So you have an idea for an asset you’d like to create. It might be a business; it might be a manuscript; it might be a documentary film. You’ve decided this project is the best balance between your talents, finances, and eventual target market. Two likely (and not so small) problems: you don’t know where to begin, or how to find the time to pull it off. We’ll cover the time angle in an upcoming entry – this chapter focuses on where to start.

The first step may sound idiotically simple: create a space for your project. Projects don’t gain momentum until they have a dedicated space. Ideally, this space will have a physical dimension, such as turning part of your apartment into a home office. But the space can be a simple as a new filing system, or even some new folders on your hard drive.

Some people start by writing business plans. I think that’s usually a mistake (more on this in a later chapter. There is something irrational but magical that happens when you build your own space. Sometimes this first space can be in “cyberspace.” Sometimes it can even be a “slam dunk” business name. I have an upcoming book planned with Rachel Meyers that I wasn’t excited about until she told me the book title she had in mind. The title changed everything. It turned the project from mundane to exciting. A brilliant business name can do the same thing. When you take it a step further and register that business as a “DBA,” it can really focus your motivations.

Quick launches get you going. Instead of spending months on a professionally-designed web site, it’s often better to throw up something basic on your own and start developing your content and marketing approach. Even if no one else can see it yet, it feels good to log on and check out the first incarnation of your new venture. I don’t want to get too mystical, but when you create a space in the real world somewhere, you also create room in your imagination to begin seeding your project and envisioning the next steps.

I might not be in business today if someone hadn’t forced this concept on me. The year was 1993; I had decided to leave the publication I helped get off the ground after college and hang up my own shingle. I had some half-baked idea about bookkeeping and design services that would tie into a so-called “consulting business.” Money was a problem. I decided to set up a temporary office on the dining room table of my apartment.

My roommate balked. He wanted to use the dining room table for relaxing dinners with his girl (he did end up marrying her so I guess those dinners were kind of important). My roommate did me a heck of a favor, because the stand-off compelled me to rethink my options. I soon stumbled onto a lead for a tiny office above my old employer.

I wouldn’t have considered an office if my roommate had let me get away with the dining room table, but as soon as I stepped into that dank little space, there was no looking back. It was outside my budget, so I had to finance part of the rent on credit cards. Putting rent on a credit card is not the best “strategic risk,” but investing in that space made me look at myself differently. From then on, I spent more time in that office than at home. Some of my happiest memories are curled up in a sleeping bag on that floor, grabbing a nap before another round.

The risk I took was on the speculative side, but there was a huge payoff: I was energized by that space. If I had started my business on that dining room table, I would not have put in the same hours. Renting that office gave me a “do or die” mentality. Eventually, my skills caught up with my ambition and I was able to get things right financially.

When I think back on my career so far, many of the biggest milestones had to do with creating a new space or image that upped the ante in some way. My first laptop, my first suit. But the best part is not about business; it’s about blowing the roof off of the limitations you have set on yourself. It’s humbling to look back on a space you created when your plans were more like reckless hopes.

After Resumes from Hell came out, I bought a new desktop file to organize our fledgling marketing efforts. Recently we got national coverage on CNN and in the New York Daily News. Those were nice milestones, but we started with some blank letterhead, back when nobody gave a care about the project besides Rachel and myself. The real gratification is knowing you had the faith to see your project through. We still have a ways to go to get Resumes from Hell where we want it to be, but the victories we’ve had can’t be taken away either.

Marking out your territory is just the first step. I’ve done it many times and had it come to nothing. There is still the matter of follow-through. But you have to start somewhere. I’ll concede that this is the most mystical aspect of this book. All I can say is try it and see for yourself what happens. Maybe you’re invoking the gods of business; maybe you’re just sending a message that you’re finally ready to take your ventures seriously. To the skeptics I would say: if it works, why question it?

Want to buy Free From Corporate America or see reviews of the final published version from readers like yourself? The printed book is now available on Amazon.com with product reviews.

You can also get a discounted version of the final book in eBook (PDF) format, or you can pick up a copy on the Kindle. The published version of the book is significantly enhanced from the web version available on this site.