The FBI would call his actions a “clue” that he wasn’t interested, but my detective skills were lacking that day. Again, he declined and now made it a point to ignore my lingering presence at his counter. Caught off guard, I explained to him that I believed he was making a mistake and that he should reconsider. I had gone through a series of outcomes that might occur - for example, he would throw out a high price to which we would negotiate a lower, more acceptable price and we would agree to it right there in some sort of climactic, overly aggressive hand shake - but I had not considered that he wouldn’t want to sell. As hard as it may be to believe, I had not considered that he might not want to sell his business. He politely declined and called for the next customer to approach the cashier. I introduced myself and informed him that I was interested in purchasing his business. We found an existing liquor store in a location that we liked and approached the owner in his store. Rather than start our own store, we calculated that it made more sense to buy an existing business and improve its marketing. We decided that we wanted to open a competing store a fair distance away, presuming that taking even a small share of the big store’s business away would be incredibly profitable for us. This was the case for me and it’s what led me to a path of working in and with small businesses, including some of my own start-up endeavors.Ĭan you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?Īs a young wannabe entrepreneur, one of my closest friends and I marveled at the volume of business that was occurring at a large liquor store in our area. For many SEALs, traditional corporate environments do not cultivate the kind of atmosphere where their unique brand of creativity can flourish, thus entrepreneurship is often extremely appealing as the best opportunity to maximize their productivity. That combination fosters a perseverance and work ethic coupled with a culture of consummate problem-solving. The SEAL Teams represent a unique balance of both strict military discipline but also wildly unbridled innovation and creativity. For me, the path into entrepreneurship - and then to the doorstep of investors - was a logical next step from my career as a Navy SEAL. I am a repeat-offender entrepreneur with a history of failures and successes…and more failures. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?įull disclosure, I am not an investor. Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. A service-disabled veteran himself, Jonathan is a champion of veterans’ advocacy causes and sits on the boards of numerous veteran service organizations. A serial entrepreneur, former Federal investigator and career Navy SEAL officer, Jonathan is a respected thought leader and dynamic speaker and advisor on mental fortitude, innovation, and team dynamics. Jonathan currently serves as the Director of Revenue Operations at Greencastle Consulting, a 100% veteran owned and operated consulting firm. Jonathan is a business leader with expertise in building and leading high performing teams. Bootstrapping: How To Determine If Fundraising Or Bootstrapping Is The Right Choice For Your Startup”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jonathan Cleck. What is better, having access to capital or maintaining full control over your vision and profits? What is preferred, to have the seasoned oversight of an experienced investor, or to plow forward with a disruptive and pioneering ‘can do’ attitude? Of course, every situation is different, but what standards can be used to help a founder decide? As a part of this series called “Venture Capital vs. F ounders are often faced with the nagging question of whether Fundraising or Bootstrapping is the best choice for them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |