Results tagged “entrepreneurship” from jsstudios.com

I've been a little neglectful the past few days on this blog due to the fact that I have been quite busy building content for my new one at Boxedfool.com. If you haven't yet, visit now and quite often.

The ideas for posts are a heck of a lot easier to come by - that's for sure. But, I'm trying to apply some of the principles and information that I came across in Technorati's State of the Blogosphere as well as many other good resources.

The most difficult part for me right now is managing to build up visitors. With a large chunk of the day spent at my day job and my evenings spent trying to build content, it's difficult to do the networking part of the job. Hopefully things will start to fall into place - after all, it's only been less than a week. On the upside, I've managed to keep my content count within the range that I desired.

In other areas ( beware - political digression forthcoming ), I watched the debate last night. McCain certainly came across like a bitter, cynical, old guy - just the kind I hope to avoid becoming should I get to be as old as him.

About the whole healthcare issue the two of them are trying to address:

While getting $5K is nice, it doesn't really help all that much. Obama was clearly the more knowledgeable of the two. The both stated what they believed was the "average cost of a healthcare plan." Well, the FAMILY plan that I have costs roughly $12K a year. I am fortunate that my employer pays 100% of it - and I am thankful for that. I still have co-pays and deductibles that I am responsible for, but there is no way that I could pay all of it on my own. With McCains plan, I'd still be responsible for $7K. That would still be a bit of a juggling act to manage.

When McCain said that the average cost was $5800, I couldn't believe he threw out that figure. He must be thinking of single people seeking health insurance, because families pay significantly more than $5800.

So, here's to voting for Obama.

I opened up a new site today aimed at ( essentially ) everything television and movies. Reviews, recaps, stars of yesterday and today. Essentially this came from the fact that over the years the posts that seem to get the most attention are those that have anything to do with movies, tv series and related stuff. So I decided to try a niche blog.

Yes, there's still a lot of content that needs to be added. My first post is up and I hope to hit about three posts per day. Anyone who knows my posting frequency from the past would probably suggest that I have entirely lost my mind.

Well, I'm not entirely ignoring that fact. Perhaps I'm in denial . . . but I think I can do it, so why not try? Right?

Wish me luck and visit Boxedfool.com frequently!

About this time last year I said I was going to do a couple, related things. Well, they're not done and here we are, a year later.

While it would be perfectly easy to proclaim that this, those, or a few other things got in my way and proved to be burdens that I couldn't overcome to get the job done, after some introspection I just can't say it would be the honest truth.

It's true that time has been the one thing that has been difficult to manage. Even finding time to post on the blog has short in supply. Today I'm stretching the rules a bit and doing this post from work because after work I really won't have the time to do it.

Just because I haven't achieved the goals I set, does not mean I haven't been working on them at all. Yes, I've spent more time than I should have watching TV or movies, getting obsessed with crap that's been going these last eight years, or succumbing to the daily grind.

So, I feel the need to remind myself of my goals - as they are at this time:

First and foremost: Finish the project I am working on. This project is something that I hope to be able to build a business around so that I may free myself from the clutches of the damn job and set my own daily priorities.

Second: Move to a more temperament climate. It would be nice to be able to take the top off my Jeep and leave it off, or ride the bike all year round, or wear shorts regardless of the season.

I have one small project that I need to get out of the way. I'll write up a post about it when it's all said and done. Hopefully the work I did over the weekend on it won't have to be re-done and I can just build it out from where it's at.

But after that, no more stinking excuses!

A while back I said that I was going to start my own thing - a web business. I said was going to spawn something that utilized Web 2.0 concepts like social networking. That plan is still moving forward - a little slowly, and there have been changes - but it's still going.

For example, at first I wanted to learn something new while I made this happen. Computer programmers are always faced with learning how to use new programming languages. After seeing the momentum behind Ruby on Rails growing I planned to use it as the framework upon which the project was built. While I initially faltered and decided I would stick with Java - I changed my mind back to Ruby on Rails. Although I wanted to build this fairly quickly, ( which is why I switched to Java at first ) I decided it was more important to stick with the goals I had originally set.

The original idea I started out with has changed a bit as time has progressed. It now is based on an entirely different niche than I planned. I have a pretty good idea who my largest competition is and several ideas for the best way to compete with them. One of the biggest advantages I have right now is the fact that I am just starting to build - so I can build in the advantages that will compete with the competitor's deficiencies. I really do have to give some of the credit where it is due. If my wife had never mentioned something she was trying to do and my biggest competitor's flaw in allowing her to do it my idea would never have morphed into what it is now.

Meanwhile, I'm setting up my old domain to be the face of what will become my business. Since it isn't the most pressing issue, that's happening in baby steps. I still have many things to do before I need it ( besides the working web application ) like all the stuff needed to start a business as more than just a hobby. And, as usual there are the distractions that so often accompany progress. My wife wants her website to receive a facelift along with a blog and a customized theme, my son needs help troubleshooting bugs in his blog's theme, sleep, soccer practice, my damn JOB, bmx practice, eating, flute lessons, tv, the Internet and soon to be on the agenda . . . gymnastics. I'll admit, the last one was my idea. I didn't sign my daughter up for soccer since her team kind of dissolved because of a few players migrating to a more competitive league. That means an entirely new coach and new players. The girls were doing so well with what they had. It's really kind of a shame. However, I think my daughter will do well trying out a new sport. More to come as progress is made . . .

I spent the majority of the weekend setting the groundwork for the work on my project. In the process I decided to make a decision that will impact the goals I set forth. Instead of using Ruby on Rails to develop the application I am working on, I've decided that I'll use Java instead. I know a lot of RoR fanboys would most likely give me a hard time over this, but in the end I decided it would be much wiser to narrow my focus and work with something I'm more comfortable with.

This decision will enable me to work faster without questioning whether I'm doing something correctly. I know that by stating, "This project is not defined and is very open-ended as to it's purpose." is going to pick up a lot of criticism. For all intents and purposes it is very broadly defined. I know what kind of functionality I intend for it to have, but I do not know the exact context in which it will be used. At this point, however, I don't believe that will be exceptionally limiting. Time will tell.

As with my decision to stick with Java - as more work is done, I expect for more of it to take shape, become more narrowed and better refined. As of today, I'm kind of glad that I have started work on it and I'm looking forward to the day when I'm ready to put it to work. A song I listen to for inspiration . . . Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright because I don't want the chorus to apply to me

Chances thrown
Nothing's free
Longing for
Used to be
Still it's
hard Hard to see
Fragile lives
shattered dreams

Last week, while my family and I were in North Platte, Nebraska waiting for my wife's mother's memorial service, we threw around the idea of moving back there. Normally I'd have sooner stuck the barrel of a Smith and Wesson in my mouth and pulled the trigger. However I found that idea ( moving back there ) somewhat appealing for a few different reasons.

It's kind of like this post . . . as it has a few different reasons because they all depend on each other. This whole idea of moving back there came about as the wife and I sat beside the pool as the kids swam and enjoyed the sunny, warm weather. On a previous visit the idea had popped up but my wife wasn't particularly interested. I think what solidified the idea in her head this time was the fact that she was able to get a hold of and visit one of her bestest-ever friends and visit for a while.

Afterwards she had expressed her thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

As any regular visitor to this blog knows I am in the process right now of choosing a business idea that I think not only fits me and my interests, but also is good enough to provide a perfect replacement for a regular job and the income it provides.

So far I've taken a look at building a social networking site and a social bookmarking/ ranking site. They're both fairly good ideas that are fairly popular right now. Either of them would probably fit into my interests well and provide a decent return on the investment of my own time and money provided they are successful and competitive with other offerings.

However, I still have a few other ideas I'd like to look at before I make a final decision. As for now, and the reason for this post, I want to take an opportunity to look at an entirely different view of this decision. I'd like to address the whole question of "Should I do it?" as opposed to "What should I do?"

The main motivation for this is a few articles that have popped up on my radar over the last week or so suggesting that I'm way past the prime age that could be indicative of whether or not I'll be successful at this little venture into the uncharted waters of entrepreneurship.

The next category of business idea I want to throw around is that of social ranking and bookmarking. I think it follows well with my previous post because it is also an extension of the social networking category.

In the past I have been a little critical of sites like Digg. Better put, I have been critical of the presumption that there exists a mob that can behave as a filter in a civilized, democratic manner that reflects good taste so much so that I would count on it to recommend good news stories. My beliefs haven't changed. I still don't think there is a system or body of people that can do that and satisfy the masses. However, the problem is very interesting to me and one that I wouldn't mind tinkering with.

The idea that people will visit a particular website, contribute content freely, and then go so far as to categorize it and rank it is pretty good when you think about it. This takes a lot of the stress of the owner to produce content. The primary caveat being that a large community forms and quality content and ranking becomes the norm. As far as business ideas go, this isn't too bad. But, we need to dig in a little deeper and explore.

Yesterday I announced the beginning of a series that I am employing to define a project I will begin working on very shortly.

I'm going to look at a variety of ideas in an attempt to weed out those that either don't suit my preferences or those that just don't make sense. The first category I'm going to look at a bit is social networks.

Social networks are extraordinarily popular right now for a variety of reasons. However, it's kind of important to differentiate between broad social networks and niche social networks. While this definition may be similar to others', this is solely my definition or distinction between the two: A broad social network is a web service or web site in which the sole purpose is networking in and amongst social circles. The network allows for the collection of friends and facilitates communication through individual "identity" pages or messaging. Messaging may also consist of blog-like or forum-like posting. I would put sites like myspace and facebook in this category.

A niche social network is a web service or web site which utilizes the components of social networking around a central interest. I can think of several examples of this model. For example Flickr (photography), YouTube (video) and MyBlogLog (blogging). So which would be the best option if I were to build one?

As someone who has been working in the tech field since before the whole dot com boom, it has always been my desire to go on my own. I began working in this field because I wanted my own business. Not that being employed in this sector is the path to entrepreneurship, but I had a real desire to learn from the ground up how to do it.

I've had a lot of ideas along the way. As anyone will tell you, however, an idea is not enough. I've seen a few of my ideas ( or variations of them ) implemented by others. Some worked out well and others have fallen by the wayside. There's nothing worse than coming across, for example, a new website that does exactly what you had in mind and knowing that you could have done it. Of course there's always those old and faithful excuses to fall back on:

• I didn't have enough free time
• I didn't have enough money
• Somebody's already working on that idea
• I need this . . . or that . . . or few other things to make it work
• That domain name's taken
• Add your own here

No more excuses