Nicole Donnelly, the founder of BabyLegs and BigRuby, is one of several entrepreneurs Portfolio.com is following as part of the series The Great Global Business Adventure. All of the entrepreneurs will be blogging about their experiences. This is part of the series of blogs from entrepreneurs.

The last two months have been absolutely insane!

When my WiFi went down, I didn't have my tech support to help me out. I had to go run to Staples to get a new router. Then my computer died! Good thing for the backup. There have been so many other little things that keep reminding me that I am back in a startup—a pre-revenue, not to mention pre-profit, startup. I don't have a fax machine. My printer won't talk to my computer. The printer is out of toner anyway. I'm back at Alki Mail, using their computers, fax, and printers just like I was in the very beginning of BabyLegs five years ago.

It's nice to go in and see Don's smiling face still there for me as he was five years ago. He remembers my drink: green and passion tea with a little ice. I've been revisiting established relationships to get this new venture off the ground. There are so many things to consider in establishing the business as well as developing the software.

Since November I've been writing a book called Ride Like a Penguin. It's about overcoming obstacles in life and business.

I've had the idea and owned RideLikeAPenguin.com for at least five years. I can finally share with others the experiences I've been so lucky to have and benefit from. Here's a quote from the introduction: "It isn't that I live a life without fear, it's that I choose to live with my fears, until they subside; walking alongside them, embracing them, and then harnessing them into a means of preparation and self-navigation."

It was finally time to do it! In each chapter there's an exercise to do, and I did each one for BigRuby, the new company. Now I have a defined mission, vision, and values, as well as a financial plan, promotional calendar, style guide, manifesto, and a search engine optimization strategy. The book was a great exercise to bring up what I've learned and put it into practice. By the way, it's always practice. Perfection is for procrastinators.

This is all especially valuable since I'm looking for my first employees. As opposed to how I started BabyLegs, I can immediately articulate the vision for the company, financial goals and milestones, as well as how we will get there. Five years ago I was clueless about business. Now, I may be clueless—or only slightly clued—bout the tech world. But I'll learn and take what I do understand about business in general to build BigRuby, the organization.

In the last 60 days we've posted job snippets on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It's amazing the responses from the various postings. To sort through all of the interested parties, there are a few critical points that we had to stress. Here's a snippet:

"High Demand, delayed pay, fast pace general manager wanted to work remotely or in Seattle to manage a virtual business."

What sort of person would respond to this? Many men in their 40s and 50s, but not a single woman. First I had asked for personal referrals and received only female applicants in their 30s and 40s; no men. We ended up with a good mix of applicants and used the "A Method" of hiring and the "Topgrading" interview process to narrow down our search.

There are two top contenders. One would be a good addition, however, she did not have the experience for the advertised position, while she did have the passion that we are looking for. We are inviting her to work on a project with BigRuby and a nonprofit as a volunteer. She will have the opportunity to meet hundreds of business owners through this experience, so if it does not work with BigRuby, she may find other gainful employment.

The other man flew to Seattle and met my business coaches for a thorough grilling. He passed with a couple of caveats that are to be determined through a contract working arrangement. When he landed back home, he sent me a brief text message at 9:30 p.m. I then replied that, pending a background check, we'd make him an offer. And it struck me as odd, yet appropriate, to tell somebody, a baby boomer no less, that they got the job via text message. When has this ever happened before? Never for me.

Anyways, he'll get a 90-day contract that will, upon a mutually acceptable completion, lead to an employment agreement. I'm writing this before I know if either party will take the offers or not, so I'll get back to you.

We just went live with the beta version of BigRuby at BigRuby.net! And, of course, had problems on the very first day. I've now been in my pj's in front of the computer at home for the past two days. My knees ache and I want to go for a walk, but I'm the customer support on the live chat, and there are things to chat about.

With the release of the book and app, I feel like I am now naked facing the world and asking them to tell me what they think. It's a good thing I've been working out lately!

Until next time, you can always find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and BigRuby.net