In a previous post, I mentioned that we had entered a business plan competition. The winning company is to be awarded $100,000 in cash and $200,000 in services.  Not a bad boost for a startup.  We entered - full of equal parts hope and certainty that we would win.  After all, we’ve been working on our business idea and business plan for over a year.  We quit our jobs and ditched our careers to stake our futures on this idea.

45 companies submitted business plans.  15 companies were chosen to advance to the next round.  We were not one of them.  Wow.  Shock to the system.

I am tempted to use this space to explain why we should have made it or why we believe Servinity has greater potential than companies that did.  But I won’t do that.  It’s a waste of time and energy, and frankly, it’s unbecoming.

The judges of the business plan competition decided that Servinity was not one of the 15 “best new companies that will strengthen and expand Georgia’s strategic technology industry segment of Internet Technologies” (direct quote from competition website).  Obviously we disagree and are disappointed that we weren’t given the opportunity to present Servinity to the judges; but that doesn’t mean we won’t continue to build the company and present Servinity to actual customers.

Still though, the news of our rejection did cause some degree of heartache.  Over the past 16 months we have shared Servinity with countless people - service industry members, investors, entrepreneurs, business people, friends and family - and actively solicited honest and genuine feedback from each and every one.  And you know what?  Not a single person told us our idea wasn’t worthy.  In fact, almost without exception, Servinity has been received with great enthusiasm, particularly by those within the service industry.  No one has said ”Sorry, we think you will fail.”  But that is exactly what it felt like when we were given our walking papers at such an early stage of the competition.

It took about five minutes to shed that feeling, though, and realize:  It’s ok.  It’s ok that the business plan judges weren’t receptive to our idea.  It’s ok that not everyone shares our passion and unwavering belief in Servinity.  Doubters strengthen our resolve and help us sharpen our execution. 

So don’t feel too badly for us.  As Vince Lombardi said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.”  Well, we’re back up and working harder than ever.  Each day we are one step closer to turning our business plan into an actual business.  We know that the sooner we can get Servinity into the hands of our customers, the sooner we will hear from the decision makers that matter most.