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Entrepreneurs, don’t go it alone.

start-ip — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:14:55 +0000

So you want to cut the cord from your full time job? Don’t go it alone. Seek out other entrepreneurs to bounce ideas off of and to (hopefully) learn from the mistakes others have made. For example, in Detroit there is a group called Open City (see Crain’s Detroit Business article). There’s bound to be a similar group in your area.

Andrew Shue co-founds social network site for mothers

start-ip — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:01:42 +0000

I had the biggest crush on Andrew Shue’s sister Elisabeth. Who’s Andrew Shue? He’s an actor known for playing Billy Campbell on Melrose Place. He’s also co-founded the social networking site CafeMom for Mothers. Business Week has a video of Andrew and other co-founder Michael Sanchez talking about their creation.

Who do you call to de-teepee your house?

start-ip — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:27:07 +0000

I was walking my dogs this morning when I came across two teenage girls cleaning up their yard after being victim to a house teepee. It had rained last night, so the toilet paper was really hard to collect.

This got me thinking. Some enterprising teenager could set up a service whereby they would clean the mess. The two girls didn’t look like they were having much fun, so I know they would be up for it. However, as a parent, I would probably tell my kids to clean up the mess. After all, it was their friends that did it.

Anyway, it was just a thought while walking the dogs. Yet another example of being aware of your surroundings for the next business idea.

Lessons from actor Seth Rogen

start-ip — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:25:54 +0000

I just recently saw knocked-up. It is hilarious.

Anyways, I was reading LA Weekly today and they had a story about one of the stars of the film, Seth Rogen. [Note: I am not from LA, however I was there recently and picked up a copy of LA Weekly, which by the way is an excellent alternative weekly.] I had two business takeaways from this article:

1) Be patient, and don’t prostitute yourself, and

2) Work with people you like.

Here’s the set-up for the first takeaway. Seth was unemployed for four years looking for work as an actor. He has great friends, including Knocked-Up director Judd Apatow, who gave him sound advice.

Apatow, however, calls Rogen’s fallow years “the path of a great comic,” in that they taught him patient dedication to seizing the right moment. “The most interesting people don’t fit into the job descriptions out there for actors,” says Apatow. “I just kept saying to him, ‘Don’t do crappy movies. Keep your IMDB page looking good.’ And now people are rooting for him to succeed because he doesn’t have a trail of awful performances that he took to pay the rent. The same reason he was good at being unemployed is why he’ll be good at being successful.”

By being patient and not taking crappy roles to pay the rent, Rogen has a clean slate with movie goers wanting to see his next movies. If he had done those crappy movies during the fallow years, he might not have gotten the role in Knocked-Up. So, even when times are tough, try to be selective in what you do. Make sure it’s right for you and your career.

For the second takeaway, Seth makes movies with friends. He once ridiculed actors that made multiple movies together.

“I gave Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson so much shit behind their backs for constantly doing movies together, and now I’m in movies with the same people all the fucking time! I’m like, ‘I get it now, fuck it, I was an asshole! I take it back!’ Now, I can’t think of enough ideas for us all to do. I want to get everyone together! We should just remake Cannonball Run!”

So, don’t go it alone. Share your journey with friends you know and trust. You’ll have fun, and you’ll probably be more successful.

Where to get your million dollar idea

start-ip — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:03:46 +0000

The Toronto Sun offers these tips on where to get your million dollar idea:

Combine elements from two businesses and create a third;
Open your ears and eyes to ideas around you;
Forget inventions and think services or online retail;
Be better.

Instant Income – Another book to read

start-ip — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:31:38 +0000

Instant Income by Janet Switzer is another book on my to read list. The book shows you a system on how to turn your uncommon assets into income in just a few hours, days or weeks.

Learn from famous entrepreneurs

start-ip — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:04:42 +0000

About.com has a nice collection of stories about famous entrepreneurs.

Hey, let’s open up a drive-in, but isn’t the drive-in dead?

start-ip — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:18:37 +0000

No. The drive-in is not dead. You’ve just got to rethink the execution. Check-out the story of Star-Vu in OC Weekly. It’s about bureaucrat turned entrepreneur Fred Armendiraz who purchased portable outdoor screens from Outdoor Movies and set up a drive-in theater on the parking lot of the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Here’s where the rethinking of the business model of drive-ins comes into play. The portable outdoor screens allows for “temporary” drive-ins rather than “permanent” drive-ins:

“The drive-in never really went away,” says Mary Jean Duran, a D.C. colleague of Armendiraz who now helps him run the Star-Vu. “People never stopped going. . . . It’s just the value of commercial real estate: Are you going to build a drive-in, or are you going to build strip malls and a condo?” In this case, the choice doesn’t have to be made. By day, it’s a parking lot. On weekends, it’s a marketplace. At night, it becomes a theater.

The equipment is not cheap, but the portability of it allows you to virtually set up a drive-in anywhere. You just have to secure a suitable location and get licenses to show the movies.

The 4-Hour Workweek — Is it Possible?

start-ip — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:57:52 +0000

Here’s a book that’s next on my reading list: The 4-Hour Workweek. The New York Times best-selling book was written by serial entrepreneur and ultravagabond Tim Ferriss. He “spent more than five years learning the secrets of the New Rich, a fast-growing subculture who has abandoned the “deferred-life plan” and instead mastered the new currencies—time and mobility—to create luxury lifestyles in the here and now.” (from the book description)

Read the book. And read his blog.

Use the internet to develop your business idea

start-ip — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:51:39 +0000

N-E-Life.com, the portal for North East England, has a short article on how to use the internet to develop your business idea.

The article focuses and points to resources you can use to help you develop your business plan. One interesting acronym that I discovered by reading this article is the PEST analysis (definition). PEST stands for the Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors of that affect different sectors and markets. Basically, the article states that you should seek PEST data when researching the web to develop your business idea.

Related: Here’s a video for sale that seeks to answer the question “how do external factors affect business?” The video is described further:

The experiences of the companies in a seaside town demonstrate the meaning of P-E-S-T.
POLITICS: People often complain about European politicians. But business is booming at the Royal Albion Hotel – and it’s all thanks to a European grant.
ECONOMICS: Economic factors led famous model train maker Hornby Hobbies to close its factory and move its manufacturing to China. Hornby’s done well – but what about the social costs?
SOCIETY & TECHNOLOGY: The Happy Elephant jewellery company is making sales from a social trend called the “New Age”. Meanwhile technology has helped turn round the fortunes of the Bottleneck off-licence.
THE RETAIL PARK: But external factors are rarely clear-cut. How will a big new out of town shopping centre affect the high street shops?