SCORE!

Today I got up early-early. Well... if you compare it to the time I used to get up for work when we lived in Hawaii, 6:00 a.m. is actually kind of late. But so far, for my new life in New Jersey, it was early-early. :)

Ohyeah, the reason I got up at 6:00 a.m. was to go to a workshop that took place in Newark. Although the workshop didn't start until 9:00 a.m., I got up so early because I wanted to take the bus instead of drive, and I needed extra time to figure out how to use the bus system here. :) The NJ Transit folks have a pretty good web site that makes it easy to find which busses, trains or light rail you need to use to get from one place to another, but the problem I ran into is that they sometimes don't use the full address for their stations, which makes it tricky for New Jersey newbies like me to figure out where they are. For example, the bus schedule makes reference to "Erie Loop" station in Orange. I can't just look up Erie Loop in Google Maps... doesn't come up.

Anyway, when in doubt, just call the guys. That worked out nicely because the guy at NJ Transit told me a better place to go wait for the bus (a different one than I ended up taking, but both lines had the same destination), and also how much it would cost and what time I would be picked up.

The workshop took place in the Small Business Administration's offices in downtown Newark, and was presented by the New Jersey chapter of SCORE - Senior Corps of Retired Executives. Basically it was all about starting your own business in New Jersey. They have different retired (and some not yet retired) executives come to talk to the group about writing a business plan, bookkeeping and taxes, financing, choosing a legal entity, and personal qualities needed to be a successful entrepreneur. I thought all the speakers were very informative, and most were also very engaging... I did get a little sleepy during one of the sessions after lunch, but I guess that's normal. ;)

If I do decide to go ahead with the business I want to start, I think the biggest obstacles I'll have to overcome are the personal qualities. Although I know I've come a long way from being the shy, un-confident scaredy-cat I was before, a lack of confidence in my abilities is something I still battle with quite a bit. Also, I have to become more of an avid researcher of the industry I want to get into, so I guess that can be my goal #1 for now... learn more!