Starting something brand new is not easy. Uncertainty is scary – fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of humiliation and on and on. However, starting something new can also be exciting, rewarding and invigorating – and it all begins with taking that first step.
For starters, you have to know what you want to do.
What to do? What to do?
My wife and I have been exploring new businesses for some time. We had a lengthy – and sometimes mutually exclusive – checklist. Whatever we chose to pursue: 1) needed to be a creative outlet, 2) had to be something we could do together, 3) would still allow time with our 3 kids, 4) must have a social responsibility component, 5) somehow incorporates many of the things we like to do and 6) would not require a second (or third) mortgage to start. The list went on from there.
We looked into franchises, but nothing clicked, plus many require a lot of up front capital. Nope.
We thought about retail shops for kids clothing, but retail is capital intensive and hyper competitive, particularly here in LA where we live. Nope.
Flipping houses… travel agency… spa… coffee shop… restaurant. No, no, no, no, big-time no.
Then last year happened and we were set upon a new path. Some great and some not-so-great-but-life-changing moments, which you can read about here, drove us to the conclusion that the inspiration for our next chapter was right under our noses – our kids, family and parenting.
So many things happened to our family last year that it nearly got to the point where all you could do was laugh. Every time something else happened, we thought “there’s a good story in this”. Along the way, and after similar events occurred to friends with kids, we realized that yes, there is a good story in this. But we also realized that families everywhere have great stories to share – some good, some bad, some uplifting and heartwarming, some helpful, and others simply playful and fun.
A Place for Parenting and Familes
We decided to create The Daily Parents Blog and Journal (The Daily PBJ, get it?). Our goal is to ultimately have a space where parents from all over can submit their own stories to share with other parents. You don’t need to be a professional writer to tell your story, that’s the beauty of The Daily PBJ – we want regular people to share their stories in their own words. Grammar and punctuation not your strength? Spelling not exactly up to par? Don’t worry about it – besides, there are apps to help with those. Parenting is messy and hard enough without having to worry about Oxford commas. We get it.
We are just getting started here at The Daily PBJ. Content will be ever-changing, as will the look of the website. Sort of like your kids’ clothing choices – we’ll try on stuff until we find something we want to stick with, but without the clean up.
So, check back often to see what’s new. If you have ideas, questions or comments, please feel free to let us know. Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page and Twitter feed .
We’re excited to see where this takes us, and we’re excited to have you along for the ride.