Monday, July 13, 2009

Starting Somewhere...

I've had the idea for this blog for almost as long as I've had my business idea, but the real impetus for getting it going is watching these two dudes--around my age--in the coffee shop, obviously working together on their own project. They have each other to make sure they show up each day, and not ignore the good in the quest for the perfect, and not get wrapped up in the cobwebs of their own minds.

I begged a couple of carefully-selected people to go in on my business idea with me, but in the absence of getting either of them to agree, it's just me--which means a lot of time to hold mental senior management meetings. The CFO is continuously smacking down the Creative Director, and someone always storms out.

So if there's no one to sit in this coffee shop and hash this thing out with me, the Internet is going to have to be my sounding board and cheerleader. I don't have the discipline to get this done any other way.

For two and a half years, I worked at a women's business center in Boston--a place for anyone who wanted to start or grow a business to come for help writing a business plan, figuring out how to secure financing, or get support with marketing. When people complimented me on a class or the success of a client (which I had nothing to do with), I always said something about how incredible entrepreneurs are...followed by a statement that I didn't think I had that in me.

So when I got those "You know what should really be a business?" ideas, it never occurred to me to actually try it. Until this one. This one I couldn't stop thinking about. It's extremely basic,l and its closest competitors, frankly, suck. While I've been in awe of dozens of entrepreneurs, I've also thought a good portion of them were crazy. Certainly if they can do it, so can I.

And some encouragement would be helpful.