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|| personal development | MONETIZING AN IDEA
Concentrate on improvements
Andrew Burnett-Thompson, IT consultant,
Great Britain:
“I’m a programmer. While working at a company, I
worked in parallel and wrote the programs that I now sell
online. Instead of tackling a ‘unique thing that nobody had
ever done,’ I decided to concentrate on improving already
existing products. I can say that at start-up, 90% of your
success needs to be gotten through your own sweat and
10% through your skills.”
Search for an idea in pressing needs
Founder of SnapInspect Sam Owens told how while
in search of an idea he conducted a poll of local business-
men, asking what they most disliked in their work. When
he established that real estate agents hate compiling ad-
vertisements (you have to travel to the site, photograph it,
return to the office, edit the photographs, compile a de-
scription ...), he asked them whether they’d like to use a
mobile application that would help them edit the pictures
on site. They not only said, “Yes,” but even agreed to pay
for the future program. Later he began asking how they
would want that application to look in order to clarify de-
tails. And as a result, he came up with the the product the y
wanted. If you create what people need, sales will follow.
But first you have to find and study your audience—con-
sumers—and then tackle the product’s development.
Don’t be afraid of getting your hands dirty!
Clayton Hockenberry, business trainer:
”I was ten years old, and I began going into stores and
offering to sweep the sidewalk. As a result, I gathered
about eight spots. Many salesmen gave me other work,
too, for separate pay; for example, I washed cars. Not too
great a business, but I was able to put together a pretty de-
cent sum of money. A friend of mine began cleaning chim-
neys, and now he earns $300,000 a year that he spends
on paying people who know the chimney cleaning busi-
ness better than he does. Don’t be afraid of getting your
hands dirty! Go out onto the street and ask people what
they need. You can mow lawns and clean swimming pools.
Incidentally, that’s the way some millionaires began their
businesses. One of the stand-out examples: a fellow
began by using an excavator to dig canals for laying sewer
pipes, and later he became the founder of the largest
swimming pool installation business in the state.”
ALPEON.COM
Begin with services that you can handle
Sandeep Chautan, Intel employee, Michigan:
”Begin with services. Don’t even think about producing
a product—it demands too much money and time (it takes
from six months to a year from its introduction to when you
get any money.) And you needn’t whine about not having
any skills: You have to have a skill to walk dogs, and to work
as a nanny, too. You don’t need to be a techie to say that
you have a special qualification, because the ability to build
relationships with people is a skill, too. With it you can, for
example, set up an employment agency. Find your strong
suit—that’s very important. When you’ve found it, you’ll un-
derstand what kind of services you can render with its help.
Don’t try to be what you aren’t.”
Prepare for difficulties
Chris Mark, founder of the Spokal
marketing platform:
“You can place ads about a search for job openings at
free-lancers’ portals. Don’t ask for a lot of money and be
sure you bust your ass to make your customers happy.
Tackle small projects so that doing them doesn’t take too
much time. Your site rating will grow thanks to well-dis-
charged orders. As your reputation grows, you can raise
the price of your services. In order to get customers out-
side the platform, begin establishing long-term partnership
relationships with them. And that’s only one variant among
a multitude of possibilities. Initially, you don’t open your
company, but find yourself work elementarily. So that
everything doesn’t stay at the same level further on, take
the next step: hire assistants. Remember that running your
own business isn’t easy. So ask yourself ahead of time:
are you ready to take responsibility and experience diffi-
culties; on some dark day won’t you just say to hell with it
all? If you quail before difficulties, you’d better get a job
where you just work for hire.”
Take advantage of expertise and
acquaintanceships
Gil Ale, enterpreneur from New York:
”When you have money, you can hire a specialist.
When you have high qualifications, you can find an in-
vestor. I advise you to find a job you like and learn it well
enough that you become an expert at it by working for
some knowledgeable person. One fine day your qualifica-
tions will let you start your own business. One more thing!