A Proper Introduction
July 6th 2009 22:51
I don't think we have been properly introduced. I am a Serial Entrepreneur. I enjoy starting companies. And I am an artist (check out amateurartist.net and c-hammer.com).
Last year, after taking a few years off, (i.e. working for other people), I formed a company with several other partners. Originally this company was going to produce a single newspaper and then franchise the distribution/retail of the paper. typical of me, as the rest of the US runs from newspapers I rushed in. There is nothing inherently wrong with papers, it was the content at issue and business model. A newspaper is old news by the time it is printed. So we don't do news. With the success of the first paper we started a related but different paper. Both are growing well and survived their first year even in the worst economy in half a century. While our huge competitors began to declare bankruptcy we thrive.
In the process of building those papers we discovered another opportunity, we couldn't help but take this new project on. We partnered with another company and developed a new company to take on this venture. This project is very new and has a very large potential. In the next week or so I will be able to write more about it.
We have another 100 or so websites, some deal in affiliate marketing, some are blogs, some are completely unrelated to anything we currently do, but generate some revenue. Everything is very bootstrap. So everything must be profitable and able to stand on it’s own. If it doesn’t we sell it off or just eliminate it entirely. There is a long list of partners who have a vested interest in each of the websites. And that is part of the larger plan.
I come up with ideas, and generally develop the project. Then hand it off to sales or biz development and the projects partners. They then run with it and continue to grow it while the biz dev/sales team goes on to the next project. It is working swimmingly at the moment, even in this rough economy.
We have several more sites about to go-live soon. There is a stock image site that is again unique and has proprietary art, and an online syndication and subscription system that will go live later this summer. I need a clone of myself.
It sounds like a shotgun approach, and I find it funny because I often preach focus and following the plan to reach our goals. However, in-fact we are very focused, there is a plan that we follow strictly. I have so many great ideas and plans to execute them, that it is burning a hole in my head. This way of working lets me get them out into the world and eventually my income and that of the various partners will be residual in nature. Everything is being developed around that end goal. This plan also utilizes my personal strengths and allows us to take advantage of new opportunities that arise as we come across them.
These new ideas and opportunities are added to the list and priority is set based on potential, availability of resources, time and input. We always look for LIHO, Low Input, High Output projects. Basically projects that once live need very little maintenance and produce large amounts of revenue. If they take too much support to maintain then we cannot develop the next project, so it better have a VERY high income potential.
Most investors would panic if they saw this plan. And rightfully so. I would too. That is why we’ve never asked for anyone to invest money in it, and never will. If we don't need it, why bring on those headaches.
I've been here before. In my 20's I was involved in several successful and several failed dot com's. It was the time away from the entrepreneurial experience that I learned from my own mistakes and those of the projects I had been part of. As is typical, I had to take several steps back to see the whole picture, and start moving forward again. The lessons learned are more valuable than the money made.
I now work for myself, doing what I enjoy, and try to share the success I have made for myself with other like-minded people.
Last year, after taking a few years off, (i.e. working for other people), I formed a company with several other partners. Originally this company was going to produce a single newspaper and then franchise the distribution/retail of the paper. typical of me, as the rest of the US runs from newspapers I rushed in. There is nothing inherently wrong with papers, it was the content at issue and business model. A newspaper is old news by the time it is printed. So we don't do news. With the success of the first paper we started a related but different paper. Both are growing well and survived their first year even in the worst economy in half a century. While our huge competitors began to declare bankruptcy we thrive.
In the process of building those papers we discovered another opportunity, we couldn't help but take this new project on. We partnered with another company and developed a new company to take on this venture. This project is very new and has a very large potential. In the next week or so I will be able to write more about it.
We have another 100 or so websites, some deal in affiliate marketing, some are blogs, some are completely unrelated to anything we currently do, but generate some revenue. Everything is very bootstrap. So everything must be profitable and able to stand on it’s own. If it doesn’t we sell it off or just eliminate it entirely. There is a long list of partners who have a vested interest in each of the websites. And that is part of the larger plan.
I come up with ideas, and generally develop the project. Then hand it off to sales or biz development and the projects partners. They then run with it and continue to grow it while the biz dev/sales team goes on to the next project. It is working swimmingly at the moment, even in this rough economy.
We have several more sites about to go-live soon. There is a stock image site that is again unique and has proprietary art, and an online syndication and subscription system that will go live later this summer. I need a clone of myself.
It sounds like a shotgun approach, and I find it funny because I often preach focus and following the plan to reach our goals. However, in-fact we are very focused, there is a plan that we follow strictly. I have so many great ideas and plans to execute them, that it is burning a hole in my head. This way of working lets me get them out into the world and eventually my income and that of the various partners will be residual in nature. Everything is being developed around that end goal. This plan also utilizes my personal strengths and allows us to take advantage of new opportunities that arise as we come across them.
These new ideas and opportunities are added to the list and priority is set based on potential, availability of resources, time and input. We always look for LIHO, Low Input, High Output projects. Basically projects that once live need very little maintenance and produce large amounts of revenue. If they take too much support to maintain then we cannot develop the next project, so it better have a VERY high income potential.
Most investors would panic if they saw this plan. And rightfully so. I would too. That is why we’ve never asked for anyone to invest money in it, and never will. If we don't need it, why bring on those headaches.
I've been here before. In my 20's I was involved in several successful and several failed dot com's. It was the time away from the entrepreneurial experience that I learned from my own mistakes and those of the projects I had been part of. As is typical, I had to take several steps back to see the whole picture, and start moving forward again. The lessons learned are more valuable than the money made.
I now work for myself, doing what I enjoy, and try to share the success I have made for myself with other like-minded people.
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