As part of a series I intend to give away a business idea once a week for the next month. The pre-post to this is here, essentially the ideas I will provide are ones which I have not personally managed to use yet, and don’t think them personally viable in the short to to long term future - hence I am giving them away to you, for free! ( a link in return wouldn’t hurt :D)
This weeks one I call “Skill Investment” or “SkillVest”
The idea in brief was that there are a huge amount of job sites, places to get jobs doing almost anything. One thing there isn’t is a way people can online easily find start ups in which they can provide their work as an investment in the equity of the startup/fledgling company. The Job sites that are out there do their job well, but allow no room for equity propositions as a pose to wages.This came about because I had a spare day in the week at one point and I considered that if I could provide, say PHP or web development services to a start up company, in return for perhaps 5%, then was I able to do that for 20 start ups, the equivalent in return would potentially be a better gamble than simply filling the time with paid web work.This idea would work - I am significantly sure there are many people willing to work in return for equity in startup co’s. I am also very sure that start up’s need a good way to easily find people to fulfil jobs on the cheap that are willing to give up equity.
It is a lot more complicated than your standard site, with the equity part being a lot more legally confusing, especially across international borders. An Escrow like service would be needed to be established in order to enforce the payment of users. Or perhaps not?
If you think this is a good idea then please feel free to act on it, if you would like to chat about the idea or maybe include me please feel free to email me at woody *at* critix.co.uk.In the mean time if you want to read up some of my other ideas about business please do:
- 5 Startup Business Points - A few pointers that it may be worth refreshing yourself with
- Mission Statements - Important or not?
- Networking - Internet Style
Networking is a key business skill, a way that many of the top success stories of our time have played out and highlighted in the saying “its not what you know, its Who you know”. Now I put a fair amount of belief in that saying, primarily because it shows a clear definition between skills and people, that is you could know php in and out, maybe you even know a good place online to sell it, but sooner or later if you completely lack people skills your business will come a cropper.
As with all things it depends on your intention, but if you intend to succeed in business - then in 90% of cases you will need to master at least the basics of networking and people skills. From phoning up a sales lead or calling back an old customer the phone is part of the skill, politeness, charm and a positive distraction from the day are all skills of telephony that will allow you to lure people into maintaining a phone based business relationship. Furthermore public events, promotions, the hard sell are all good skills that you would expect a sales person to have done to the tee, but as an entrepreneur you have to act as a jack of all trades, learning enough of all areas of your business - in this case dealing with potential customers is key. Its worth noting that I have noticed that the people who are good with crowds, the loud ones begging for attention are not always the victors of the social war either. They may appear to be the life of the party, but resist joining in - be a clever people person - learn when to play and when to hold your hand!
Anyway people know about networking in real life - I find it fairly awkward and just have to throw myself in the deep end, and when I am there I am usually more than fine, but what about networking online? How do you develop friendships, business relations and find useful contacts online?
There are both good and bad ways to do it, as well as good and bad reasons for doing it. Finding helpful people sitting on the other end of a laptop or pc somewhere else in the world can be great for support work, online work etc. but the downside is you have to compete with spam and I find that the anonymity of net tends to mean that online workers can take longer to do things, drop projects more, scam you easier, be less answerable (e.g. if abroad.) With this in mind I would advise that if you need work done and you are going to look online for a solution, or if you want to find someone to mutually help you and themselves online then first know where too look:
Forums - A great source of information, connections, discussions, reviews, opinions. The great thing about forums for finding useful people is that good forums (e.g. digital point) have well established rep systems and its easy to find out if most people on there are trustworthy.
Advertise - Don’t forget sometimes the person you are looking for might find you - if you advertise on your site or on an appropriate niche website you will find your man. Key here is detail - lay down exactly what you are looking for - then you will either be able to choose from a list of lots or wont get the man you want because he doesn’t exist (or you are advertising in the wrong place!)
Blog Comments - Comment on peoples blogs you like - and don’t. Its often said this is a good idea - but the dislike is underplayed. Be honest, constructive criticism is 100% better than ass kissing, if the person is real then they will see your comment as what it is, if they just flame back they aren’t worth your time.
Manage your Time without mercy. Its always tempting to burn into the night commenting, posting, emailing - but the best way to build good relations is under reasonable sustainable situations.
What you think about that then? Tell me what you think or read something else from my Archives!
- 5 Startup Points - Don’t let your business be a failure from the start
- Subscribe the Masses - Great ways to get people subscribed to your blog
I thought I would throw down a ‘5 things’ relative to starting your first business. I speak from personal experience so they will vary - comments appreciated as ever 
- It will be difficult, stressful and lonely in 99% of cases (at least for the first bit) - be ready for a bit of a slog. If you are really lucky your business will fly quickly and this won’t last too long. But be prepared to give up to 6 months of hard work before giving up on an idea or seeing it really soar.
- You’ll may become addicted - When you first start a business it can be addictive to work - you can spend all day in the office/shop/boardroom then come home and chat about work then go to bed and lay there thinking about work. This is ok but bare in mind this is not sustainable forever so plan your exit!
- You should always have an exit strategy - Having a clear plan about how you will leave the business with profit will give you a good target to aim for and stop you wasting your life chasing dreams.
- Its All in the Planning - As well as an exit strategy, mission statements, month, quarter, year and 2 year plans are also worth doing - whether you manage to achieve or surpass them they will act as a framework freeing you up for day to day business decisions.
- Manage less, Lead More - In an ideal situation you will be able to start a company and employ a manager - but this is not likely when you start out. This means you will have to act as both the director/leader of your business and the general manager. This can be a messy conflicting pair of roles and confuse you and make you act as neither of the two. Define a clear plan as to how you will deal with the managerial roles and allot a time for leadership.
Like these 5? Why not check out some more of my start up business posts:
- Business Mission Statements - A requirement or a waste of time - depends on your market - perhaps?
- Early Starts Late Nights - A look on how we spend our time working on our business’s.
- Hyper Local - A great new way to target people by street - or over the top?
- Organise your online reading - how I get my sites in order - read only what is worth reading!