David Wolf – Complexity is Risk

David Wolf is the founder and executive producer of Podcast and Radio Networks. For more than 32 years, he has been the creative director, music composer, or producer of content for radio, TV, film, podcasts, audiobooks and multimedia. He has been hosting the Smallbiz America Podcast since 2005, which is now syndicated coast to coast in the US on BizTalk Radio Network and on Smallbiz America Radio. Today, David applies his experience along with the skills of his virtual creative team to help companies, organizations, entrepreneurs and thought leaders grow their brands and businesses through podcasting, audiobook production and internet radio.   “But as you know from hearing these stories, we get emotionally connected to the idea that we can save the idea we thought was the right one” David Wolf     Worst investment ever David, his wife and their two boys were living in Dallas, having moved there from Chicago in 1985 after their marriage. They had successfully built together a successful business producing music for big name brands such as McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, Exxon Mobil through advertising agencies as primary clients. They also produced work for children’s programming such as the Barney the Dinosaur shows. Music production operation builds to more than half million in annual revenue Upon arriving in Dallas, the keen 25-year-old David worked hard at building his music business, spending 85% of his time driving sales, meeting new people and getting them his music reel. The rest of the time was spent in the studio. With his wife Phyllis, a virtual team, and a collection of musicians and singers, David built up to a peak top-line revenue of around US$650,000 a year. Move to New Mexico proves financially imprudent Around the time he turned 36, he and his family decided to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, physically moving from the market that was supplying revenue for his business. He admitted failing to fully appreciate the amount of money the business was generating through the creative work and overlooked considerations of capital preservation. Riding the wave of past success, they moved but eventually the reality of being removed from their market dawned on them, so they decided to move back to Dallas to try to regenerate what they had started around a decade earlier. Return to Dallas fails to recreate past wins Back in Dallas, they could not generate the kind of success they had seen before. There was new competition in the market, David and his wife were older, nearly 40, which in that business is considered a little bit old because the decision makers in ad agencies are in their 20s or 30s. So the move back failed to take. So they found themselves asking the question: “What are we going to do?” Brother calls with idea to take over cousin’s bankrupt bagel business Then, possible light shines from the dark. David’s brother in Albuquerque, New Mexico invites him to...