Small Business Trends

Please join me in welcoming Clate Mask as a regular contributing columnist here at Small Business Trends.

Clate is the President and CEO of InfusionSoft. As I have gotten to know more about Clate, I know we are going to appreciate him contributing to this community.

You see, I have never actually met Clate in person. But we have spoken on the phone, corresponded via email, and I’ve seen him in some videos. So I was beginning to feel like I knew him.

It was only when I happened to read an electronic book he’d written, called The Edge, that I gained true insights into his personality.

In that document, he spends the first half-dozen pages telling his story of building his current business. He talks about the pain of not having enough money coming in during the early years; the constant work schedule; and the worry about whether the business was going to make it.

There’s even an interview of his wife reprinted in the book — what she says is bound to hit home with many of us who have started businesses:

“He reassured me that it would all work out. I trusted. Somehow, each time payday rolled around and there wasn’t money, it got a little harder to passively wait for things to be OK. It was rough – really, really rough. We couldn’t pay all the bills. I remember asking why we had gone to school for this. I remember feeling like I couldn’t wait any longer to get paid. It was very draining. I like stability and I was not experiencing any.

On top of not getting paid regularly — and sometimes not at all — it seemed as if Clate spent hours on his laptop doing even more work. Even at family functions, he and my brothers would sit around and talk about new logos, problems with the software, the direction of the company, who they wanted to hire, prospective clients, new office space, and how to make payroll. The list could go on and on.

I also knew that Clate was stressed out. He was constantly worried about so many different things.”

Happily, things brightened up for Clate and his family and the business.

As he points out, many business owners feel like he and his partners and his family did — “sitting on the edge of success.” His company’s purpose is to help other small businesses to get over that edge and be all that we want and dream to be.

Clate said to me, “Just about every entrepreneur and business owner I’ve ever talked to wants to know how to more efficiently grow their small business. Today, there are tools and strategies available to entrepreneurs and small business owners that enable fast, efficient growth. I’m on a mission to help small businesses embrace these tools and strategies so they can grow fast… and maintain their sanity throughout the growth process.”

Clate’s articles will focus on growing your business — and growing it through marketing and sales. He will discuss the key building blocks and strategies and attitudes you need so that later you can look back and say, “hey, we made it.” And get rid of worry and enjoy running your business.

Clate’s first article is about recognizing that as an entrepreneur, first and foremost you’re a marketer.