It is actually kinda crazy idea but it feels good. As my former dean said, "The crazier the idea, the better. Crazy bits of idea makes a successful business." It's worth a shot after all. Now, why do I think it's crazy? It's because it's a business wherein we (all of us involved) need to learn a different field -- far different from the course that we took and the learning curve is very steep.
Here's how the idea was formed. I have this cool professor in college. We have a couple of things in common. We're both into business and computing (programming to be specific). I always consult him on almost every business idea that I have, even on other interest that we have in common. There was a time when I created a program that could have saved a lot of students from stock market simulation, that professor's very notorious project. The program was written in C++ and I consult him for every now and then for the development of that program.
A few years later, the professor and I met again in a class This time it's e-commerce class. As expected a lot of side topics where brought up along the way and from time to time we recall that program that I made. One time, after reviewing for my upcoming exam, we had a talk about business a business idea that I have -- a coffee shop. We had an analysis on the said idea and I realized that it has a very shallow foundation. It doesn't even help solve an existing problem -- a fundamental concept in selecting a business that would have a greater chance to survive. He then suggested that I pursue my interest in programming and web-based businesses. He presented a certain problem of a certain age bracket and we pondered on it. We had exchange of thoughts and finally we both need to go home. Though no definite idea was formed during that discussion, it served as a catalyst of a great idea. It is to become the next Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
The idea sure is crazy as hell. How can someone actually achieve that? To make things more depressing, I don't even have formal training on programming. At least I have a circle of friends that could compensate this. I have a lot of friends within the programming industry and they are very supportive whenever I inquire on programming matters. They also serve as anchors so I don't get carried away too far beyond control. I always keep in mind what one of them told me, "I tried to venture on my own but I didn't pursue it.... Even if your a great programmer, how could you beat a team of 500 programmers backed by a very good financial resources." He has a very good point but there's a loophole in this. The answer is "Great Idea + Proper Market Segmentation + Divide & Conquer".
------------------
Success checklist:
- Existing problem - check
- Great idea - check
- Effective market penetration strategy - check (at least in plan)
- Technical knowledge - huh? where did I left it? ?
- Technical resources - do you know that google is your friend? :)
- Financial Resources - I don't need much for now
- Manpower - I just need a few to start
-------------------
So there it is. I need to find these few people that will work with me. That's the time I went to my classmates. Sure they are not in the IT industry and they barely have knowledge on programming but being graduates of Entrepreneurship and knowing their analytic skills, I know that they would contribute a lot to the realization of my idea.
Now the presentation. . . We conducted a meeting here in my place. It so happened that one member of the group has another business proposal. I let him present first but his presentation ended up in a series of unanswered questions. It's not that the proposed business was bad. I actually think it is a good business primarily because of the ease of production and the quality of the product but I don't see substantial potential for it.
Then came my turn to present. I talked about Google, Facebook, and Microsoft then finally proclaiming, "We would be the next big thing!" I told then that I have this untapped idea but I refused to discuss the details. Instead, I emphasized on how we should study a different field for us to realize this idea of mine. I also laid the plan on how we could achieve our ultimate goal. The plan is to study while applying our learning on creating applications and business solutions that we would be marketing to sustain us during our learning period. After completing necessary knowledge, we would then build what we call The Big "?" Everything is already set. All we have to do is to catch up with our learning before someone tap that untapped idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment