WHEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS, it helps immensely being a business. There are always lessons and challenges. Having a multi-talented team has been both a blessing and a challenge, because the last thing I want is for my team members to be sitting around doing nothing. Keeping a balanced workload across my five member team is a weekly dance that is very carefully choreographed.

The years I worked within a marketing department I was routinely one of the most valuable company members because I could do many things well. I was a writer, I was a graphic designer, I was a photographer, I was a web-developer, I was a project manager. I had innovative ideas. There are downsides for companies that employ the All-in-one employee -- it's called putting all your eggs in one basket. Those baskets have a tendency to wander.

The other thing with employees -- even the less talented ones -- is that they are expensive. And they are often ambitious, leaving them to need to be fairly regularly replaced. Employees also call in sick. And they like to go on vacations.

Over the course of the 2 years I have been steadily developing Solar Jet Pro, the most rewarding contributions have been the long-term relationships. Business, I've learned, is nothing more than a series of relationships, rarely more complex than a 4th grade friendship. But, something interesting...even beautiful happens as relationships develop. They deepen. They mature. In marketing terms, the relationship I have with a product, brand or service develops and I can see the relationship triangle from a company, to the product, to the consumer...and the invisible energy connecting all the elements together. This is a deepening that only comes through time. The second edition of anything is always better than the first; for the sole reason of experience.

It is important for every company to know what it does well, and how it is positioned amongst the competition. When it comes to my company, we work well together -- and we offer world class solutions at a fraction of the real world cost. We offer value, but with that value comes great passion and desire. We do what we do for the love of it.

I've built my expertise through underfunded efforts; to this very day, I've never had a true 'budget' to work with -- I've only had tasks that needed to be accomplished. That kind of reality multiplied by 12 years, has led be to be extremely resourceful. I understand the value of a dollar...both mine, as well as yours. I've never seen results being fundamentally tied to monetary means.

If you've got a marketing hole that needs fixing consider your options. And also consider maximizing your solution with a team that requires only a minimal investment.