Build Your Business The Way That I Did In 1995

Back in 1995 I wrote a business plan for a new Internet Business. The business plan outlined a wonderful Internet Service Provider (ISP) business that had the potential to grow into a huge company….

I had big plans – I presented my plan to local business owners, investors, friends and family. The initial startup cost was near $100,000.00 – which was a very conservative amount considering all of the hardware and network infustructure.

So many thought that the Internet was going to be a passing fad – I was told 'Like Pet Rocks!' Can you imagine?

After a while I sat down with my wife and got her to agree to let me purchase one server and some software to see if this was all I said it would be… she agreed! I formed the company as a 'C' Corporation – this would allow me to protect myself and more importantly, to offer stock to potential investors.

It wasn't long – just a couple of months, when I began to see the potential and I put plans into action to fund this venture privately… and to quit my job of 9 yrs – Sr Project Engineer in Research & Development.

(It all started here – click on the image to the left to see when I really started online with ARIN.)

So I cashed in my $40,000 – 401k, and used several credit cards to fund the startup. A total of about $100,000.

Within the first year or so I needed more money to grow the business. You see we were growing at a rate of about 140%/yr – it's near impossible to sustain a brick & mortar business at this rate…. but I had a plan – I started looking for investors to put some needed cash into the business. I was able to raise about $40,000 between 6 private investors. Not a lot, but it helped…

You see this business requires a lot of equipment. The equipment needed to be purchased before the customes came online. So I was investing $10k at a crack to put on new customes.

Eventually I needed almost $1 million to continue with this growth – this was in 2000. I had become friends with two guys who could put this kind of money together, and I set up a meeting with them. I will tell you that this isn't something that I would suggest just anyone undertake. The meeting got me about $200,000 – but I had to give up a good chunk of the company stock that I owned. I gave in and it all worked out…

I won't bore you with all of the details, but today my 31 yr old son runs this company and it does several million in sales each year.

So my point is that if you really want to make money there is a right way to do it… not everyone is able to handle this – today this company is approaching 15 yrs old. It is a wonderful accomplishment for me and for my son continuing on.

To your continued success…

Michael Hobach