How do you start a company with 5000$ - any ideas? any opinions?
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Great! Send me your credit card details, mother's maiden name, etc, and I'll forward the money to you!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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You don't beleive in online advertising, and you are promoting a website :WTF:. You could try putting an advert in the Evening Chronicle[^] with a cut-out and keep coupon for reductions to entice people. I'll be right back with more ideas when I've changed the fuse on my sarcasm-o-meter.
Dalek Dave: There are many words that some find offensive, Homosexuality, Alcoholism, Religion, Visual Basic, Manchester United, Butter. Pete o'Hanlon: If it wasn't insulting tools, I'd say you were dumber than a bag of spanners.
t's not that. It's not exactly a website. it's a software as a service. Advertising by itself is a random poor process of reaching people - the probability of a hit and conversion stand good only if it's a common service or some airline ticket booking stuff. In my case it's a Software application - hosted as a SaaS.Need some people with patience to understand it.
modified on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:53 AM
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I guess it's a bit like applauding someone for having "skill" after winning the Lottery. Hell I could win a couple of million with by purchasing a lottery ticket today, surely that's a far better return on investment? If it's a stupid idea, and everyone with a shred of common sense knows this, why on earth are you wasting time on it? It's celebrating mediocrity.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Jim Crafton wrote:
If it's a stupid idea, and everyone with a shred of common sense knows this, why on earth are you wasting time on it?
There is no such thing as a stupid idea. There are ideas which succeed and make you money and ideas which do not.
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Jim Crafton wrote:
If it's a stupid idea, and everyone with a shred of common sense knows this, why on earth are you wasting time on it?
There is no such thing as a stupid idea. There are ideas which succeed and make you money and ideas which do not.
Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
There is no such thing as a stupid idea.
Oh yes there is! We all enjoy The Darwin Awards, they all start with a stupid idea!
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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outsourcing marketing is too expensive !
You have to make a decision here. You don't want to use the internet to market, but outsourcing marketing is expensive. You've only got marketing the product to generate sales left to do from what I see, so if you trust in your products success, $5k on marketing is nothing. Is your product an online product, or a physical one? If it's online, why not a google ad campaign and a well developed website? If you post on forums, make sure your website is mentioned in your sig with a link directly to your product (don't go overboard, be subtle) and I would imagine that would drive some sales your way.
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what if everything is done- idea is big. product is ready. registraion is all done. only need to sell.how do u do that with 5000$ ?
Smart-Not-Clever wrote:
what if everything is done- idea is big. product is ready. registraion is all done. only need to sell
[0] Spend some money on marketing. [1] Make a simple, easy to navigate website. [2] Do a lot of SEO. Have the SEO people write about your product in blogs etc - Complete lies will work better. [3] Offer all kinds of businesses (big and small) - Different license types for people with different amounts of money. [4] Put up a trial version to download and test - Make it less buggy - Bugs in trial version will kill your product.
NULL
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How do you go about starting a company with 5000$ - any ideas? any opinions?
Write a business plan. Even if you ar enot trying to sell the idea or raise money it gives you a route map of things you have to do to make the business work. Include a marketing plan, an executive summary(the whole thing in 2 paragraphs) and, last but not least, construct an elevator pitch: can you sell the idea in 30 seconds? If you can't it probably does not have any legs - if you can't explain it you don't understand it or it's incomplete and not yet viable. I've started ventures on less than that: some worked, some bombed big time. You don't try, you'll never know. Good luck.
Tychotics "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!" Larry Niven
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You have to make a decision here. You don't want to use the internet to market, but outsourcing marketing is expensive. You've only got marketing the product to generate sales left to do from what I see, so if you trust in your products success, $5k on marketing is nothing. Is your product an online product, or a physical one? If it's online, why not a google ad campaign and a well developed website? If you post on forums, make sure your website is mentioned in your sig with a link directly to your product (don't go overboard, be subtle) and I would imagine that would drive some sales your way.
That's a good one -the signature one !- btw the product is a online version & a Lan version.The other day i saw a few posts - saying "shamelessly advertising my product".is that allowed and ok ?
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A prime, #1 way to reach people that is why so many do it. Conferences, shows, seminars, anywhere your target is you have to be giving out cards. Get good business cards to not those crappy laser printed ones.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
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That's a good one -the signature one !- btw the product is a online version & a Lan version.The other day i saw a few posts - saying "shamelessly advertising my product".is that allowed and ok ?
Shameless and Obvious Advertising Breaches The Spirit of the Law and the Letter of the Law. However a small link in the sig and a namecheck is common and not overly frowned upon. As said above, subtlety works better than a slap in the face, and less is more.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Jim Crafton wrote:
If it's a stupid idea, and everyone with a shred of common sense knows this, why on earth are you wasting time on it?
There is no such thing as a stupid idea. There are ideas which succeed and make you money and ideas which do not.
Completely disagree. There are stupid ideas. They may still make you money, but only because there are enough gullible people out there to buy into it. Giving massive loans to people without the income to pay them back is a stupid idea. Some people made money off it.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
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Completely disagree. There are stupid ideas. They may still make you money, but only because there are enough gullible people out there to buy into it. Giving massive loans to people without the income to pay them back is a stupid idea. Some people made money off it.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Jim Crafton wrote:
Giving massive loans to people without the income to pay them back is a stupid idea.
Banks for example?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Completely disagree. There are stupid ideas. They may still make you money, but only because there are enough gullible people out there to buy into it. Giving massive loans to people without the income to pay them back is a stupid idea. Some people made money off it.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Jim Crafton wrote:
Some people made money off it.
Then in their context it was not a stupid idea. It was an idea which made money.
Jim Crafton wrote:
there are enough gullible people out there to buy into it
That, my friend, is marketing.
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Write a business plan. Even if you ar enot trying to sell the idea or raise money it gives you a route map of things you have to do to make the business work. Include a marketing plan, an executive summary(the whole thing in 2 paragraphs) and, last but not least, construct an elevator pitch: can you sell the idea in 30 seconds? If you can't it probably does not have any legs - if you can't explain it you don't understand it or it's incomplete and not yet viable. I've started ventures on less than that: some worked, some bombed big time. You don't try, you'll never know. Good luck.
Tychotics "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!" Larry Niven
No one is going to invest a dollar in my firm.It's just destined to start from nothing. The question is how? and when ? - can it be codeproject ! ______________________________________________________________ Redefine Defnition - (welcome to the next level of programing) [ T&C Vectors] [Enterprise Nervous Systems]
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Smart-Not-Clever wrote:
what if everything is done- idea is big. product is ready. registraion is all done. only need to sell
[0] Spend some money on marketing. [1] Make a simple, easy to navigate website. [2] Do a lot of SEO. Have the SEO people write about your product in blogs etc - Complete lies will work better. [3] Offer all kinds of businesses (big and small) - Different license types for people with different amounts of money. [4] Put up a trial version to download and test - Make it less buggy - Bugs in trial version will kill your product.
NULL
advise taken well - _____________________________________________________ Redefine Defnition - (welcome to the next level of programing) [ T&C Vectors] [Enterprise Nervous Systems]
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Shameless and Obvious Advertising Breaches The Spirit of the Law and the Letter of the Law. However a small link in the sig and a namecheck is common and not overly frowned upon. As said above, subtlety works better than a slap in the face, and less is more.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Now I have to start working on my - Reputation ! :) _____________________________________________________________ Redefine Defnition - (welcome to the next level of programing) [ T&C Vectors] [Enterprise Nervous Systems]
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How do you go about starting a company with 5000$ - any ideas? any opinions?
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How do you go about starting a company with 5000$ - any ideas? any opinions?
I started a business as a humanist celebrant, ie someone who does non-religiou weddings, funerals and other ceremonies of life. The United States has rather loose rules with regards to religion, as our Constitution prohibit any legal definition or restriction of "religion." So, I simply got a mail-order "ordination" from the Universal Life Church, designed a simple website and wrote advertising copy for some of Seattle's weekly newspapers. Over the course of 4 years, I did 32 legal marriages, 3 wedding ceremonies (two were same-sex unions, one was non marriage commitment), 2 adoption ceremonies, 6 funerals and one coming-of-age. I ran it as a hobby, so it never made a profit; if I had $5000 to start with and was otherwise unemployed, I would have put in a lot more effort and probably could have made it work on-going. I had also begun the process to become certified by the Humanist Society which would have let me drop the ULC affiliation. I ended the business when work as a programmer picked up. It was a lot of fun, and if I ever semi-retire again, I will definitely take it back up.
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How do you go about starting a company with 5000$ - any ideas? any opinions?
This is a trick question. It would be best to start with more money. It would be best to just stay home. But, if you are sure that you want to go, then I would suggest a couple of things for you to do. Check your motivations. Create or borrow a map, even if only fragments. Treat every decision as a life-or-death point. Think hard thoughts. Act as though you are in a lifeboat in the middle of the North Atlantic, that will help you decide who you want pulling on the oars with you and it will help you visualize what you are going to attempt. You are not really going alone, are you? Never even think about getting out of the boat, ever. Hope for luck, but don't count on it. Don't risk other peoples happiness or well-being. Make sure that your companions understand the trip. Learn to swim really well, just in case. Only work on things that keep the boat afloat and moving toward the shore. Be prepared to throw people to the sharks. You will NOT be able to save everyone, not everyone will have your passion or your willingness to suffer, so prepare for regret before you go. And on, and on, and on.....
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How do you go about starting a company with 5000$ - any ideas? any opinions?
I started my company on about $2800. Computer and business license. Been in business ever since. But my business requires no inventory or employees -- just my own brainpower.