I’ve spent years working alongside business owners and serial entrepreneurs.
I’ve watched ideas turn into companies, companies turn into bigger companies, and one business somehow turn into three. I’ve been there for the planning, the problem-solving, the pivots, the projects, and plenty of the “okay, how are we going to make this work?” conversations.
I have never really thought of myself as an entrepreneur.
I was the person behind the scenes helping leaders, business owners, and entrepreneurs do what they do.
And yet, here we are.
I started a company.
There was definitely a point during the process when the excitement of I’m really doing this was followed rather quickly by Oh my gosh...what have I done?
Because having an idea for a business and actually starting one are two very different things.
The idea part is fun. You think about what you want to build, who you want to help, what you’ll call it, and what it could eventually become.
Then you start filling out forms.
So. Many. Forms.
Suddenly I’m choosing NAICS codes, figuring out business licenses, registering for things I didn’t know existed, setting up banking and bookkeeping, building a website, and spending a truly unreasonable amount of time deciding exactly which shade of apricot best represents my company.
Apparently, this is entrepreneurship.
The funny thing is, somewhere in the middle of all of it, I realized I was experiencing the exact reason I wanted to start MNR Company in the first place.
Running a business is a lot.
Not necessarily because any one thing is impossible, but because there are so many things happening at once. The work rarely fits neatly into one category, and there isn’t always an obvious person to handle what comes next.
That is something I’ve seen over and over again throughout my career.
One day I’m helping with operations. The next it’s marketing. Then there is a project that needs to get across the finish line, a process that isn’t working, a system that needs to be built, or an idea that’s been sitting on someone’s list for six months because no one has had the time to actually do anything with it.
And inevitably, there are the things that don’t belong anywhere.
Those have always been some of my favorites.
The “Marie, can you figure this out?” things.
Usually, yes.
I may have 23 tabs open by the time I get there, but we’ll figure it out.
That’s really where MNR Company came from.
After years of working alongside business owners and leaders, I started to recognize that the work I naturally gravitated toward was also work businesses genuinely needed. Someone who could come in, understand the moving pieces, fill the gaps, bring some structure to the chaos, and keep important things moving forward.
At some point I had to ask myself a slightly uncomfortable question:
If I believe there is a need for this, and I know I’m good at it...why am I not building it?
Turns out questions like that can lead to LLC paperwork.
So here we are.
MNR stands for Managing. Navigating. Resolving.
Those three words describe a lot of what I’ve done throughout my career, but I’m realizing they also describe business ownership remarkably well.
You’re managing what already exists while navigating what comes next and resolving whatever unexpected thing shows up at 9:19 on a Tuesday morning.
And that brings me to this blog.
I’m not starting it because I’ve suddenly become a person who has all the answers about business. Starting my own has made me even more suspicious of anyone who claims they do.
I’m writing it because I’ve spent years seeing business from behind the scenes. I’ve seen what helps things move, what slows them down, what gets unnecessarily complicated, what falls through the cracks, and how much of running a business is simply figuring things out as you go.
Now I get to experience some of that from a completely different seat.
I want this to be a place where I can share both sides of that. The things I’ve learned from years of helping other people run and grow their businesses, and the things I’m learning now that I’ve decided, apparently, to become one of them.
We’ll talk about operations, projects, systems, growth, marketing, organization, and the random things that don’t fit nicely under any of those headings.
There will be things I know.
There will be things I’m figuring out.
And I’m fairly certain there will be more Oh my gosh, what have I done? moments along the way.
But maybe that is the point.
Business isn’t nearly as polished behind the scenes as it looks from the outside.
I’ve known that for years.
Now I get to live it.
Welcome to MNR Company.