OK, so FamiliesGo!'s connections to Chicago are tenuous at best: The Brooklyn-based startup that aspires to take the hassle out of planning family vacations uses a Chicago-based staffing agency.
But still, founder Eileen P. Gunn's recent piece for Inc.com detailing her first 60 days of running the company yields a great snapshot of what launching your own company is like.
Gunn details the highs and lows with equal aplomb, as well as a commendable calm throughout. Gunn is honest with herself about her challenges and faces them head on. It's too bad the piece doesn't indicate the day number for each check-in, but there are still great checkpoints that serve as barometers of what you could imagine for your new venture idea.
Some of the stops on her rollercoaster include a cruise line responding to her blog's complaints about them: "This isn't anything I'll make money from, but it's validating (and great for my ego)." She also ponders how to get her newsletter running ("I've managed to harvest maybe two-dozen names for a newsletter list... Clearly I need to be more clever about getting people who visit the site to hand over their email address") and mild worries about a drop in traffic ("I expected seasonal dips like this... but my base is still small enough that I need bigger and steadier growth").
Until virtual reality becomes an actual reality, this is a good way of looking at your future as an entrepreneur if you're still fence-sitting. Read the full Inc.com piece here.
