Nov 27
….and this is a chance for you to discuss your business and using a Mac to start up your business. Your business story covers what you are thinking about using the Mac and can answer such questions as:
- short description of your company
- how and when did you first starting to use your Mac in your startup
- the good and the bad, strengths and weaknesses about using the Mac
- what lessons you have learned about startups
- what advice you’d give to people considering starting up a business
- anything else you can think of
The length of the story needs to be around 450 500-700 words or less (or more if you want me to edit it down some) and may contain one graphic/photo. Use iWork Pages so that I can insert it into my upcoming 6×9 sized book.
I’m looking for a mixture of businesses and even out of the ordinary businesses, for example animal husbandry, that tells how a Mac can be used in that business or industry. This is an idea I had and putting it out to see what Mac users want to talk about using the Mac and see what you all have to say about this idea.
Let me know what you think and what issues you see. I’m winging this as I go, so be prepared for changes, but I’m looking for suggestions as well.
P.S. Also think of this as a short introduction to who you are and I’ll figure a way of pointing your information to your company’s web site or blog so you’ll have more information to discuss your company with future customers.
Update #1: Think in terms of telling your story to others, tell it compelling enough so that people are entertained and enlightened at the same time. Also, enjoy writing it, have some fun.
Dec 13
I enjoy Paul Graham’s insights to start ups.
His article “Why to Start a Start up in a Bad Economy” is great reading. Here’s his schtick:
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“The economic situation is apparently so grim that some experts fear we may be in for a stretch as bad as the mid seventies.
When Microsoft and Apple were founded.
As those examples suggest, a recession may not be such a bad time to start a startup. I’m not claiming it’s a particularly good time either. The truth is more boring: the state of the economy doesn’t matter much either way.”
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And you can see Jerry Kaplan discuss “The Best Time to Start a Company is When Nobody Thinks it’s Possible” at a Stanford’s Entrepreneur’s Conference
It’s sort of like having a kid, there is not a “best time” to have one, you just do it.
Dec 08
You often hear that 70% of the start ups fail in the first year and the next bunch fail in year two so that most fail within five years. At least, that’s what we all hear. But what is really behind these numbers.
Let’s take John C. Maxwell’s book “Failing Forward” and see where these first numbers come to. When he asked a number of millionaires how many times did it take for them to become successful the average number of failures was around five!!
So that means that while most small businesses fail, the business owners keep on trying and moving forward!!!
So, it’s not the failure that is the issue, but how you look at the failure. Do you:
Dwell on your failure and keep harking back to your failure?
Deal with the failure by learning from your mistakes and moving on?
Deny your failure and blame everyone else for your string of bad luck?
If you are in the middle of the road camp and deal with it, then you’re not a failure.
Keep on pressing on.
Dec 06
You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed. Paul Graham. paulgraham.com/start.html
