The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau Page B
Authors: Chris Guillebeau
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(although not amazing) results.
When we last left off with James Kirk in Chapter 1 , he had moved from Seattle to South Carolina and opened the coffee shop he had been thinking about for the last six months. What happened next? As he settled into a slower way of life and got to know his customers, he made a few changes. “I learned there was no way you could have a breakfast place down here and not sell biscuits,” he said. “If you had told me back in Seattle that my coffee shop would sell biscuits, I would have laughed.” He also sold a great deal of iced tea almost every day of the year, something that would be ordered only once in a while on a hot summer day in the Pacific Northwest.
But James adapted quickly, deciding on which parts of his operation were flexible and which couldn’t be changed. He could add biscuits to the morning menu, for example, and could ramp up the iced tea production for those who wanted it—but he would continue to ensure that the coffee beans were extra-fresh and theespresso preparation was just as he had learned back in Seattle. The next time you’re in Lexington, stop in for a biscuit and Americano. James and his team will be waiting.
KEY POINTS
Who are your people? You don’t necessarily have to think of them in categories such as age, race, and gender. Instead, you can think of them in terms of shared beliefs and values.
You can often follow a fad, craze, or trend by establishing yourself as an authority and simplifying something about the process for others hoping to benefit from it.
Use surveys to understand customers and prospects. The more specific, the better. Ask: “What is the number one thing I can do for you?”
Use the decision-making matrix to evaluate multiple ideas against one another. You don’t have to choose only one idea, but the exercise can help you decide what to pursue next.
* This sometimes is known as
psychographics
.
† See “Where Do Ideas Come From?” on this page .
PART II
TAKING IT TO
THE STREETS
IF YOUR MISSION STATEMENT IS MUCH LONGER
THAN THIS SENTENCE, IT COULD BE TOO LONG .
“Plans are only good intentions unless
they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
—PETER F. DRUCKER
J en Adrion and Omar Noory graduated from the Columbus (Ohio) College of Art and Design in 2008. They both began freelancing as designers, in addition to Jen teaching at their alma mater and Omar taking a design job at a studio in town. Based in a tiny apartment, they were making ends meet and working jobs related to their degrees, but just one year after graduation, the feeling of burnout from the world of commercial design was inescapable. “Should I have gone to med school?” Jen wondered. “What if accounting would have been a better fit? It was strange to be feeling this way only a year into our careers.” On a drive back from Chicago, they talked about other things: an upcoming trip to New York and a plan that they hoped would lead to other travels.
When they got home, Omar looked around for a nice map to help chart their upcoming adventures. Long story short, they couldn’t find one that they loved, so they decided to make their own. They stayed up late at night, working on their ideal map while talking about all the places they hoped to visit. When theyfinished the design, there was just one problem: The printer they wanted to use had a minimum order of fifty units for a cost of $500. It was a lot to spend when they only needed one map, but the project had come to mean more than just a print, so Jen and Omar each put down $250. They loved the final result and hung one of the maps on the wall … leaving forty-nine maps with no obvious purpose. They gave a few out to friends … and still had forty-four. Finally, Omar asked a crazy question: Would anyone want to
buy
the remaining prints?
They made a one-page website, added a PayPal button, and went to bed. The morning after making their work available for
When we last left off with James Kirk in Chapter 1 , he had moved from Seattle to South Carolina and opened the coffee shop he had been thinking about for the last six months. What happened next? As he settled into a slower way of life and got to know his customers, he made a few changes. “I learned there was no way you could have a breakfast place down here and not sell biscuits,” he said. “If you had told me back in Seattle that my coffee shop would sell biscuits, I would have laughed.” He also sold a great deal of iced tea almost every day of the year, something that would be ordered only once in a while on a hot summer day in the Pacific Northwest.
But James adapted quickly, deciding on which parts of his operation were flexible and which couldn’t be changed. He could add biscuits to the morning menu, for example, and could ramp up the iced tea production for those who wanted it—but he would continue to ensure that the coffee beans were extra-fresh and theespresso preparation was just as he had learned back in Seattle. The next time you’re in Lexington, stop in for a biscuit and Americano. James and his team will be waiting.
KEY POINTS
Who are your people? You don’t necessarily have to think of them in categories such as age, race, and gender. Instead, you can think of them in terms of shared beliefs and values.
You can often follow a fad, craze, or trend by establishing yourself as an authority and simplifying something about the process for others hoping to benefit from it.
Use surveys to understand customers and prospects. The more specific, the better. Ask: “What is the number one thing I can do for you?”
Use the decision-making matrix to evaluate multiple ideas against one another. You don’t have to choose only one idea, but the exercise can help you decide what to pursue next.
* This sometimes is known as
psychographics
.
† See “Where Do Ideas Come From?” on this page .
PART II
TAKING IT TO
THE STREETS
IF YOUR MISSION STATEMENT IS MUCH LONGER
THAN THIS SENTENCE, IT COULD BE TOO LONG .
“Plans are only good intentions unless
they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
—PETER F. DRUCKER
J en Adrion and Omar Noory graduated from the Columbus (Ohio) College of Art and Design in 2008. They both began freelancing as designers, in addition to Jen teaching at their alma mater and Omar taking a design job at a studio in town. Based in a tiny apartment, they were making ends meet and working jobs related to their degrees, but just one year after graduation, the feeling of burnout from the world of commercial design was inescapable. “Should I have gone to med school?” Jen wondered. “What if accounting would have been a better fit? It was strange to be feeling this way only a year into our careers.” On a drive back from Chicago, they talked about other things: an upcoming trip to New York and a plan that they hoped would lead to other travels.
When they got home, Omar looked around for a nice map to help chart their upcoming adventures. Long story short, they couldn’t find one that they loved, so they decided to make their own. They stayed up late at night, working on their ideal map while talking about all the places they hoped to visit. When theyfinished the design, there was just one problem: The printer they wanted to use had a minimum order of fifty units for a cost of $500. It was a lot to spend when they only needed one map, but the project had come to mean more than just a print, so Jen and Omar each put down $250. They loved the final result and hung one of the maps on the wall … leaving forty-nine maps with no obvious purpose. They gave a few out to friends … and still had forty-four. Finally, Omar asked a crazy question: Would anyone want to
buy
the remaining prints?
They made a one-page website, added a PayPal button, and went to bed. The morning after making their work available for
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