Ok so for a very long time now, I´m talking about 8 or 9 years, I have thought about developing some kind of software program to facilitate the management of day care centers. It started while I was studying information Systems at Rutgers University and was living in the attic above my grandmother´s day care. Wonderland Day Care Center has been around since I was born. It has made plenty of money for my granny and I thought that I could develop some kind of software to help manage it. And why not, is technology not the answer to all archaic systems of management? Anyway I never really got around to it but I think that I´ll start now. Even if it is never used and until I come up with a better business idea, I will attempt to develop a software tool that will facilitate the management of child care centers. So I Google ´child care center software´ Yep there is a company out there ´Procare Software´that is all over it. So that´s my competition. I´ll see what there software can do and develop something even better and hopefully market it in a way that provides better value to prospective day care managers.
So First contact was that I walked into a day care today on the way to buying my lunch and asked the manager if they used any software to manage the business. ¨No¨ she said, ¨we use Quick-books.¨ Ok so there is an opportunity to develop something that will help out small day care centers but It seems that the hard part will be convincing them that they can be more efficient with some software and that they will get a return on their investment. More to come...
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Barriers to Entry
Ok so this weekend I discovered some of the hardest barriers that exist between me and my dream of owning and running my own business. Sadly and at the risk of sounding harless and even selfish, my biggest barrier involves what I love even more than the goal outlined in this blog. My Family. I have a 2 year old daughter and a very pregnant and needy wife. In order to support them I have a steady but demanding position with the local electric company.
On top of this I have been diagnosed with high bad cholesterol. Which means that I must include an exercise regimen into my already busy schedule.
I also co-own a 4 unit building and two duplexes with my brother & sister that require my time at least 1 Saturday per month.
But enough with my petty excuses...I need to make time to make this dream a reality. It will take some time to get started and time is currently my biggest barrier to entry.
On top of this I have been diagnosed with high bad cholesterol. Which means that I must include an exercise regimen into my already busy schedule.
I also co-own a 4 unit building and two duplexes with my brother & sister that require my time at least 1 Saturday per month.
But enough with my petty excuses...I need to make time to make this dream a reality. It will take some time to get started and time is currently my biggest barrier to entry.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Why?
OK, so I just saw the movie Julie & Julia and decided to start a blog about a goal that I have always wanted to accomplish but never put my mind to it. You see it all starts with school then college and eventually an MBA, you get a decent job, find the right girl and get married, have beautiful children and have a great life. Now who needs to take risks? Why should i dedicate any time to starting my own business? Well there are lots of reasons:
1. I want to gain financial independence.
2. I want to be my own boss.
3. I want to have my success in my own hands.
4. I want to leave a legacy.
This last one is a bit of a stretch and I know that I can leave a legacy without starting my own business but I feel that a business can help me achieve that goal. My grandfather´s legacy, at least the one that I know of, is his shoe store and how he was able to move to this country at 40 years of age and become a millionaire after loosing everything he had to the communist Cuban regime. And he did this selling shoes!! I definitely don´t have that same entrepreneurial spirit but I feel that I should be able to devise a way of making enough money to support my family on my own, from a business that I develop, where income comes from many sources, not just my employer.
I don´t know exactly what I want to do yet which is why I call this ´Starting A Business - From Scratch´ but I will outline the entire process from deciding on a business idea, through any initial failures until i have a sustainable business that I am proud of and excited to work at every day. So here goes. Hopefully I can get this done before I´m 40. I want to get a head start on Papico - the shoe salesman.
1. I want to gain financial independence.
2. I want to be my own boss.
3. I want to have my success in my own hands.
4. I want to leave a legacy.
This last one is a bit of a stretch and I know that I can leave a legacy without starting my own business but I feel that a business can help me achieve that goal. My grandfather´s legacy, at least the one that I know of, is his shoe store and how he was able to move to this country at 40 years of age and become a millionaire after loosing everything he had to the communist Cuban regime. And he did this selling shoes!! I definitely don´t have that same entrepreneurial spirit but I feel that I should be able to devise a way of making enough money to support my family on my own, from a business that I develop, where income comes from many sources, not just my employer.
I don´t know exactly what I want to do yet which is why I call this ´Starting A Business - From Scratch´ but I will outline the entire process from deciding on a business idea, through any initial failures until i have a sustainable business that I am proud of and excited to work at every day. So here goes. Hopefully I can get this done before I´m 40. I want to get a head start on Papico - the shoe salesman.
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