I am now a proud entrepreneur.  I took the leap and started my own small niche public relations consulting firm because I had dreamed of it my whole life and truly felt that the tail-end of the largest recession in my lifetime--right before Christmas--was the absolute best time to start a business. This was done after having carefully surveyed the market place and set aside thousands of dollars to kick things off right just like all of the business books teach you. 

Yeah...that's not how it went at all.

The real story is a bit less noble, yet, the fact remains the same that I am now a proud entrepreneur.  My advice to others is simple:  Don't do it like me.

The real story of my business venture started when I found myself out of work from my old firm in mid-October. Soon I discovered that even with my strong professional credentials and a top education from both West Point and Harvard, none of the communications firms in DC were hiring at that time of year.  If nothing else, they sure weren't going to pay me the generous package I had left behind.

So, on the last day of my 30-day severance period, I pulled my thumb out of my mouth, unwound myself from the fetal position, showered for the first time in days and drove down to the courthouse to file as the founder of my own agency. 

My business adventure had begun in earnest and like many entrepreneurs it has been a mixture of good luck, timing and hard work to start seeing some early successes that have allowed us to keep the adventure going. What my little firm does is provide support to agencies and others working in the aerospace and defense market.

The whole idea came about because while I was desperately looking for a job I noticed that in each agency I visited there wasn't a single person with any military experience whatsoever.  Time and again leaders at firms told me they couldn't hire me because I was too senior or too expensive--but they would kill to contract me for my defense experience.  I am a little thick headed but once I hear something three times it sounds like it might be a trend or possibly a business model.

So, ScoutComms was born leveraging my 22 years in the Army and last year in the agency world to bridge the gap between creative firms and the weird world that is the aerospace and defense sector. Three months later we have a nice list of clients who are finding that having someone who speaks the language of the military focused client on their team is worth the investment and is paying off for them in contract wins and a flattened learning curve.  Military communications and the language of the Department of Defense, or defense manufacturing business, are almost alien planets to many in the creative world so having somebody who speaks both languages can make a big difference in the success of an effort.

While this isn't how I planned on launching a business one of the many things I learned as a Ranger and staff officer for General Petraeus is that no good plan survives for long so most of the time you just have to improvise. As it turns out, I am a master of improvisation. 

I will keep posting the lessons I learn as an unexpected entrepreneur.  To learn more about our little start up check out our website at www.ScoutCommsUSA.com.