This is not a naive, general question, at least I hope it's not. I've been passionate about entrepreneurship, especially products and services, since almost 5 years. I have been thinking about different ideas that ranged from web apps to mobile applications and SaaS ideas. I guess all of these ideas sounded great to me and some of my friends, but I have never actually worked on them. I'd rather do something else, like learning general business skills or working on side projects for the purpose of gaining experience and promoting my personal brand. Last week, I've been offered a job. It will be a daunting one but it will pay off well. I will relocate from my hometown and work in a friendly environments. I said yes, and decided to relocate and organize my time between my regular job and the side online projects I'm working on. Until today. I was randomly daydreaming and checking the ceiling, when it suddenly hit me: a million-dollar idea. No, actually a billion-dollar idea. This doesn't mean I'm 100% sure of its success, but I was so excited about it to the extent that: 1) It gave me goosebumps. 2) It made me visualize the startup's mission and impact on people. 3) Possibility of my potential product's failure scared me, but it made me very determined to pursue it and see for myself. 4) It made me smile. So, in order to begin working on it, I have to learn web development and develop a prototype, as well as gaining advanced business knowledge and experience. Unfortunately, I won't be able to work on my idea and stick to a 9 to 5 job. I'm afraid I'll lose the vision I have when time passes by without working on it. I'm confused. Can you awesome people help me find the right person to consult and gain solid advice from? I trust Clarity!
So exiting to see new entrepreneurs sprouting every day!
First off...
you didn't share with us what your idea is so the response to your question will be somewhat broad.
{entrepreneurship 101: never be afraid of sharing ideas. Trust me when I say that ideas are rarely unique and by the time you have it others have already either tried it and due to bad timing, lack of insight, pride, or just laziness passed on it. But if you want your idea to succeed the first thing is share with others. Be careful maybe but share}
The primary reason why is ok and encouraged to share your 'original' idea is because is not about ideas but in the execution.
...Moving on...
Assuming you have no experience in the field of your idea, not just in lack of comp science, go out and meet people who you feel can provide you with guidance and get yourself mentors. Look for open collaborative workspaces such as Gangplankhq.com and share your idea.
Learn to code. Trust me, now a days is a lot easier and saves you time if you try to learn to code and hack your way into a mock up or prototype instead of looking for a good programmer(s). Programmers are in super high demand... From everyone and so you either have to be an amazing pitch man to convince them to join your idea, or you'll have to pay a lot. (The typical app or in depth platform goes for $40k).
Learn to code through sites like Edx or One Month (which I belong too myself) here: http://mbsy.co/c6bPT
OneMonth does a great job in simplifying things.
Edx is great and free but a bit more independent and no real pressure to finish.
Learning gives you value to yourself and those you pitch to, and is def. a lot cheaper than paying north of $40k and saves you the time of looking for a programmer for possibly months or year(s).
...Also read:
Entrepreneurship cannot be thought but it can be crafted. Here is my blog list:
http://unthinkeverything.blogspot.com/2015/04/crafting-entrepreneur-mindset.html?m=1
If you are feeling goosebumps is probs a great idea but remember is in the execution.
Here are some tips:
-Make prototypes on paper.
-Keep an organized thought journal
-Don't pitch people until you have something to follow up with. No worse way to burn bridges and look like a horrible newbie than to pitch when you just though of something.
-network a lot. Make friends first. Offer a value to them. As you work on your thing you are building a professional network who are befriended and hopefully will be there for you when you finally do ask for a favor or pitch.
-don't get trapped in busy work. Often times one item off our checklist requires more items added to our checklist... Learn to delegate and avoid doing dumb "busy work" that ends up being a waste of time.
-learn a bit of finance/accounting. YouTube is a good source of that. So go get YouTube certified!! {a joke me and my wife have in this} lol.
- don't be afraid to ask ever.
- call businesses and ask for opinions - people get flattered when you considered them as mentors and will often agree.
- your newbie entrepreneur... So once thjngs get hard accept it and keep pushing. Entrepreneurship is a badge of honor that not everyone wears because is extremely hard to execute. Even if you fail is something to be completely proud of.
Give us a call, if you feel like i provided you with good insight don't be afraid to call me directly :)
Thank you!
Humberto Valle
#unthinkme
Answered 9 years ago
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