As someone who has been working in the tech field since before the whole dot com boom, it has always been my desire to go on my own. I began working in this field because I wanted my own business. Not that being employed in this sector is the path to entrepreneurship, but I had a real desire to learn from the ground up how to do it.
I've had a lot of ideas along the way. As anyone will tell you, however, an idea is not enough. I've seen a few of my ideas ( or variations of them ) implemented by others. Some worked out well and others have fallen by the wayside. There's nothing worse than coming across, for example, a new website that does exactly what you had in mind and knowing that you could have done it. Of course there's always those old and faithful excuses to fall back on:
I've had a lot of ideas along the way. As anyone will tell you, however, an idea is not enough. I've seen a few of my ideas ( or variations of them ) implemented by others. Some worked out well and others have fallen by the wayside. There's nothing worse than coming across, for example, a new website that does exactly what you had in mind and knowing that you could have done it. Of course there's always those old and faithful excuses to fall back on:
- I didn't have enough free time
- I didn't have enough money
- Somebody's already working on that idea
- I need this . . . or that . . . or few other things to make it work
- That domain name's taken
- Add your own here
The Plan
Something I read not long ago said that sometimes you need an extra kick in the ass to get things rolling. You need to be held accountable. Well, I'm going to give that a shot and see what happens. Here's how I plan on playing it all out. A few months ago I promised my son that I would buy him his own domain name ( and perhaps a year of hosting ) if he brought his reading grade up. He has been maintaining his own blog at my old domain. I know that he has brought the grade up so when he brings his final grade home I'll have to follow through. Under my own domain, I'll develop what it is I plan on doing. The general public will be able to see the progress that is being made. The idea will be 100 percent bootstrapped. As far as advertising and marketing - that will be done through viral, word of mouth, and self promotion avenues.
The Idea
So what will I be building? I haven't a clue. That's where you come in. I'm enlisting you, the reader, to help me find the right idea. Don't worry, I have ideas and I will post them. What I'm planning on doing is posting my thoughts about particular areas of development ideas much like particular categories of web applications - but not limited to web applications. In return I'd like your feedback, your thoughts, and your critiques.
What I will talk about
For the most part my posts will be a general look at the feasibility of building something in that particular niche of the industry. For example, an outlook of it's ability to attract and retain an audience, the competition, the amount of time to build and take it live and what kind of technology may be needed to build it. Some initial candidates are:
What's driving this
I've been talking about it for years. From time to time I get started, get midway, get frustrated or bored or something else ( see the list above ). After my wife got her new job and I saw that we will now ( most likely ) fall into the the suburban family trap. I don't want my wife and I to use our sick days and vacation days to fill in the gaps when the kids are home from school or we can't find someone to watch them while we are at work. I don't want our lives to consist of juggling schedules to make this work or that work. What's more, I don't want our decisions to come down to who will make what sacrifice. I want our family to be more than a weekend family. I want our family's financial dependence on something we own rather than contributing to something someone else owns.
So that's it. I'm looking forward to it and I'm looking forward to your thoughts and comments.
Something I read not long ago said that sometimes you need an extra kick in the ass to get things rolling. You need to be held accountable. Well, I'm going to give that a shot and see what happens. Here's how I plan on playing it all out. A few months ago I promised my son that I would buy him his own domain name ( and perhaps a year of hosting ) if he brought his reading grade up. He has been maintaining his own blog at my old domain. I know that he has brought the grade up so when he brings his final grade home I'll have to follow through. Under my own domain, I'll develop what it is I plan on doing. The general public will be able to see the progress that is being made. The idea will be 100 percent bootstrapped. As far as advertising and marketing - that will be done through viral, word of mouth, and self promotion avenues.
The Idea
So what will I be building? I haven't a clue. That's where you come in. I'm enlisting you, the reader, to help me find the right idea. Don't worry, I have ideas and I will post them. What I'm planning on doing is posting my thoughts about particular areas of development ideas much like particular categories of web applications - but not limited to web applications. In return I'd like your feedback, your thoughts, and your critiques.
What I will talk about
For the most part my posts will be a general look at the feasibility of building something in that particular niche of the industry. For example, an outlook of it's ability to attract and retain an audience, the competition, the amount of time to build and take it live and what kind of technology may be needed to build it. Some initial candidates are:
- Broad social networks
- Niche social networks
- Web enabled productivity
- Classified advertising
- Blog networks
- Consulting
- Micro ISV
What's driving this
I've been talking about it for years. From time to time I get started, get midway, get frustrated or bored or something else ( see the list above ). After my wife got her new job and I saw that we will now ( most likely ) fall into the the suburban family trap. I don't want my wife and I to use our sick days and vacation days to fill in the gaps when the kids are home from school or we can't find someone to watch them while we are at work. I don't want our lives to consist of juggling schedules to make this work or that work. What's more, I don't want our decisions to come down to who will make what sacrifice. I want our family to be more than a weekend family. I want our family's financial dependence on something we own rather than contributing to something someone else owns.
So that's it. I'm looking forward to it and I'm looking forward to your thoughts and comments.
I think for a fair price you could get John and I to give you an "extra kick in the ass to get things rolling," ;)
Jim;
Awesome! I know exactly how you feel and I am trying to do the same thing. I can't live paycheck to paycheck anymore waiting for the next person to lay me off. I will definitely follow the process - and keep you informed on my progress as well...
Jim - you are not alone! I was in exactly the same position (except in California :)) a few years back. You can build a world class business as a self-funded startup. It was almost impossible before this century; now it's simple (but not easy!) to do.
For lack of a better term, call it the MicroISV Way.
Here's a couple of resources you might not know about:
1. Joel on Software, the Business of Software - this is The forum for microISVs looking for answers. Low noise, high content (http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/?biz)
2. MyMicroISV - it's my ongoing conversation with and for the microISV community at http://mymicroisv.com.
3. The MicroISV show on Microsoft Channel 9 podcast - we're really trying to find people who have something useful/interesting to say to micro-ISVs (http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/The_MicroISV_Show)
Good luck and keep blogging!
Aleah - you seem all too eager to kick me in the ass for any reason at all.
Skipper - by all means, let me know how your progress is going. I'm sure we can provide each other tips and tricks along the way.
You're right about just doing it - the key is movement (hopefully forward, but back and side-to-side works also). There are hundreds of way to succeed (and you probably should define what that means to you on this initial project) and there are hundreds of ways to fail - but there is one sure way to FAIL - don't even try.
I'm working right now on figuring out some things about me - this introspective stuff sucks - but we all have things that hang us up and I'm at an age where time is not on my side - so I've got to get over myself. Good luck!!
Sorry, I am new to the dot com thing...SoI am of no help...
But I am hoping for the best... as it is great to have something that is your own...
Good Luck with it all... and hope your son makes 'the' grade...and so kick starts this whole endeavor!