Working on my own start-up and looking for tips on solo entrepreneurship.

February 7, 2012 10:44 AM

Working on my own start-up and looking for tips on solo entrepreneurship.

Over the last month, have started to work on my own start-up.

I started talks with a potential co-founder here in Chile and it seemed she would be a very valuable partner, but as it turned out, she was too busy with her own projects to focus on my idea. Some of her projects could have interesting synergies with mine though, so we will be talking again in future.

Now that I am alone again, I need some expertise that I do not have to execute some parts of this project, particularly on the details around the specific product the business will be focusing on, since I am not a specialist. As most entrepreneurs, I do not have a lot of money and need to make something happen before looking for investment. It is a bit daunting.

The above mentioned potential partner was kind enough to introduce me to one of her friends who is looking to do something similar to what I am doing. But when meeting him, he seemed way too capricious and with too big an ego for me to work with. I am looking for someone I can comfortably bounce ideas with as opposed to someone who interrupts me all the time to talk about themselves.

After this experience, I must confess that I am a bit burned out in terms of meeting other people to help me out with my idea. To the point I am even a bit reluctant to go to start-up events even though I know i should do that.

Could the hive mind give me some advice around how you go about doing things by yourself when starting a new business, as well as learning about a particular subject matter from scratch in order to make a living out of it? Experiences around finding like-minded people to talk to about innovative ideas and potentially work with would be much appreciated. Many thanks!

posted by heartofglass to work & money (5 answers total)

Have a full on business plan you are going to follow. Plan, plan, plan. Change the plans when they don't fit circumstances.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:16 AM on February 7

I am completely self taught from books and google. Well, I did take two small business classes from the county and half a welding class. It really depends on what kind of business you are talking about. Manufacturing, mass produced, handcrafted, technology, education. Each direction is totally different.

To start off with, google. I know it sounds silly, but just start doing research on all aspects of your business every day. At least an hour or two a day. In a few weeks to a few months, you will start to gain a lot of clarity on what is needed, if you are up for it, different ways of looking at this, etc.

You will also find experts that can guide you in the direction you need to go in, or even like minded people that you might want to start a more personal connection with.

Just do research. Every. Single. Day.

(also, the idea of 'start up' and 'entrepreneurship' can be very daunting concepts. They can just mean you are going to start doing something you like and make money from it. If you look at it that way it might take the pressure off.)
posted by Vaike at 11:51 AM on February 7 [2 favorites]

Don't get behind on taxes.
posted by kjs3 at 12:28 PM on February 7 [2 favorites]

If you acquire a partner in the future, have a comprehensive partnership agreement (including duties, responsibilities, and investment and profit sharing arrangements) drawn up and signed before anyone does anything, or any money goes anywhere.

See an accountant early on and work out your tax liabilities, and methods of mitigating them.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:21 PM on February 7

Never, ever, forget that paper has a memory that a conversation and a handshake never can. Someone who makes a commitment to you, but balks at committing it to writing, doesn't really want to follow through and doesn't want to be held accountable when they don't.

By extension, remember that contracts, scopes of work, sales agreements, etc., are not for when everyone is happy with one another; they're for when someone is contemplating homicide. Further, by definition, anyone who suggests "we can do this on a handshake" or "we don't need to go through the red tape of a contract" just wants to maintain the option to fuck you over whenever it's convenient. The guy who says "I've been doing this on a handshake forever and I've never been screwed over" is just a really good fuckee.

Sorry if that came over excessively negative. Having been an entrepreneur multiple times, it's the greatest thing you can do. I've simply seen far to many fledgling businesses wrecked because they failed to protect themselves with simple documentation, and/or trusted someone at their word.
posted by kjs3 at 10:16 PM on February 8