Entrepreneurship / We Get It, We Get It
For almost forty years I was in commercial banking and supported, it has got to be, thousands of small and privately-held companies with loans, cash management services, business advice, and other banking related services. I was blessed to get to know many entrepreneurs and their children, the venturesome owners that put their capital and livelihoods at risk to successfully start and operate these companies. The banks I worked with got intimately familiar with the strategies, operations, strengths and weaknesses, and the management capabilities of its customers. It was a blast, I learned tons and, when I retired from banking six plus years ago after almost four decades, I felt I had a very good handle on how small, privately-owned enterprises across many industries and many circumstances operated successfully. And I do. To a point.
Recently, I restarted Full Sail Consultants, an enterprise I launched six-seven years ago. Full Sail didn’t get very far from port for various reasons but I was passionate about the idea, liked the brand, rerigged the strategy and set sail in April of 2025 with a focus on providing executive coaching, successor training and other consulting services, all based on a foundation of forty years of experience and strong moral values.
And let me tell you, now having started a sole proprietorship myself, I have a much better understanding. I get it.
Almost all of my banking customers were established businesses so I did not have an eye witness appreciation for the effort and the risks of starting de nova and what it took for them to get to the point where I could bank them. From getting organizational docs, to building a website, to getting checking accounts and on-line payment mechanisms in place, to building a chart of accounts, and learning QuickBooks, I have a much better appreciation for the effort and the persistence needed to get a business off the ground. And like all new businesses, I am wearing all the hats. And most of the above list isn’t the fun stuff.
Three particular areas of increased appreciation and understanding worth mentioning.
The first is growing the business. The re-rigged Full Sail requires an extremely focused and detailed marketing effort to be successful. To make FS an America’s Cup contender requires significant effort including writing books, blogging, teaching, getting booths, networking, building a bench, etc. Anybody can get someone to build a great website—thanks, INSPO Marketing— get organization docs in place, and open bank accounts, but finding ways to grow the customer base and get significant sums into those bank accounts are much more difficult waters to navigate. I was pretty good at growing my banks but I always had a steady wind, a/k/a a big company and team, at my back. I now have a better understanding of the de nova aspect of growth that my customers face. You are your own wind!!! I get it.
The second point worth mentioning is that, because I had a fantastic career, the downside risk of Full Sail is basically zero. Financially, I do not have to do this and, while the faith-based aspect and donating the bulk of the profits to charity strongly makes it worth the effort, failure doesn’t mean my family goes hungry. Not so with many of the small and privately held businesses I banked where the downside could mean losing your home or bankruptcy. And while I listened to many a story about proprietors struggling when they started out, until you do it yourself, you do not fully understand the pressures this entails. Again, I get it.
Finally, since I launched Full Sail, the business is, as Willie Nelson croons, “always on my mind.” When I was a “deckhand” for others—like for a Vice Chairman or a Board of Directors--it was, in many ways, easier to detach and take shore leave. When every tack, every course, every maneuver is up to the skipper, it’s a little different. Makes you think about it…almost all the time, if you are not careful. And not just think about it. Since you have no boss and have no clock to punch, thinking about it means you get up and do it. At whatever hour or whatever day. In that environment, balance is a new challenge. I get it.
So, Full Sail, with this newfound, first-hand understanding of how you entrepreneurs have started from scratch, took the risks, stuck with it, and made your dream a reality, we are set full sail for you. You are awesome and I get it.
Show A Little Faith