Questions about initial stages getting your business off the ground.
22
votes
10answers
1k views
Stuck in a cubicle supporting family
I am trying to get my web startup off the ground, but can't find time to come anywhere near finishing the core product because I'm stuck in a cubicle feeding my family, fattening up my landlord and ...
19
votes
33answers
12k views
How to pick a platform for a startup web 2.0 app?
I am looking for recommendatins from the successfull entreprenurs on this forum to advise me on the best software technology platform to develop my web2 webapp on.
The web2 app will potentially be ...
18
votes
11answers
1k views
Am I aiming too high, or maybe I'm just not meant to be an entrepreneur?
I live in Mexico, and come from a middle-low class family (and that's third world middle-low class) and all my life I've had in me this entrepreneurial dream which I have not been able to make true. ...
16
votes
10answers
1k views
Advice for overcoming fear of quitting a good job to build a startup
I am having a lot of anxiety and fear when thinking about quitting my high paying job to join a startup that has a lot of potential. I have great hours, an excellent management team, and rewarding ...
12
votes
10answers
2k views
Use home address for business?
We are a tiny early-stage startup operating out of our own home. We would like to be able to give out our contact information to potential customers, but are not sure whether it's a good idea to share ...
12
votes
1answer
335 views
There's a troll in my space - now what?
I've spent the last 3 months full-time building an alpha version of a web app, and developing a business plan for it. The alpha version is ready to launch. Recently I've stumbled upon the fact that ...
11
votes
13answers
987 views
How did you conceive your startup idea?
I think a lot of conceivable startups have already been conceived. A lot of workable business ideas have already been worked out. How did you manage to conceive your startup idea?
All is well if you ...
11
votes
3answers
488 views
How to start a company for my website and hire programmers without risk of losing my code?
I have a gaming website that is making me around 3000 Euros monthly. I see great potential to expand this website but it's not a 1 person job and I need to hire a programmer to help me speed up the ...
11
votes
4answers
527 views
Finding a start-up partner as a developer
I have been coding solutions since like the dawn of time, at least that's how it feels, and I love it so now I want to help found a new start up or help an existing start up that needs a technical ...
10
votes
9answers
731 views
New Startup - How to outsource everything without losing control
I run one technology startup now that takes up most/all of my time.
I have another idea for a technology startup and wanted to outsource everything either through contract workers or salaried ...
9
votes
5answers
278 views
Can someone under 18 start a business in the US?
I'm 15, and I want to repair computers, which I've recently found out is considered a business even if I just do it from home? Can someone start a business when they're under 18?
9
votes
2answers
2k views
How do I start a sole proprietorship and when does it start?
I see a lot of information about starting an LLC or other corporation, but very little information about a sole proprietorship. I am a freelance web developer and programmer and right now I am small ...
9
votes
5answers
392 views
When should I leave day job to pursue startup full-time?
I am trying to determine when I should quit my job to pursue a startup. Here is what I feel are the pros/cons of leaving
Pros
Can focus more / no time constraints
Iterations are much quicker (I do ...
9
votes
6answers
865 views
How do I know if I'm cut out to run my own business?
It sounds like fun to start a company, but I don't know if I can actually do it.
How do you know if you can or if you're ready?
8
votes
2answers
444 views
When a huge company copies your startup
What do you do when a huge online company (as dominant as say Google, Apple, Microsoft etc in their respective niche) has a big feature that's been lacking in their very popular product, and your ...
8
votes
5answers
334 views
Do I really need an accountant?
As a new startup, do I really need a part-time accountant or can software like QuickBooks do everything for me?
Perhaps a bookkeeper to input data into the software is all I need?
8
votes
3answers
302 views
What are basic steps to creating a simple marketing strategy for a small startup?
I have started a small startup online business. I need to drive traffic to the site and create new users - a classic "inbound marketing" problem. I have seen that people have asked similar questions ...
7
votes
19answers
2k views
How do I survive when starting a business without a paycheck?
When you start a new company, it is necessary to dedicate 100% of your time and effort to make it successful? How do you do this without a paycheck? Especially if you have a family?
7
votes
6answers
414 views
How can fewer features be better?
Just today I started to get interested in this field and I've started with Getting Real. I kept seeing answers here that recommend it and it also seems trustworthy.
However, one thing I don't get is ...
7
votes
4answers
588 views
Side Projects. Any Success Stories?
Any success stories out there where someone with a full time job managed to start a business in their spare time?
If so, how did you do it? How do you stay motivated? Did you do it alone?
On a ...
7
votes
7answers
530 views
Dropping ideas all the time. Does the “idea” really matter?
For the past 4-5 months I've been brainstorming ideas for web startups. I start to implement an idea and on the way discover that it's not going to work (too hard to implement, etc.).
I know that ...
7
votes
4answers
393 views
Starting a software company in a remote/isolated place
I am in Peshawar, Pakistan ... a place hardly known for software companies. How do I do it here or even online from here?
I am capable of developing software, have loads of ideas (some of which are ...
7
votes
9answers
596 views
Starting out. What do I do first?
I have a couple of ideas for an online software company, but I've never started a company before and I have relatively no idea on what to do first. So, what do I do first?
7
votes
3answers
269 views
What to do to boost user registration
I started planning a new web service. I started to write some effect maps to define primary goals that are basically related to growing numbers of:
site traffic
user registrations
user shopping ...
7
votes
6answers
332 views
Turning around a startup
A year ago, my friends and I started a company based on a big (relatively) project referred to us by a friend. Now the project is complete and we've gotten deals with several companies to build ...
7
votes
1answer
156 views
Which country to incorporate web startup in?
If we have a web startup originally targetting users from country A, but the majority of users end up to be from America, is it sufficient to have the company incorporated in country A?
Additionally ...
6
votes
8answers
885 views
How do i know if the idea i have in mind for startup is not being worked on by another stealth startup company
I have an idea in my mind, but how do i know if someother company is already working on a similar idea (espeically in stealth mode) or worse if i start working on my idea and half way through if the ...
6
votes
6answers
286 views
Minimum Viable Product: To tell customers or not to tell
I'm curious, do you think customers should be told that the service they are using is the very first version and they should expect updates (eg. we're going by MVP philosophy)? Where do you draw the ...
6
votes
8answers
1k views
How do you start a software business when you have no idea about it
Let's say that I have come up with a good software idea that needs to be built and designed. Let's also imagine that I have no background in IT and therefore need to find somebody to build and write ...
6
votes
8answers
1k views
Think I Have a Great Startup Idea, Don't Know Next Steps
Ok, so everyone thinks they have the next big great idea. Let's just assume for the sake of this question that I really DO have a good/great idea.
Some background and basic. I'm obviously not ...
6
votes
8answers
1k views
What companies failed because they released too early?
Most bloggers are saying you should release early, iterate often, and fail fast.
But some companies are notorious for releasing early, but then getting a bad reputation which led to their failure. ...
6
votes
11answers
626 views
Books to read before starting a business?
I'm starting an online store with a partner. Because there will be lot of students and other people working directly under me, I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. I have no practical or ...
6
votes
5answers
387 views
What frustrates you most when building a startup?
I found that this forum is a very encouraging site for people that is building a startup. I can also see based on most of the questions, basically what people are looking for, are words of ...
6
votes
6answers
649 views
Startups and full time jobs
I've come over from Stack Overflow. I'm currently working full time as a web site developer, and like many people have got a bit fed up of working for someone else and want to set my own business up. ...
6
votes
5answers
455 views
How much equity should I get for developing a site where the idea isnt mine
A few months ago, I was asked to join a startup for $85k/year. All the company really had was a pretty big angel investor and one guy with the idea (wealthy father and son with the idea). Before ...
6
votes
12answers
612 views
Advice for First Time Enterpreneur
From your experience, what would you like to advice First Time Enterpreneur ?
6
votes
8answers
458 views
Not an IT person at all and I want to start an online based company- any advice?
I want to start my own wedding and event planning business. My business will be very online based. I want to create a website where my clients can have their own log-in information on my site where ...
6
votes
5answers
3k views
How can I determine potential market demand?
I would like to determine the potential market demand for a non-software, travel product that requires significant up-front capital for manufacturing.
What open source software, if any, would you ...
6
votes
9answers
536 views
Strategies for coming up with ideas
The first step in any startup must be coming up with an idea and this seems a big first hurdle.
A lot of people seem to come up with these ideas either to address problems they are experiencing or ...
6
votes
11answers
541 views
how important is a name and where to start
Me and my friend are planning to start a consultancy company focused on innovative design, passion for tackling hard problems and providing best solutions to the customer in the DC Metro area.
I read ...
6
votes
5answers
399 views
Startup project - hide from employer or cooperate with him?
I am a software developer. I have a good idea and I'd like to create a startup. I am planning to invite one or two of my colleagues as co-founders.
I am concerned about the relationships with my ...
6
votes
7answers
329 views
startup: work on something i personally like or work on something that would sell?
I am going to start working on a project, but divided between two project ideas.
The first one is interesting to me personally, and I have been toying with it for some time as an evening hobby, but I ...
6
votes
4answers
350 views
What are the steps for getting a tech startup off the ground when you're the only team member?
I'm a software developer with over a decade of experience writing code. I've recently had an idea for a tech startup and am in the process of creating a prototype website and a pitch deck for the ...
6
votes
2answers
209 views
My site seems to be getting traction but still users dont post in it I am still doing it after 4.5 months online
My portal is starting to show some traction. We've been online 4.5 months after 1 year of developing it. We already have close to 50k twitter followers, 1,000 visitors a day between PPC + Organic, 7 ...
6
votes
7answers
735 views
New Product Ideas - how to get started
I've got several ideas for new products that I think might fill various gaps in the market. However, I'm unsure where to start. I'm not an engineer, nor do I have access to facilities to create ...
6
votes
7answers
350 views
Getting Started with Marketing
I'd like your opinions on how I can use marketing to increase sales.
I run a small business on the side (I also have a full-time job), selling a niche enterprise software application. Last year I ...
6
votes
3answers
651 views
Can one pay for expenses that a start up requires before forming your LLC or Corp?
Can one pay for expenses that a start up requires before forming your LLC or Corp? Is it then possible to count them as expenses when you start one?
6
votes
2answers
216 views
Do we need a lawyer before going live?
Once everything technical is said and done and we have a product to go live with, should we contact a lawyer? What kind of protection do we need from the "rotten eggs" out there? I know we need a TOS ...
5
votes
4answers
506 views
How to go from a one person sofware development freelancing gig to creating a software development company
I've been doing some freelance software development in Ruby on Rails for a while and I'm currently thinking of hiring people to grow my business (I'm based in Shanghai) but going from a one person gig ...
5
votes
6answers
444 views
I have an idea but no free time - can I pay offshore developer?
I am a software developer. I have a good idea and I'd like to create a startup.
I am planning to invite one or two of my colleagues as co-founders.
Problems:
1) Free time
I realised it is very ...
