OT: Starting Businesses in Difficult Times

Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:10 pm   

If you look at my web site you'll rapidly see through the use of the
plural 'we' and realize that the only product that Wescott Design
Services has to sell is hours of Tim Wescott's time. Thus, the business
doesn't have a life independent of little ol' me.

So, ever since I started the business I've been working on starting a
seminar business, too, with the intent of training up minions and
getting something going with a life of its own. This so that if I get
sick or want to retire I can either have an income stream or something
to sell.

But dangit, the plans I made assumed a booming economy and a high-end
seminar that would charge great big wads of money to train someone up
and get them back on the job with newly improved skills quickly.

I have some specific thoughts on how to overcome this, but I was
thinking this morning that there has to be some lessons to be learned
from history -- specifically, what sorts of businesses were successful
at starting up or coming back from the ashes between 1930 and 1938, and
how'd they do it? I was wondering if anyone has seen any good books
that cover this sort of thing.

(Note, if you're a popular historian with a business school bent, or a
business author with a historical bent, that there's an opportunity
right here).

TIA

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:39 pm   

For the sort of a "how to have a business to run that sells something
other than my time" my answer for myself is websites. They run by
themselves and make money for me. It is also a very recession resistant
business.

i

Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:33 pm   

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:10:23 -0700, Tim Wescott <tim_at_seemywebsite.com>
wrote:


I believe that often businesses started in recessions are actually
more likely to be successful, because the management is not
overspending, and it always takes some time to get things going, after
which chances are the economy is growing rapidly. In my experience,
it's sometimes difficult to get things going in boom times because
people don't want to look at new suppliers- they've got all they can
handle with projects that have been on the back burner and handling
increased demand. When times are tough people are more willing to look
at options that bring value, and even to take certain types of risk
(such as schedule risk).

Here in Canada, the Feds will pay for approved retraining of
qualifying laid off workers during the time they are collecting
unemployment insurance (and they don't have to look for work during
the training period), and I think that can be fairly lucrative, but
it's more than just a seminar, more like a few months four days a week
or so. A combination of something like that and training to
corporations might be a recession-proof business model.

Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:34 pm   

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:45:29 -0700 (PDT), linnix
<me_at_linnix.info-for.us> wrote:


There was a controls seminar some years ago given on a tall (sailing)
ship in the Carribean. That would be nice. Some potential upside on
taxation too, depending on your residency and citizenship.

Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:37 pm   

"Ignoramus31855" <ignoramus31855_at_NOSPAM.31855.invalid> wrote in message
news:KamdnSpkmrTQQerRnZ2dnUVZ_qidnZ2d_at_giganews.com...

What are your web sites selling? Physical products? eBooks? Videos?

Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:49 pm   

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:10:23 -0700, Tim Wescott <tim_at_seemywebsite.com>
wrote:


It's better to sell things manufactured by people who don't understand
how they work. If you train up a bunch of seminar-givers, there's
nothing keeping them from going feral on you.

The nice thing about products is they they sell your expertise many,
many times for a one-time design effort.

Another way to have ongoing revenue is to design something for a
small, cash-poor startup in return for equity or royalties.

John

Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:53 pm   

"John Larkin" <jjlarkin_at_highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote in message
news:vqqf76llmaiqb88i62atvcifgv52vnpivg_at_4ax.com...

Is that really much different than training up a bunch of engineers to build
competitive, marketable products, though? -- Since they can jump ship at any
time and either start their own business or go to the competition?

Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:25 pm   

On 2010-08-27, Joel Koltner <zapwireDASHgroups_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

I am not selling anything, they are informational, but carry ads or
some such.

i

Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:39 pm   

The REAL EASY MONEY is in wire brushes. You can make a mint and spend
all your spare time cruisin' the 'net, casting bullets, and shooting
<VBG>

Karl

Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:45 pm   

That could still work, but you have to look outward. My dream is to
get a cruise ship and teach international seminars while cruising
around the world. Hey, let start to dream together.

Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:46 pm   

"Ignoramus31855" <ignoramus31855_at_NOSPAM.31855.invalid> wrote in message
news:7bCdnQN4f7aVaOrRnZ2dnUVZ_hydnZ2d_at_giganews.com...

Ah, gotcha. Don't you need many thousands of hits per day to make significant
money that way?

Fri Aug 27, 2010 7:00 pm   

On 2010-08-27, Joel Koltner <zapwireDASHgroups_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

Depends on site, generally yes.

i

Fri Aug 27, 2010 7:41 pm   

On Aug 27, 9:34 am, Spehro Pefhany <speffS...@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat>
wrote:

I am thinking about the Pacific. They (the students' parents and
governments) have money and willing to learn. It is too difficult to
arrange it for them in the US, so it needs to be in international
water.



Able and Willing to change.

Fri Aug 27, 2010 7:57 pm   

On Aug 27, 9:53 am, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

And you can't stop the rest of the world to train them. If you don't
want to train them, there are hundreds of people lining up behind you
for the chance to do so.

Fri Aug 27, 2010 8:01 pm   

On Aug 27, 8:10 am, Tim Wescott <t...@seemywebsite.com> wrote:

Hi, Tim.
May I suggest in this economy you consider buying an existing
business? The recession has already weeded out the businesses that are
weak in either capital or management skills. Now the problem will be
to find one that is willing to make you a long term deal because banks
are really gun shy about business loans.

Another possibility is to find one or more partners to join in either
buying or starting a business. My experience has been that a new
produce takes two years or more to go from idea to production. If you
are looking to create a physical product, can you survive economically
for that long and still have enough capital to market the item?

I need another year or so to get my business back into profitability,
then you could buy it and move to the dry side.

Good luck!

Paul