12/25/2024
When I first decided to take on this new venture, I obviously had no idea how it would go. Needless to say this first year exceeded my expectations! While I didn't go into this to fail, there were of course a great many unknowns and risks. There was definitely a learning curve on some things and though there were a few times I struggled, I didn't let those struggles deter me and I took every struggle and learning curve as a lesson to learn and applied those things. While I have to give myself a certain amount of credit because I put in a lot of hours, a lot of work and pushed myself out of my comfort zone in many cases, I know that regardless of how much effort I put into it, I couldn't have done it alone and without a lot of support. While there are far too many people to thank individually, there are a handful of people I want to acknowledge.
First and foremost, my wife Melissa Cone deserves an enormous amount of credit. When we first started talking about me starting this business, she was always honest about concerns but never once wavered in her support because she understood why this was so important to me and why I needed to do it. There were long days on jobsites and a lot of evenings where I had to run around and meet with clients after she got home from work, and while she would've had every right to, she never complained about it. There were even insights she gave me as a small business owner herself that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise and needless to say, I 100% could not have pulled this off without her and her support has made me appreciate her more than ever.
The next two are Karen Davis and Lori Locy, owners of The Plant Place in Appleton. Not only have they hired me multiple times at their own home, they've done everything they could to help me get my name out there and their insights and experience have been invaluable. They were even willing to give me a business discount on plants when I had no idea what I could promise for volume at a time when I didn't have any other business discounts available to me, for no other reason to help me get started. They went out of their way to support me when they had no reason to, took a chance on a complete stranger, and I'm incredibly grateful for having met them, not only for the things they've done to help me, but because they are genuinely great people.
I want to give another thank you to Brittany Gerhardt who gave me first completed job at her business Bark at the Moon dog grooming.
The next one along those lines is a thank you to Tom Plank and Mary Prestil Plank for giving me one of the first big jobs I did. Both of those jobs were milestones for me and helped me feel ever more confident that I was doing the right thing, and that I was capable of making it a success.
As I said at the start of this post there are far too many people to thank all of you individually but to all of those who have supported me along the way, I can't fully express my gratitude. Whether it be having hired me for work, recommending me to others or even something as simple as sharing a Facebook post, you have all helped to greater or lesser degrees and no matter how small a gesture it may seem, I want you all to know that those gestures have meant the world to me.
On behalf of myself and my family, Thank You, each and every one of you.
I hope you all have a had a great Christmas and holiday season full of love and happiness and a have a safe and happy new years! I look forward to what this next year may bring and hope you all can look forward to what your futures hold 😊
Don Cone
