Postal Letter

After hearing about a U S West sponsored competition with a $10

Summary: After hearing about a U S West sponsored competition with a $10 000 prize he resolved to give it a shot His new company Adoption com had experienced minor success generating revenue through advertising adoption attorney listings and parent profiles but was still unable to meet its expenses The company had just downsized and moved from Provo where it started in 1995 in a BYU computer lab and won the BYU ACE Business Plan Competition to Arizona where Gwilliam could save rent money living with his parents The warm glow of CNN and MSNBC cameras that followed the young entrepreneur at the site s launch had faded and the cold realities of running a business remained Banging on the doors of the post office at 12 45 a m former BYU business student Nathan Gwilliam couldn t believe his luck Tired and overworked he had postponed finishing a business plan entry until earlier that evening Procrastination had caught up with him There s a standard rule they tell you in business school the rule of threes Gwilliam says It will take three times as long cost you three times as much and generate a third of the money you think it will That was pretty true Earlier that evening he had decided to grab something to eat before returning to the office to finish the business plan entry which had to be postmarked that night for competition eligibility Pivotal Moment Looking back we were at a pivotal moment of the company Gwilliam says We could very easily have folded All the credit cards were maxed and there wasn t enough revenue to meet our needs On the way to dinner his automobile was rear ended the first accident of his life By the time he returned to work got the business plan in a workable state for submission and drove to the post office he had missed the postmark Adoption com Standing in front of the post office s locked doors Gwilliam noticed several postal workers exiting the side door Hoping for a miracle he nearly pounced on them passionately explaining his situation I told them it had to be postmarked before midnight They told me It can t he says I explained to them that this was to help kids get adopted and it was for a really good cause His sincerity swayed them After hearing about a U S West sponsored competition with a $10 000 prize he resolved to give it a shot His new company Adoption com had experienced minor success generating revenue through advertising adoption attorney listings and parent profiles but was still unable to meet its expenses The company had just downsized and moved from Provo where it started in 1995 in a BYU computer lab and won the BYU ACE Business Plan Competition to Arizona where Gwilliam could save rent money living with his parents The warm glow of CNN and MSNBC cameras that followed the young entrepreneur at the site s launch had faded and the cold realities of running a business remained Banging on the doors of the post office at 12 45 a m former BYU business student Nathan Gwilliam couldn t believe his luck Tired and overworked he had postponed finishing a business plan entry until earlier that evening Procrastination had caught up with him There s a standard rule they tell you in business school the rule of threes Gwilliam says It will take three times as long cost you three times as much and generate a third of the money you think it will That was pretty true Earlier that evening he had decided to grab something to eat before returning to the office to finish the business plan entry which had to be postmarked that night for competition eligibility Pivotal Moment Looking back we were at a pivotal moment of the company Gwilliam says We could very easily have folded All the credit cards were maxed and there wasn t enough revenue to meet our needs On the way to dinner his automobile was rear ended the first accident of his life By the time he returned to work got the business plan in a workable state for submission and drove to the post office he had missed the postmark Adoption com Standing in front of the post office s locked doors Gwilliam noticed several postal workers exiting the side door Hoping for a miracle he nearly pounced on them passionately explaining his situation I told them it had to be postmarked before midnight They told me It can t he says I explained to them that this was to help kids get adopted and it was for a really good cause His sincerity swayed them

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