How We Got Here

You have probably read stories about people who start a multi-million dollar business from scratch,in the basement of their home, after losing all their assets. The moral of the story is: "losing everything is the motivation you need to succeed." Yea, right!

Well exactly one year ago, the day after Independence Day, we became totally "independent!" Scruffy's dad was asked, by the company for whom he worked, to take early retirement - at age 58 - with no regard or appreciation for his years of service, dedication and contributions. There were no signs or premonitions, only a direct and heartless conversation which resulted in unemployment!!

What Do We Do Now?

After days of trying to digest this most distressing news, we became increasingly aware of our apparent dilemma. The words "too young to retire; but too old to hire" were resounding off the walls as we started the slow process of trying to find the priorities in our life.

A few years earlier, we had begun promoting Scruffy & Pals with limited success, due mostly to lack of time. An acquaintance designed a mediocre website for us which was little more than an informational brochure and yielded no public exposure. Scruffy's dad surmised that we were "a grain of sand on the beach waiting to be noticed."

Times Have Changed

We were raised in a time when you submitted an employment application to a specific company, you were called in for a personal interview, after which you were notified by mail or phone of their decision. Boy, have times changed! In the high-tech job market arena of today, everything is done via the Internet! You must post your resume, life bio and photograph on websites which supposedly are reviewed by reputable organizations, from whom you never have any contact or discover who they are or what they represent. The only responses you receive are from opportunists looking for ways to tear down your already bruised ego, in order sell you $8,000 worth of "professional grooming" that will gain you exposure to lucrative business executives who are waiting to offer you that perfect job.

Suddenly we found ourselves inundated with time that we needed to direct in a positive, productive and profitable direction. Our only recourse was to pursue our dreams with Scruffy & Pals. We have always received positive feedback regarding the Scruffy & Pals concept and now we needed to take it to the next level. We would need a new and improved website, one that we could build and manage ourselves, so the public would come to know the unique and charismatic personalities of the Scruffy & Pals characters.

Scruffy's dad and I (aka Scruffy's mom) have been a successful team for forty years and we would now test that relationship to the fullest by working together in a business venture. Nine years ago, I completed two classes in webpage design, but had not given it much thought since. I began reviewing the material with the hopes of gaining enough skill to build a new website for Scruffy & Pals. I was pleased with how well this old mind remembered HTML, but Scruffy's dad was not impressed with my progress. "We need to get a website now - not in a year or two."

Enter Site Build It

The exact way in which we discovered Site Build It (SBI) has been lost in this overtaxed memory, however, our faith leads us to believe that it was by the grace of God! As Scruffy's dad spent fourteen to eighteen hours each day surfing the Internet for job opportunities, he came across many sites that picqued his interest and curiosity. SBI happened to be the one site that offered everything we were looking for in website building and management. It was affordable, comprehensive, progressive, informative and offered us, your average web surfers with limited abilities and direction in website design, the opportunity and tools to build a professional looking site, while including our own creativity and personal touches. There are so many avenues in growing a successful website that we could never have addressed without SBI, yet the best part is, someone is always there (24/7) to help you, a person from their staff or a fellow SBIer who has been there, done that!

Through all the reading, studying and time dedicated by our entire family - even our little poodle, Chessie, (above) doing proof-reading for our website - we were pleased to see our homepage on the Internet in August, 2005. We are slowly gaining traffic as we continue to add more pages (up to forty) and we are proud of our accomplishments. The new friends we have made all over the world, some of whom are now linked to our site, have made it all worthwhile.

As Solo Build It continues to grow, support, encourage and keep us informed of every new innovation in webpage management, they will never know how much more they have contributed to our lives. They filled our wounded spirits with a reason to keep going and now we have lifted our heads above the sand. Hopefully the future will allow our little grain to stick in the web of a spider that will be found by every monitor in Internet heaven.

Thank GOD for SBI!

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