We shot our Indiegogo video today! And a special announcement…

As you might have heard we have been planning on running an Indiegogo campaign for a while.  This will be a great way to raise some awareness about who we are and what we’re trying to accomplish.  Not only will this video be great publicity but we could also raise some money which is pretty cool too.  Having a successful campaign legitimizes your market and shows a proof of concept.  In other words, we can go to investors and show them we aren’t crazy and that there is a community of people ready to support us.  Making this campaign a success is kind of a big deal.

Today we met up with Jena’s cousin Paul to shoot our Indiegogo video.  Paul and his wife Kelly run Central Studios together shooting videos and photography for weddings, businesses, or whatever the occasion might be.  In this case we were shooting a crowd funding video for Indiegogo and Paul was all over it.

We met up at The Estate On Second in downtown Santa Ana around 10am this morning.  The owner’s of the building are currently renovating but allowed us to use the upstairs.  We brought our chairs along and found a nice little nook by a window where Paul set up his gear.

I gotta admit, Jena and I were nervous at first.  How often are you in front of a video camera?  We felt the pressure a bit but didn’t fold and delivered some Oscar worthy performances.  Haha…YA RIGHT!  We weren’t shining like stars in Hollywood but we pulled through.  Paul was great at directing the flow of what we were talking about and giving us ideas.

When we were done shooting the interview segments we headed over to Beach City Brewery where Glenn and his crew allowed us to shoot some beer porn.  We got some cool shots of beer being poured for what Paul called, “B-Roll,” whatever that means.  We had never been there before and jumped on the opportunity to taste some local brew.  Their Hang 5 IPA and PCH Pale Ale turned out to be my favorites.

All in all it was a successful day and we can’t wait to see the finished product.  As soon as it’s done we’ll be blasting it everywhere and we hope you all can spread the word or contribute to our dream.

Oh and what’s the special announcement you ask?

Yepp that’s right.  We’re pregnant!  Jena is due on July 27th.  So unfortunately for her she won’t be going to tastings or bottle shares with me for a while but that’s okay.  And I thought I was motivated to get this business off the ground before, right?

Cheers!

It’s getting REAL

Since starting this business I’ve been excited.  I think about it constantly.  I’ve made it a goal to do something every day to further the business whether it be writing a blog post or updating our facebook, twitter, and instagram.  But something I haven’t been is nervous.  I’m now starting to feel nervous.

The fact that our business plan is done makes it real.  The next step is getting in front of people I don’t know and pitching our idea to them.  I have to be honest…I’m scared.  I’m scared of what they’ll think, how they’ll judge me, I don’t want to hear, “No.”

But this is life.  There’s a saying that every No will eventually lead to a Yes.  It’s getting through all those No’s that seems daunting.  This business is my baby.  It’s my idea, it’s who I am.  Someone telling me it’s not good enough or it doesn’t make sense to them will feel personal to me.  Ever since I started this thing it’s always been an idea.  Now that someone is going to invest their hard earned money – and lot’s of it –  makes it REAL!

Am I ready for this?  Am I ready to leverage someone’s real money on my idea?  Am I worth the risk?  Can I handle the pressure?  Will this work?

Of course it will work.  I know it will.  This business is something I need, that others like me need.  I know deep down in my heart it will be successful.  But still the questions linger…the reality sets in…this is real.  Can I accept being a failure?

I’m a huge fan of MMA.  A fighter once said that before every fight he would envision all the ways he could lose the fight.  Being KO’d, submitted, tapping to a choke.  He would feel what it was like to lose in every way possible.  He would imagine the worst case scenario and live in that moment.  He would question what it would do to him, his family, his life.  He would then accept this as if it had happened and deal with it.  At the end of every scenario he was still alive.  His wife still loved him, his friends and family were still proud of him and supported him and he realized that no matter what happened in the cage that he would always come out on top.  He was no longer afraid of losing.  He could step into the cage ready to take on whatever the world was about to throw at him.

This is something I need to do.  I get this tight feeling in my chest whenever I picture myself standing in front of a table of investors like the TV show Shark Tank and start mouthing my pitch.  It’s a good nervous but if I had hair I could swear I would be pulling it out right now.  I need to memorize my pitch, be confident in it and most importantly be confident in myself.

Over the next few days I will be working up the will to finally start sharing my idea with others in hopes they will want to invest in this amazing bottle shop.  If you or anyone you know might be seriously interested in investing I am ready to share this with business with you all.  While my pitch might not be perfect, I gotta start somewhere, with someone, somehow.

Cheers!