that one. I will ask my mentor on that one. In the end it all comes down to not giving up. Just remember in business no matter how many times you fail, you only need to get it right once.
