Houston Astronavigation

My off-season Christmas list

2009-11-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

With their 27th title, the Yankees proved, once again, that it is indeed possible to buy a World Series parade and set of rings if you outspend all the rest of your competition combined ($429 Mil for the Yankees last off-season vs. $380 Mil for the other 29 teams). The Astros proved that a weak farm system (that many consider the worst in baseball), an aging roster and poor spending mean competing with the Pirates for last place. But with the holiday season upon us, I've created my Christmas wish list for 2009. Now here's hoping Santa McLain comes through this off-season:

1) Fred McGriff to make the Hall of Fame and Mark McGwire to be vindicated of steroid allegations - so I can sell all their rookie cards my mom's storing at her house. I don't have the heart to tell her that I probably should have spent my childhood collecting sugar packets instead.

2) JR Towles, major league player (.188/.280/.329), to hit like JR Towles, minor league player (.299/.390/.473). Two years ago Towles was the Astros top prospect and only minor-leaguer on most Top 100 lists. He seems like a great guy, now hopefully some of his character will translate into base hits.

3) The Astros to find a way to clone Wandy Rodriguez. He was not only one of the best left handed pitchers in the league last season, he's also a switch hitter and only costs $2.6 Million per season, about the same as Doug Brocail and Brian Moehler. I just can't get over the fact that he's a switch hitting pitcher. Not to mention that at 5-11, 160, he's smaller than the average Houston

4) Roy O to return to his Cy Young form so the Astros can trade him while his value is still high. Don't get me wrong, I like having Oswalt on the team as much as anyone else. But as a small, hard throwing righty, I worry about his long term durability. Since I don't expect us to compete for a World Series any time soon, we might as well start acquiring assets to help us compete 3 or 4 years from now.

5) Lance Berkman to continue his march towards Cooperstown. I get the feeling that Berkman, like Bagwell and Biggio, will probably spend his entire career in Houston. How cool would it be to see all three of them enshrined in the Hall of Fame? Even if none of them ever won a World Series ring, it would still be great for the city and for the franchise.

6) McClain and GM Ed Wade to come back from the Winter Meetings having made at least one off season acquisition. Even if it is Robb Quinlan or Danny Richar. As an Astros fan, I need some reason to believe that next season will be better than last year.

When the best case scenario isn't good enough

2009-05-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

After the Utah Jazz beat the Lakers 88 to 86 in their first round matchup last month, one of the announcers asked, "Should the Lakers be worried?" Utah had won the game, but the Lakers were still up 2 games to 1. Kobe Bryant went 5 for 24, his worst shooting percentage of the season, Carlos Boozer put up 23 points and 22 rebounds, and Deron Williams hit a game winner with 2.2 seconds left. Everything went right for the Jazz and they only won by 2 points, AT HOME. Should the Lakers have been worried? No, but the Jazz should have been terrified. Sure enough, two games later, Utah's season was over.

With the first month of the 2009 MLB season in the books, let's look at how the Astros have done relative to expectations and see what we can expect over the rest of the season. First, what's gone right for Houston:

1) Mike Hampton's health - When Houston not only signed Hampton last off-season, but said they were counting on him to be their number 3 starter, Baseball Prospectus predicted the best case for Hamption (his 90% projections) was that he would pitch 113 innings this season; he's currently on pace for 191 innings. Hampton is certainly no longer a Cy Young candidate, but the fact that he’s been healthy so far means he’s exceeded most people’s expectations.

2) The rest of the rotation has been a pleasant surprise - Wandy Rodriguez has quietly become one of the best pitchers in the NL this season, with an ERA in the low 2's and almost a strikeout per inning. Felipe Paulino has an ERA under 3 when he starts (and should permanently move into the rotation soon), and even good ol’ Russ Ortiz has more wins than losses thanks to the offense averaging nearly 6 runs a game when he starts. Oswalt has continued his domination of Cincinnati (1 run in 13 innings), and only Brian Moehler, who admirably replaced the injured Brandon Backe as “number 5 starter who makes you cringe when he pitches,” has been significantly worse than expected.

3) Michael Bourn, Geoff Blum, and Miguel Tejada are all flirting with .300 - If you played little league ball, then you're familiar with the adage that says "baseball is a game of failure. If you only succeed 3 out of 10 times, you'll go to the Hall-of-Fame." That statement assumes a .300 batting average a superstar makes, but the problem is that batting average ignores walks, in which case the hitter won. When a batter gets hit by a pitch, it’s debatable who won, but I think on base percent is a good indicator of how often a batter is “succeeding.” When Barry Bonds had a .609 OBP and .812 SLG in 2004, it's clear he was winning a lot more often than the pitchers. The truth is that if you only succeed 3 out of 10 times (a .300 OBP), you won't end up in Cooperstown, you'll end up in Corpus Christi. Or some other minor league town. All that being said, the fact that Bourn, Blum, and Tejada have all been flirting with a .300 average this season (albeit mostly empty 300's), has to be considered a success.

4) Other than Berkman, the big hitters (Lee and Pence) have had strong starts. Hunter Pence leads the regulars with a 854 OPS, a significant improvement over last year’s 784. “El Caballo” Lee is on pace for almost 30 homers and 120 RBI’s. Enough said.

Now, let’s look at what’s gone wrong:

1) Lance Berkman's batting average - Yes, Lance Berkman, a career .300 hitter (who may be on his way to Cooperstown, but not because of that), has been around the Mendoza line all season. But let’s look a little deeper into his numbers: his isolated power, which is similar to slugging percentage except that it only counts extra base hits, is .245, in line with his .258 career average, meaning he’s still driving the ball. Berkman also has one of the best batting eyes in the game, regularly drawing over 100 walks in a season. Based on his walk rate (18% in 2009 vs a career 16%), we can conclude that he’s not expanding his strike zone like struggling hitters often do. His strikeout rate is up slightly (19% this year compared to 17% career), but not alarmingly so. If Berkman is swinging at good pitches, putting them into play, and still hitting with his usual authority, his low batting average is probably more the result of bad luck than anything else. He’s hitting less singles, meaning he's probably finding more gloves than holes right now. Since everything else is in line, we can expect the Big Puma to return to normal as the season progresses.

2) Jose Valverde's ankle –I'm not sure if Valverde injured himself celebrating or pitching, but the Astros All-Star closer is out for the next 5 weeks. The good news is that his replacement, LaTroy Hawkins with a 2.84 ERA, has been pitching significantly better than Valverde (5.63), so this may not be such a big loss.

3) The Astros record – 11-17-1 (the tie being a 10-10 game postponed against the Nationals)

In conclusion, other than Berkman (and Valverde) the individual Astros have performed as well as, or better than can be reasonably expected. Unfortunately their performances still add up to a negative run differential and last place. So if best case means last place, it’s probably going to be a tough season. The good news is that the Pirates starters have pitched way over their head and are likely to falter, so the Astros should pass them soon. And if we’re far enough out of first place at the All-Star break, maybe Ed Wade will trade a couple of our veterans, bring up some young players, and begin a rebuilding process that’s long overdue.

Astros turn the corner?

2009-04-17T17:51:00.001-07:00

Maybe the 2009 Houston Astros are just slow starters. After only winning 2 of their first 22 Spring Training games (and one of those wins was against Panama), they won 11 of their next 15 to catch Baltimore in the Grapefruit league standings for last place. Similarly, Houston started the regular season 1 and 6, only ahead of the winless Nationals. But the resiliant Astros came storming back, winning back to back games this week against a hapless Pirates team.

Winning consecutive games against Pittsburgh may not seem like much to get excited about, but sometimes you have to rejoice in the small victories. On Wednesday, Mike Hampton threw 6 shutout innings, striking out 8 Pirates, and flashed the form that helped him win 22 games a decade ago, his last season in Houston. Maybe Hampton can cheat time for a couple more months, maybe not, but as Astros fans, sometimes it's best not to look too far ahead (or behind) and just recognize and appreciate great performances when they occur.

2009 - A season to belive

2009-03-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

For most baseball fans, Spring Training is a time of simultaneous reflection and expectation. A time to look back at last season as through the wrong end of a telescope and consider the one not yet begun with a sort of naïve optimism-this will be the year that the boys of summer finally become men, and the men of summer turn back the fountain of father time to become boys for one more season.

But if your team finished last year in the second division, double digits out of first place, and followed that up with the big off-season acquisitions of Corky Miller and a new third base coach, you may not be so excited about this year. Like me, you may have spent the last several months trying to ignore IMs from “friends” like Josh Katz, keeping you updated about your team’s latest news - helpful links to stories about your shortstop’s immigration status or new catching tandem’s .550 OPS last year. But I recently had a revelation; the problem isn’t the Astros’ General Manager Ed Wade nor is it leadoff hitter Michael Bourn’s .288 on base percent. The real problem is my perspective.

This winter, both the Astros and Yankees signed left handed starters. Both players are previous All-Stars, so why aren’t Houston fans just as excited to have Mike Hampton in our rotation as New York fans are to have CC Sabathia in theirs? If you said it’s because Sabathia has 55 more wins than Hampton in the last four years, you obviously have a problem with your perspective as well. Because the right answer is that Astro fans should be MORE excited about their signing, because of the two, only Hampton is a 20-game winner with World Series experience. But don’t worry, because these four easy steps will help fix your outlook, allowing you to enjoy Spring Training with the same naïve optimism of other baseball fans.

1) Focus on statistics that further your optimistic perspective (ignore anything that contradicts it). I learned this trick from the Wall Street bankers who invested billions of dollars in bad mortgages. Actually, I learned quite a few lessons from them. Here’s how it works: This offseason, Astros released starting third baseman Ty Wiggington (875 OPS in ‘08) and are planning to platoon Aaron Boone (683 OPS) and Geoff Blum (705 OPS) at the hot corner next season. On the surface, this looks like a bad idea, which is why we need to dig a little deeper. Since Blum will only play against righties in 2009, we can ignore his at-bats against south-paws, and he’ll be seeing regular playing time this year, so we should disregard his numbers from early last season when he was coming off the bench. We can be confident that Mr. Blum, who had an 850 OPS against righties in the second half of last season, will solidify the left side of the Astros infield-at least until the season actually starts.

2) Take positive trends and extrapolate them. Because this method can lead to “bold” conclusions, make sure you exercise due restraint when using it. The key, of course, is to make conservative assumptions. Since Hunter Pence is the Astros’ best young hitter, let’s use this powerful tool to see what the future could hold for him. In his two seasons in the big leagues, Pence’s homerun totals increased from 17 in 2007 to 25 in 2008. Since hitters usually peak around age 28, we can assume that the 25 year-old Pence should improve for at least another 3 years. Assuming that he continues his ascent at the same rate, Pence will hit 33 homers this year and slug a team record 49 homeruns in 2011. Talk about a reason to be optimistic. Nevermind that our model predicts Pence will need just over 1,000 At Bats to hit those 49 bombs, nor that his OPS will be 439.

3) Dismiss negative statistics because players tend to “regress to the mean.” Whenever a player has a great season, cynical sportswriters usually say that next year will be worse, because players tend to regress to the mean; in other words star players become more average over time. The same philosophy can be applied to replacement level players who put up terrible numbers. They’re also bound to become more average, which for them means an improvement and another reason for you to be hopeful about next season. So here’s looking forward to 2009, with Brandon Backe and his 6.05 ERA, Humberto Quintero catching 15 percent of opposing base stealers, and the team’s league low 449 walks all regressing to the mean.

4) Throw all the numbers out the door. As I hope you’ve seen by now, statistics are meaningless. Absolutely meaningless. So don’t worry about them. Because baseball, whether your team wins 60 games or 100, is played to be enjoyed. And if it’s not fun when your team is losing, then maybe it’s time to find another pastime. Or at least find another team. If you’re interested in rooting for the Astros, I’ve already given you numerous reasons to be optimistic for 2009.

2008/09 Offseason Primer

2008-12-19T00:59:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed how supposedly rational people respond so differently to adversity? In what has been called the worst recession since the Great Depression, some teams, like my Houston Astros, are buckling down and eliminating any unnecessary spending. Despite being located in the fourth largest city in the country, the Astros decided Randy Wolf (?!?) was too expensive, and signed Mike Hampton instead. The same Mike Hampton whose seven year contract finally expired, with him making 13 starts in the last 3 years. Although the Astros are probably going to finish in fourth place next season, so it doesn’t really matter who our number three starter is.

New York, on the other hand, decided the best response to a bad economy is to party like it’s 1999. The Mets, realizing that it’s a buyers market for relief pitchers, stocked their roster with three (3) All-Star closers: Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez, Billy Wagner and JJ Putz, who will make a combined $24 Million next season. Perhaps the Mets figured that if each closer can save just 35 games next year, they should make the playoffs.

The Yankees, meanwhile, set the market for starting pitchers. Actually, they are the market for starting pitchers. In a time when the next highest offer for CC Sabathia may have been $100 million from Milwalkee, the Yankees raised their offer from $140 to $160 million. Maybe their initial offer of $20 Million per season was based on the assumption that Sabathia would win 20 games per year. After some extrapolating, they decided to invest another $3 million annually to buy a couple more wins as insurance, just in case Tampa Bay wasn’t a fluke last year. I wonder if anyone in their front office even considered that there may be an inverse relationship between salary and motivation. (See Carl Pavano, the aforementioned Mike Hampton, Hideki Irabu, Barry Zito, Darren Dreifort, Chan Ho Park, ect, ect).

Ironically, this “spend first” mentality caused both the Mets and Yankees to miss the playoffs last year, while the Phillies and Rays, who developed most of their own talent, played in the World Series. But rather than examine their philosophies, both New York teams decided the problem was not the approach but rather their intensity, and stepped up spending another notch. Even at a time when they were often only bidding against themselves.

Looking forward, here’s what I expect to happen if the current economic downturn lasts much longer. Mid market teams, looking to trim payroll, will dump productive, high dollar veterans to anyone willing to assume the contract (like the Phillies giving Bobby Abreu to NYY). Small market teams, who usually throw their loyal fan base a bone every off off-season by signing a Matt Stairs, Doug Mientkiewicz, or Reggie Sanders, will find that their $2 million, one year offer attracts a slightly higher caliber player. Mid-tier free agents are going to be scrambling for contracts, as teams decide to play home grown players rather than pay $5 Mil per year for “proven veterans” like Ray Durham and Sean Casey. The owners will collectively cry “poor” while Boras and other agents claim collusion, and the New York owners will keep writing big checks no matter where the Dow Jones closes.

2008 Astros preview

2008-03-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

“Hi, my name is Michael. I’m a Houston Astros fan.”

My therapist says that all sports fans are delusional. Every spring I believe that this is going to be our year. “Yes, of course,” he responds, “and when was the last time your Houston Astros actually won a World Series?” When I answer, “Well, never, but…” he always gives me the clinical definition of “insanity”.

My therapist also says sports fans are all moderately bi-polar. The highs are typically euphoric, the lows always exaggerated. Like my insomnia and general anxiety after the 2006 season when an 82 win Astros team missed the playoffs. He responded by asking me, “Even if your team had made the playoffs, who would you have trusted to get those tough outs late in a game? (As you can tell, he’s not your average psychologist. In fact, he’s also a recovering Astros fan.) I know just saying the words “Brad Lidge” will open up a whole other can of post traumatic worms. So I just shrug.

As part of my treatment, this year I’m not going to tell Houston fans that this is our year. I’m not going to say that things are going to get better next year, or the year after. Instead, I'm going to do what I've been fighting for the last couple years: give in to my cynicism and bitterness. So here are my seven reasons the Astros aren’t going to win this year.

If you're a fair-weather Astros fan, you may want to avert your eyes, or else grab a life vest. Because by the time we're done, you'll be looking for the quickest exit from this sinking ship.

1) You don’t have to be a statistician to recognize this trend. The last four years, the Astros have won 92, 89, 82, and 73 games. In 2007 our starting rotation was Roy Oswalt and a bunch of guys with names like Woody and Wandy with ERAs over four and a half and more losses than wins. Our offense finished thirteenth in the NL and other than Hunter Pence was made up of a bunch of veterans on the decline. So we brought in

2) Ed Wade to fix the problem. First, I need to talk about the Astros GM from 1995 to 2004, Gerry Hunsicker. During his tenure, the Astros made the playoffs five times and were rarely involved in trade rumors, but somehow often swooped in at the last minute to land a big name player like Randy Johnson, Jeff Kent, Carlos Beltran, Andy Pettite, or Roger Clemens. He also oversaw a farm system that produced Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, and Bobby Abreu. Any baseball fan in Philadelphia will tell you that Wade was the GM whose Philly teams missed the playoffs for eight straight years. They’ll also tell you how he traded Curt Schilling for Vicente Padilla and Scott Rolen for Placido Polanco. They might also mention the David Bell signing if they’re not already frothing at the mouth.

3) Ed Wade’s first big move to stop our downward spiral was to trade for Miguel Tejada the day before the Mitchell report was released. This is like buying a horse and buggy ranch the same day Henry Ford is planning to unveil his new Model T factory. Or sinking your entire life savings into the Russian stock market when there’s a big political rally taking place in Berlin. If the Astros had waited 24 hours until Tejada was officially linked to Deca-Durabolin and human growth hormone, they could have had him for pennies on the dollar. Instead, we traded Troy Patton, our 2007 minor league pitcher of the year, and Luke Scott, who had the fourth highest OPS on the team, for a "31 year-old" shortstop with limited range and a slowing bat from a country known for falsifying birth certificates.

4) Don’t look down, because there's not much help on the way. In 2007, the Astros minor league teams were 26^th overall in winning percentage. And we aren't doing much to replenish a barren farm system by giving away first round picks to sign free agents like Woody Williams and then losing our next picks because we refuse to budge from Bud Selig’s slotted bonus system. In 2007, the first player the Astros signed was the 171st overall pick. Our fourth round pick decided to go to the University of Arkansas on a golf scholarship. Seems like we should have done enough research to find out what sport he wanted to play before wasting a pick on him.

5) Not only are we failing on the big things, we’re also behind the ball on the little ones. Every year teams bring a bunch of guys to spring training as non-roster invitees. These are players who’ve fallen on hard times and can be had for the bargain basement price of a couple meaningless at bats. Smart teams like the Cardinals bring in players like two time MVP Juan Gonzalez to see if they still have anything left in the tank. Can you say big upside and little risk? The Astros, on the other hand, bring in players like Branon Backe, who once had ten wins in a season. Oh wait, nevermind. He’s actually our number three starter.

6) The Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has been to the playoffs a dozen times and is willing to try innovative tactics like turning failed pitchers into hitters (ala Rick Ankiel) and batting his pitcher eigth to put more runners on base for Albert Pujols. The Astros manager Cecil Cooper is hitting Michael Bourn and Kazo Matsui at the top of the order to see if teams really need baserunners to score runs.

7) And finally, the Pirates’ ballpark is named for a bank. The Brewers and Cardinals’ stadiums after beer companies. Meanwhile the Astros’ field carried the title of the business involved in one of the largest corporate fraud cases in history and now is named for an orange juice company. If you were a free agent, where would you want to sign?

Hello, my name is Michael. And I have a problem.

Investing in your own start-up

2008-01-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

Before asking other people to invest in your business idea, you need to be willing to spend your own money. Just don’t risk more than you can afford to lose.

After I’d made several baseball wallet prototypes and had a design that I liked, the Vanderbilt MBA students I was working with conducted a market survey. They went to a little league practice and asked the players and their parents what they thought of the wallets and if they would buy one. The responses ranged from “I think my son would just lose it, so I’d want it to be cheaper” to “Oh, (her son’s friend) would LOVE this. He’s a baseball fanatic.” But the truth is that what someone says they will do and what they'll actually do are often two very different things. The only way I could really know if there was a market for baseball wallets was to put some on the market and see if people would actually buy them. So I paid to manufacture 1,000 wallets. I chose this number because it seemed like enough inventory that if the wallets were successful, I wouldn't run out immediately, but not so much that I’d go bankrupt if I they didn’t sell (and I spent the rest of my life giving baseball wallets to friends and family as Christmas gifts).

I’ve met people starting businesses who would not invest their own money and others who spent more than they could afford. The first group included an entrepreneur who designed a Halloween costume that had received very positive feedback. He had to keep turning down orders because the only models he had were his display samples. He refused to spend any money upfront with the faith that his costumes would sell. Instead, he was waiting for a guaranteed order of 10,000 items from a wholesaler like Wal-Mart. Then he would have made those 10,000 costumes and turned a nice, safe profit. But the problem with waiting for a large order is that they rarely come, and typically only after the business first sold one at a time to individuals, then 10 or 20 to small stores, and finally worked their way up to orders of several thousand items. Besides, most start-ups don’t have the infrastructure in place to fill an order that large.

On the other end of the spectrum was a woman in her fifties making disposable ear and mouth-piece covers for the tellers at drive through windows. She had quit her regular job to give her more time, taken out a second mortgage on her home, and cashed in her retirement plan to get this business off the ground. When we spoke, she was excited about a contract from McDonald about a year ago. Unfortunately she was losing money on the deal because it only gave her the right to sell to individual stores. She was responsible for convincing each store manager to carry her product. The best way to do this, she decided, was to travel around the country and personally meet each owner. I said that if she was losing money on a customer, no matter who they were, she should consider ending the partnership. Because she had already spent so much time and money, she refused to change her strategy. I declined her request for several thousand dollars in exchange for part ownership of the company. She believed that with enough money to pay for her travel costs, her business would become highly successful. I didn’t have the money, but even if I did, I wouldn’t have invested. She had thrown so much money at her company (way more than she could afford to lose), and it had become a financial black hole. I don’t think she will be profitable unless she changes the way she’s running things. And being so close the retirement age, she’s put herself in a vulnerable financial position with almost nothing to fall back on.

Before launching your company, it’s imperative that you learn as much as you can and plan carefully. But at some point you will have to take a leap of faith. You won’t know if your business will succeed or not unless you just go for it. And this step will likely require you risking your money, as well as relationships, ego, and everything else of value. Just make sure that if you fall, it’s not too far, and the landing isn’t too hard that you can’t recover.

The first five percent

2007-12-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

If success is five percent inspiration and ninety five perspiration, then deciding what type of business you’re going to start is the inspiration. Putting in the long nights to get it off the ground and keep it running is the perspiration.

I’ve had numerous people see my wallets and say “I could never come up with an idea like that” as an excuse for not starting a business. So how do you decide what type of business you want to start? I’d begin with my dreams. What do I want to create that the world needs? Is there some type of work I’ve always wanted to do? Maybe opening a neighborhood bicycle shop. Or book store. Working as a professional photographer. Starting a business doesn’t usually require a new idea. Often a creative twist on an old one is plenty. Or simply take an existing idea and bring it to a new location.

Another route may be partnering with someone who has a great business idea but lacks the motivation or time. Alternatively maybe you have an older friend who's already running his own business. My landlord in Nashville ran his own mortgage company and took on a young assistant a few years back, which allowed him to work less and spend more time with his family. In a couple years, when my landlord retires, his assistant will take over. Not only will he receive passive income during retirement, but the company he built will continue to operate as his legacy. Either partnering with someone else to start a business or helping them transition out of it lets you work with their idea while benefiting both of you.

One of my friends wants to open a restaurant that serves the dishes he grew up eating in the South Pacific. Since he doesn’t have any experience in the restaurant business, he’s considering opening a franchise of an already successful cafe. Franchising can be a great way to be your own boss and it requires less upfront knowledge or risk. Basically you’re working with an already established brand, like Subway or 7-Eleven, that has a vested interest in you being successful. You’ll owe an initial franchise fee of $10K to $100K and have to pay 2 to 10 percent of your revenues as royalties, but they will train you and help you negotiate deals with suppliers that you couldn't as a startup. And even though restaurants are the most popular franchises, you can work in almost any industry you want, from cars to computers to fitness. Entrepreneur.com lists the top 500 franchises and has lots of other information if you’re interested in going this route. Or simply search for “franchise opportunities” and you’ll find plenty of sites.

Another option is to buy an existing business. They're often listed in your local classifieds and you’ll already have a customer base. Plus you can see how the financials look before getting started, so you have some idea what it will cost to run and how much money you can expect to make. The drawbacks are that if the company is doing well, you'll need a lot of money upfront to buy it and even though you can obviously change whatever you want after buying the business, you'll probably be somewhat limited. It’s like buying a house and remodeling it versus building your dream home exactly to your own specs.

I want to caution you about two potential pitfalls in choosing a business idea. The first is being so focused on the first opportunity that comes along that you rush into it. In a sense, starting a business is like getting married. You wouldn’t marry the first girl you meet without at least looking around, and you should treat a business idea the same way. You’re going to be spending a lot of time on this company (ninety five percent of the work still lies ahead) so make sure you’re going to enjoy and be proud of what you’re creating. Choosing carefully will help you persevere when things get tough and you’re thinking about divorce.

The other danger is waiting for the perfect time to start your business. This is like having kids. There’s always a reason to wait a little longer, and pretty soon your window of opportunity has passed. A friend has been wanting to start a Thai restaurant for years. She’s a great cook and would make a wonderful host, but everyone tells her to wait until she has more money, or wait until her kids are older, so she keeps postponing her dream.

Coming up with an idea is the fun part. Enjoy talking about it with friends, planning how you’ll lay everything out, imagining being your own boss. Let your imagination wander during this stage, but get ready to start working, because trust me, it’s going to take a lot of hard work to marry this kid.

(that last part didn't come out quite right)

Getting Started

2007-11-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided to use my experiences with Pro Style Sports and life in general to create a column about starting and running a business. This blog will probably cover topics from marketing and product development to philosophies about money and life. I’ll be as honest as I can without putting the company at a competitive disadvantage. Which means you can expect me to reflect back on past events rather than look forward to future ideas or products.

For this first entry, I’d like to explain why I’m launching this project, given that my life is already too busy. First, I think it will be interesting to give other entrepreneurs, sports fans, and business people an inside look at what goes on starting a business in the sports world. I’m a teacher by nature and hope to use this site to share some of the wisdom I’ve learned to anyone who’s interested enough to listen.

The day after I had the idea of starting this series of columns, I met one of my friends for coffee. She’s a dance teacher and immediately began telling me about a web site she’s designing that would allow her to reach a wider audience. She plans to write health and fitness articles and make money by creating a virtual store to sell products she endorses. Most sites, she said, begin with content to bring visitors, and once they have the traffic, they start selling or advertising. Bottom line, I needed content to supplement my products. The fact that she said all this before I told her that I had thought the same thing confirmed that I needed to start putting articles on baseballwallet.com.

The second reason I’m writing this column needs to be seen from a business prospective. Because I have a very limited amount of both money and time, every "investment" of either needs to bring some sort of return. My perception is that most visitors come to this site from a search engine, see the products, either buy something or don’t, and then leave. The only reason they come back is because they later remember the site and want to make a(nother) purchase. But if I can give visitors a reason to visit this site regularly, the products will stay fresher in their memory, and when their old wallet dies or their cousin’s birthday comes around, they’ll be more likely to buy a baseball wallet. I learned that the technical term for this is to create a more “sticky” site. Basically be a good host and give visitors a reason to stay longer and come back more often.

The other business reason I’m writing these columns is to give an identity to Pro Style Sports beyond its name and products. I prefer to shop at a local store or eat at a family owned restaurant because I feel more connected to the business. National chains, on the other hand, feel so distant and impersonal. So I’m hoping that giving visitors some insight into this company will help them feel more connected to it, even though they may not know me personally. Hopefully I won’t just be selling a product, but rather a product with a story. Let me give a quick example to illustrate this idea. I have an autographed Nolan Ryan 1988 Topps baseball card. But when I show it to someone, it isn’t just a signed piece of memorabilia. Instead it's the card he signed for me at Book Stop, just after releasing his autobiography “Throwing Heat”. The same book in which he says admits that he’s bad with faces, so he watches the shoes of every autograph seeker to see if anyone is coming back for a second signature. I always wonder what shoes I was wearing the day I finally saw my idol up close, after watching him for years from the Astrodome bleachers. To me, my card isn’t a commodity that can be valued on Ebay, because it’s worth much more than whatever its current selling price.

The last reason I decided to write about my experiences at Pro Style Sports is because I love business. I enjoy reading about it, discussing it, and conducting it (although there are definitely parts that I struggle with). By understanding business, we are able not only to have more freedom in our lives life but also to change the world. Business gives us the ability to create, and as we are successful in our endeavors, everyone involved benefits.

These are the reasons I’m starting this column, and I hope you’ll find it both interesting and beneficial. I would love to hear any ideas or feedback you have regarding either the baseballwallet.com web site or this column. And so we begin.