High Speed Business Start Ups
Sunday August 3, 2008
The length of time to start a business has remained virtually unchanged in this age of speed. In my experience, the majority of companies are launched in 4 to 12 months. Andrew Hyde, a 24-year-old has challenged the very notion of starting a business. Hyde has created Startup Weekend. Hyde describes his concept as:
"Startup Weekend is a intense 54 hour event bringing together brilliant tech minds (developers, designers, marketers, etc.) together to create a company (or as many as the community wants) from concept to launch."
During the entire weekend the concept goes through all the steps of start up ranging from marketing to determining a name. Hyde and his merry band of fast-paced entrepreneurs have launched several businesses to date. Time will tell if this new model of starting a business works.
My girlfriend and I started a business over the course of a weekend, and it didn’t take long before we were making a living with it. We did all our research and brainstorming in a matter of a couple days and then put together a website (which we’re now working on renovating).
We think of it this way: with frequent business from a single client, we can make a few hundred dollars a month. So, even one client generates great supplemental income, and just a few can turn into a full-time endeavor! This way, the whole idea of starting a business isn’t terrifying. It’s not about making so many dollars, it’s about getting just one more client who sees yours as a valuable service. When you think about it that way — it only takes one person to stumble upon your website — it becomes more exciting than terrifying.
Ours is a transcription business, so it takes skill and experience, but very little in the way of an initial investment. We needed a foot pedal, an internet connection, and an FTP server where people can upload audio.
So, I think the notion of starting a business in a weekend is right on. For those of us who are procrastinators, it forces us to get right to the grind and make things happen. We initially started our business out of *necessity* because my girlfriend was Canadian and couldn’t work in the US. We needed something we could both do so we started an Internet business.
We’re working on bringing this business and our other interests closer together. We’re focusing on transcription for projects related to sustainability and self-growth and are starting a blog on our website related to right livelihood: how to make a living while doing good in the world. This makes it much more satisfying to us than having any old business!
Jason
Hi,
I recently started my online business. I would say that 95% of every business represents Market Research. I find very interesting how people often start business on a hunch. Nowadays Google offers so many free market research tools, that is not necessary to guess. Bowling Discount my newest project is a 15min research project.
I am not saying that that is all I’ve done. I’ve gone out and brainstormed the ideas on a several occasions and now I’m testing the market.
My advice. Stop hesitating and just start working. You can’t miss.
Good luck!
A good maxim to have:
“It’s not about making so many dollars, it’s about getting just one more client who sees yours as a valuable service. When you think about it that way — it only takes one person to stumble upon your website — it becomes more exciting than terrifying.”