The foray: Step 1

Thanks to the people in the blogosphere (does anyone use that word anymore?) for the help. I had some pretty interesting tidbits, from some offerings of wisdom to some recommendations.

@kvr said: "Besides if you don't see a way to earn back $25 a month then maybe your in the wrong business." That woke me up. 

An anonymous commenter suggested a site to check out, which I did. It talked about general things to look for in an e-commerce site host.

@Adam McFarland said: "It sounds like you have a good 'in' to get these violins at a good price from a company that not everyone has access to. That's a huge competitive advantage to start with." I hadn't thought of the connection with China as a competitive advantage. I still revert to thinking only about the product and not the business holistically. 

@nethy on Adam's blog suggested Weebly. I checked it out, it actually was pretty neat... drag and drop web designing. For a product with a high price point like violins, may not be the best. But I definitely see a use for it for future endeavors. 

What put me over the top was a post on Neville's Financial blog about how interest rates in a savings account were laughably low. I'm losing money by it sitting in a savings account that pays interest rates below inflation. So now's a good time to invest it! Neville responded to my comment and offered up a post he did about starting his e-commerce site. I actually had read it a long time ago, but I plan to do it again now that I've got $25 sunk into it. :)

So... I just signed up for Shopify. And for good measure I entered their e-commerce contest where the top selling site got $100,000. Just for fun. Thanks all for the encouragement. The first baby step is done. The next one will be to figure out how to make the site look professional. 

The foray: Step 1

Tiny steps make major leaps

Pamela Slim from the Escape From Cubicle Nation recently posted a blog entry entitled Tiny steps make major leaps. The idea is very similar to a blog I posted a while back called One small step for man. Pamela compares trying to lose weight with trying to leave the cubicle world. Interesting read on Pam's take on a similar subject!

Tiny steps make major leaps

ALPHABETICAL ORDER SUCKS!

This is probably one of those things that scarred me as a kid and I've not gotten over it. My last name is in the back end of the alphabet, and how many freakin' times did I hafta go last because of the first letter of my last name? Alphabetical order is not random order! It gives people earlier in the alphabet an unfair advantage. If I contributed to a project with a team of 5, anytime our names are listed I'm last. Do people even read that far down?

Seth Godin on his blog talks about times to NOT use alphabetical order. Namely, when you're not searching for something specific. Why not order it in a way that it makes sense to? By popularity? I have an example of a different way of ordering something that makes more sense to the end user. I was recently at a new Holiday Inn hotel, and the little cheat sheet of TV channels were listed like this:

Genius! No one goes into a hotel room, picks up the remote, and goes "I wonder what's on channel 2. Or on channel 8. Or channel 45." You go "What channel is ESPN on?"

ALPHABETICAL ORDER SUCKS!

Countdown to the sabbatical!

Last week I turned in my leave of absence form to HR... And it's suddenly it's feeling a lot more real that this is actually going to happen! I've spent the last few days working on finishing up some things, transitioning my work to my replacement, and starting to do some pre-work in finding my new role for when I return. I sent out an announcement to my project team today, and the best response I got was "You lucky SOB." August 5th will be my last day in the office for three months... Only 12 business days left!

I read an update about the guy who left his corporate job to join a baseball league in Germany on the Escape From Cubicle Nation blog. One thing that hit home with me was how his parents didn't exactly agree with his decision, just like mine, and it encourages me his parents are starting to come around (my dad still avoids the subject when I bring it up). He's enjoying his time and doesn't regret doing what he did. Here's to me having the same experience with what I'm calling my SEEF3M!

Countdown to the sabbatical!

Notes from the blogosphere

There were three mention worthy posts from A Smart Bear and Adam McFarland's blogs this past week:

From "Adam McFarland":

Funding your first business - This was a neat take on what path to take to your first business. The path to the corporate world is really well worn (go to school, get a job, work for 30 years, retire). Adam proposes a neat path to the entrepreneurship world, starting with a "non-career job," providing a service, then finally getting to the point of starting a business. It's really close to a Corporatepreneur path. Maybe the subject of another post!

From idea to cashflow - Adam responds to a request I had to describe how he went from getting an idea to getting cashflow. In the corporate world, we're given ideas and told to execute them using their systems. How do we go from idea to cashflow on our own? Good post, I'm hoping that he talks a little bit more on the nuts and bolts to starting a business, i.e. how the heck do you get to be a distributor? Do you just call someone up?

From "A Smart Bear":

Sacrifice your health for a startup - Here's Jason being all contrarian again. :) In this post, he feels like you need to work really hard to the point of sacrificing your health and friends/family in order for a startup to be successful. I don't have that kind of drive, so am I doomed to start? Can I be an 80 for 20 type person and still be successful?

Notes from the blogosphere

Bloginage

So once in a while I like to do a "Bloginage" which is a takeoff of the word "blog" and "badinage." The word badinage, which I learned in a game of cranium, basically means "banter." So I'm just gonna banter a bit, giving some snippets of random stuff...

So about the upcoming leave of absence (or SEEF3M), the analogy I had earlier was I felt like I had senioritis. You know, when all you can think of is graduating and being free from all this homework. Well, since I'm a little over a month away now, I have a new analogy from my college days: It feels like final exam month. I have all this stuff I need to get done at work before I can leave for summer vacation!

I've inched my way out of the dip... The new project I'm looking at trying out is a single use wipe for use on the exterior of cars. It's not a ground breaking idea, but it'll let me learn about selling a physical product. Also, I'm thinking this as an example of a commercial innovation: the product is very similar (if not the same) as an existing product, but you position it in a way so it solves a different problem for the consumer.

I had a short meeting with the wipes vendor and learned about the typical issues with this kind of business model. Minimum order quantity is 50,000 wipes. The cost isn't too bad (in the thosands of dollars for 50K wipes). But then I figured in fulfillment and shipping costs, and I'd prob at best break even if I charged $0.50 a wipe. Adam, how do you make money using this model? :) Next step is some testing with people...

I've gotten some buzz on NotTheBookstore.com, as 3 students have signed up for my mailing list in the same week. The mailing list is invaluable; these are people who voluntarily want to be reminded to buy your product. I haven't rolled out the new site yet, but I've gotten to the point now where I've redesigned one page and have sent it in to my programmer.

I find it interesting that Brad was in "The Dip" just as I was at the same time...

I've always wondered if this blog would ever make money for us. It's been great as a way to get inspiration and meet people similar to you in this journey, so even if it doesn't make me a penny it'll be worth it. But last week, someone bought a copy of the E-Myth that I blogged about. So our first pennies of revenue! Funny how such a small thing inspires you so much...

As usual, things just kinda flow when you just start writing and instead of a bunch of small snippets I end up with a pretty long post!

Bloginage

The bigger they are... the harder they fall

Jason Cohen's post in his Smart Bear blog (check out fear #6 and his answer to #6 later in the blog) gave me this idea for a post that I think we at the Corporatepreneur know a thing or two about... inefficiencies at big companies. Let me tell you some things about big companies that an entrepreneur can exploit.

Overhead: Big companies hafta pay pensions, bonuses, cushy office chairs, and salaries of people who are not quite ready to retire yet but have stopped working.

How to exploit: If you can find a better cost structure (i.e. selling something online instead of through big warehouses), you can not only beat big companies but they will run away from you because they don't want to dilute their margins (the books Innovator's Dilemma and Innovator's Solution talk about this)

Functional Silos: Big companies have lots of functions (R&D, Marketing, production, Finance) and with each function there are numerous managers. Each function feels like they need to carve out their influence and create their empire. A lot of times products are sub-optimized because each function is trying to serve their best interests, not the best interests of the company as a whole.

How to exploit: Since you have a more holistic view, you can create a product that's good on all fronts. Plus, you can tweak things on a whim to improve them for a particular customer, or adjust prices as you see fit, or even name a product something you dreamed up last night. Any one of these things at a large company requires meetings and pre-meetings about these meetings. You can change things on a whim to delight your customer. Or make more money.

Risk Averse: At big companies, people are always trying to CYA (Cover Your Ass). You don't take risks, because failure gets you fired. You hafta test things a million times, document all the stuff you learn and why you made a certain decision, and get all kinds of approvals from people. Sometimes something as simple as the color of a package needs to get VP sign off.

How to exploit: An entrepreneur can take calculated risks and beat a big company at it any time. Want to try to sell something online? Google it, maybe read a few blogs like Adam McFarland's, get on Yahoo small business, and do it. At a big company, you'd probably hire consultants and have numerous team meetings. Want to try a new ad slogan? Go for it. At a big company, you hafta go through legal, who's on vacation this week, then marketing will get mad at you because you've stepped on their toes.

I could go on forever, but it's good to keep blog entries short and sweet. Jason, hopefully this helps illustrate #6 for you.

The bigger they are... the harder they fall

Mark Cuban - my hero

In my entrepreneurship class during my MBA, we started off by introducing ourselves and then saying who our business hero was. I said Mark Cuban, because I wanted to ultimately own a sports team after I made it big. One girl in the class asked, "Isn't he that annoying guy?"

Well Cuban has a blog, and on that blog he's doing his own economic stimulus package. He's going to fund people who post comments on his blog that he sees fit. Check out the posting here, and take note of the "rules" he has.

Take note of rules #3 and #4:

3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.

Now I see why this guy is my hero. He follows the principle of be patient for growth and impatient for profit. Too many companies have the delusions of grandeur and want $50 million for a website with no business model (i.e. some way to make money).

Lesson to people looking to be an entrepreneur... Figure how to make a little profit. It'll go a long way towards getting funding.

Mark Cuban - my hero

Case in point: Why Corporatepreneurship

Time for another installment of why Corporatepreneurship instead of just quitting and doing a startup. One of the blogs I subscribe to is the Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk. In this posting she talks about the perils of a startup... always being financially strapped, always on the phone, how you can never take a sick day. Take a look.

However, if you are able to hold your job and work on getting your startup going with small amounts of time carved out of your day, you get a chance to prove out your business model and make some cash before you take your leap of faith. Try SEEFADing. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks to get the best of both worlds!

Case in point: Why Corporatepreneurship