Google “start online business’

Matter of fact this ’space’ is growing so fast that there are a flood of books hitting the store shelves and an equal number of ‘gurus’ staking their claims.
Makes sense that people who previously were riding the real estate cash flow cow are not turning to what is next.

Capital, like execution, is another given. Except capital is very important. You will need some skin-in-the-game, but find investment partners to share the load. If you can’t convince a non-related party to lend you cash, you’re back to playing lotto. Bootstrapping is for kids.

@64 “kudos to the investment bankers and VC’s who had the forsight…”

Not foresight. They were hedged guesses. Investors think in terms of odds and thus place multiple bets. Their goal is a blended return above the market average. When you say ‘foresight’ you’re only taking into account the winners.

Comme beaucoup de dinosaures de l’Internet, j’ai encore des cicatrices du grand crack de 1929… heu, non, de mars 2000. Je ne suis pas si vieux.
Ce crack ma laissé de mauvais souvenirs, pas mal d’opportunités gâchées, de gros…

I thought that was the nature start ups.

Nonetheless, the advice was very good, and not one that you pick up in most of the VC pannels you see around town!

Cheers, E

@58 How is the new real doing? Have the inflation problems of the past been kept under control?

@60 Adwords is mass marketing — consumers are already immune to it.

@Mark I agree with you 100%. The best way to succeed in business is to treat your customers with respect, not dominance.

People starting a company by necessity or wanting to be their own boss–>skyrocketing failure rates here;

People starting a company because they were unsatisfied with some service or thought they had a better idea on how to provide it–>failure rates dramatically dropped.

It`s a good rule of thumb is to classify people into these groups. The first group has aspirations and dreams and maybe even a lot of energy to work and prepare and study.

But the second group has an unexplored business space AND a surprise way to approach it.

If you want to start a company be an enabler. Those are the concerns with a highest probability of success and decent returns. Execution should be a given. It means something, but more often a little more than nothing. You can have a great idea/product, work hard, and still nobody cares. Unless your objective is to be a small business and work for minimum wage. Solo operators are artists. Same goes for inventors. Being an entrepreneur is just like having a job. There are still all of the politics and the usual gatekeepers. You can’t hide from that in your startup dream.

A would be entrepreneur should view a startup or job the same. They are both investments. What is your return? You can improve your return overtime by gaining knowledge, domain experience, and building solid relationships. Our economy is built around jobs and relationships. If you want to control your entrepreneurial destiny get a job and use it as a launching point. Otherwise your basically playing the lotto when you should be playing single-deck blackjack and counting cards.

#48 - Andrew: That’s an interesting point, and it highlights something I should have been clearer about: the survey asked the respondents in which industries they were likely to start a business, so by tech-related I don’t mean just something that might incorporate a website. The data unfortunately does not show any growth rates - it was a one time deal. As I said above, I’ll inquire into whether I can publish the raw data so you can check it out, too.

#49 - bootstrap: I really didn’t mean to make any distinction between a banker and investment banker; as far as my point is concerned, they’re both the same (i.e. not yet part of the tech community). And I’m sorry that this post sounded harsh - it wasn’t meant to, but I realize how can come across that way. I have no problem with people becoming tech entrepreneurs if they properly assess the effort it will take to educate themselves, find the right idea, and build the right team. I just worry for those that make the leap because they think it’s easy to create a successful internet company.

Those sorts of folks - I daresay they aren’t going to provide much that’s positive for the technology industry. Do we really want tons of casey serin types starting web companies?

FYI, most people here are a little beyond business 101 at the local community college.

@ 51 - nice copy and paste

Given the precarious state of our economy(ie, credit fiasco, housing collapse, dollar plummeting) why would they take the risk…

———

According to an industry report on Computer Systems Design and Related Services in the US; otherwise known as IT Consulting, 65% of revenues are derived from the business sector. This is further broken down to the banking, finance, and insurance industries comprising 40% of revenues. These traditional businesses are employing outside consultants to build software solutions to fill industry specific and cross industry needs.

Fortunately for opportunistic entrepreneurs, IT Consulting has a low barrier to entry with approximately 84% of the companies operating as “micro entities”; or companies with fewer than 10 employees. This business model allows for an efficient company with low overhead, and infinite scalability for any project. What sets one company apart from another are three things; the ability to identify customers’ needs, pricing your services competitively, and quickly scaling your workforce to complete the project.

I have already encountered one company which uses a similar business model to fill a niche market in the banking industry. Beth Hamlin; one of the instructors from my credit training, is the Executive Vice President of Caliber Commercial Corporation, which provides credit analysis and training services to commercial lending institutions. This service fills a position banks need, while eliminating the expense of hiring and training internal personnel.

With a slice of creativity, the possibilities of partnering with coworkers are endless.

But then again, maybe I’m misreading your interpretations of the survey. Could you link to the survey so readers like myself can take a deeper dive on the results?

thanks,

Andrew

Sorry, graph == paragraph. Faceloop, is absolutely right. You do not have the credentials to give advice on the topic of entrepreneurship. Your response to him doesn’t help your case.

Frankly, I find the the opinions of most of the contributors here to be rather shallow and more than a little suspect in terms of integrity. Sometimes TC seems like a pay-per-post operation. This post in particular has that feel, there seems to be no reason for it other than to promote PartnerUp.

A legitimate post on the survey would start by linking to…well, the survey. Some examination of the sample and the motives of the sponsor would also be in order. At that point, I’m quite sure, a competent analyst would stop and find something else to write about. However, let us pretend that there is some valuable data here and examine your analysis. Essentially, you think realtors and bankers make for poor tech entrepreneurs. Fine. But, you don’t make a logical case for your thesis. That’s the real problem. Instead of making your case, you go on to give advice to entrepreneurs that you obviously pulled out of ‘Startups for Dummies’ or something.

Oh, and that parenthetical about marketing skills is wrong. Whoever put that idea in your head is an idiot.