The Best Home Based Business Ideas Come From Identifying, Then Filling A WANT
February 21, 2008
Ready, Fire, Aim! This is how most people start a home based business. This is how most people start any business; how most companies launch a product. This is how I did things when I first started along my entrepreneurial path, and let me tell you, it is one of the most expensive and important lessons you can learn. You have probably heard, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” It’s true, and if you are even thinking about starting a business, you better remember it.
So where do you start? A business plan, right? Wrong! This is very important, and I will get into that later, but the place to start is your idea to start a home based business in the first place (or any business for that matter). Let me tell you about one of my flops.
I was about 25, and I moved back to New Orleans to pursue a business opportunity that eventually fell through. I had just sold my first company, and I was rich. After paying off a bunch of debt, I had about $10 thousand in the bank! Listen, when you’re 25, and that is more money than you have ever had before, you think you’re rich. I put the whole thing into spray mace (pepper-spray) distributorship. This is a self defense spray, and since New Orleans had such a high crime rate, and was at the time, the murder capital of the US, I thought I had a no-brainer here. I was very wrong. [Read more]
A Valentine’s Day Tip
February 13, 2008
This is a Valentine’s Day tip for all of you Startup Daddies and Startup Mommies out there. The best way to show your spouse you really care about them is to do the little things that take a more thought than money. At least that is how it is in our house. Go buy a Valentine’s Day card, and mail it to your spouse today. If you mail something to someone in the same city, it will get there the next day (that is, everywhere I have lived). So make an excuse to go to the grocery store. They all sell cards and stamps now, and most have a mailbox right out front. You know you need diapers, or eggs, or vodka, whatever. Fill out the card, and mail it to your significant other. Get another card, of course, to give them in the morning. Make sure they open the mail tomorrow, and when they see your thoughtful gesture, instant brownie points.
None of us need a Greeting Card Holiday to remind us that we love the people in our lives. It sure makes a great excuse though. Do something a little special tomorrow. Go out to lunch, buy a bottle of wine to share after the kids are asleep, anything. The reason we work hard is to make life as good as we can for our family, right? So stop, and appreciate what you have. Even if you have no romantic interest in your life, I am sure you have someone you can tell you love them. So tell them.
5 Ways To Guarantee Your New Business Will Fail
February 11, 2008
Here are five things you can do get off to a bad start, waste your time and money, and frustrate yourself in your quest for financial and career independence.
1. Forget About Niching Down
My Super Bowl Sunday: How My DVR Makes Me A Better Father
February 4, 2008
This has more to do with the Daddy than the Startup, but this is how I spent Super Bowl Sunday. About 4 am, our oldest daughter comes into the room. “I don’t feel so good.” Great day to come down with a cold! She didn’t wake me up, because this is about the time the baby is placing her breakfast order. While the missus took care of the baby’s breakfast, I put the oldest back to bed. So started the manliest day of the year.
There was a time when Super Bowl Sunday meant friends, food, beer, and some football to top it off. How times have changed. Instead of the 12 hour Fox Super Bowl Pre-game show, we get Disney Channel and Noggin at our house. Handy Manny is more interesting than Terry Bradshaw anyway.
Lucky for me, I got my daughter into watching football. We sit there for a bit on a Sunday afternoons, and she hangs out with dad and does her touchdown dance when either team scores. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t watch a whole game (or even a half) but we have a good time for as long as her attention span allows. She really likes the Fox football player robot, too. Thank goodness for DVR. [Read more]
