Week two; Research, Questions, and Answers

September 19, 2011

From Wikipedia:

Research can be defined as the search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method. The primary purpose for basic research (as opposed to applied research) is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe.
Scientific research relies on the application of the scientific method, a harnessing of curiosity. This research provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of the nature and the properties of the world around us. It makes practical applications possible. Scientific research is funded by public authorities, by charitable organizations and by private groups, including many companies. Scientific research can be subdivided into different classifications according to their academic and application disciplines.
Artistic research, also seen as 'practice-based research', can take form when creative works are considered both the research and the object of research itself. It is the debatable body of thought which offers an alternative to purely scientific methods in research in its search for knowledge and truth.
Historical research is embodied in the historical method. Historians use primary sources and other evidence to systematically investigate a topic, and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past.
The phrase my research is also used loosely to describe a person's entire collection of information about a particular subject.

Week 2

Hello All! I’d like to thank everyone for joining me again this week, as we start week two in our little Endeavour.  We all have busy schedules and one of the things I strongly recommend is you devote a few hours each week to your idea.  I know of no one who has been able to just have an idea come to them one day, and then BOOM the next day their CEO of this massive conglomerate they created.  I wish it was that easy!

Truth is, no matter how many times we try those “get rich quick” schemes out there, we inevitably come to realize that yet again, we believed all the hype, and thought we could gain instant wealth by the click of a mouse. You and I both know that there are no free rides in life. Yet time and time again we repeat the same mistakes over and over. We get duped into believing that for the unbelievably low price of $29.99 plus shipping and handling, a young kid, or some rich daddy is going to give us THEIR secrets. So we too can make millions and be our own boss. Really?

And for an additional $4000.00, we will get the REAL “secret code” to unlock those previous secrets. These secrets must be locked in a vault or something.  And they must have a heck of a lot of secrets to give out.  Because if their giving everyone just one secret, or one way to obtain riches, then wouldn’t that mean that, oh I don’t know, 25 million other people know the secret?  I grew up thinking that secrets were to be shared by just a few. I must have missed something between the ages of 12-45.  And now 25 million other people who were in the know are now millionaires, because they knew “the seceret".  Darn, I missed the boat.

How it works;

Here’s how we are going to do this.  Each week I will update you on what I did the previous week.  Keep in mind I am always a few weeks ahead of you.  The whole purpose of this blog will be so that you, the reader, will be able to follow me, and hopefully learn from my trials and errors.  And I will have many trials and errors.  Of this I am certain.

Some weeks will be a short update, due to the fact I might not have accomplished too much.  However, that doesn’t mean it was due to a lack of effort.  Remember, creating anything of substance takes time. We have tried the get quick rich route.  It didn’t work.  That’s why we decided to try and make our millions the hard way.  We are going to EARN it.  Wait, don’t go running off.  I know you have what it takes to do this.  We have what it takes to get our Start-up off the ground.  You owe to yourself and your family to try.  It’s only a few hours a week.  Well at first anyway. Didn’t we spend that amount of time on the evil get rich quick gimmicks?  So why not follow me?

Also, each week I will give you a couple of tasks to accomplish. These tasks will not take but a few minutes of your time to complete.  But, keep in mind, once you start this project, you may start to find yourself getting excited as you start to see some results for your time and effort, and therefore may start devoting more time to your start-up.  Now, back to the topic for the week:

Very basic research;

As stated above, research is defined as the search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems or prove new ideas.  New ideas, isn’t that what we have?  Isn’t that how you stumbled upon my blog?  Because you, like me, have an idea you feel is worthy of your time.

Ok, with that in mind, it’s time we start the first phase in launching our start-up.

From the moment my idea was born, I knew that something special was going to happen.  Not special in the sense that I knew it was going to make me rich. There is no guarantee of that.  No, I was excited in the fact that I knew, for the first time in my life, that I was going really try and create something from my idea.  This time I’m going to WORK at making something come from my idea! I had an idea I thought we be a great concept for a movie.  I did some research and shortly there lost interest.  A movie very similar to my idea wound up on the big screen and made a nice profit, by today’s standards.  I made up my mind then that if I ever had another idea, for anything that could be profitable, that I would act on it. And here we are today.

The first thing I did was to start researching my idea.  The first few days were spent just absorbing the idea. I let it sink in. I start to see results in my head. I envisioned my company, my brand and my products.  I started doing some very basic research and looked for some answers to some basic questions.

 Such as:

1.       How many other businesses are currently using a variation or version of my idea? As this will be my potential competitors?

2.       How big is the market? Will it support another competitor? Note: my idea requires only ten to 15 percent of market share to be very, very profitable.

3.       What are the possible roadblocks that are standing in my way, right now, today, that could possibly present their selves in the near future and slow my roll?

4.       Do I know of any family, friends who, if needed, would have some extra cash they might want to invest?

5.       Where will my company’s revenue come from?

6.       What makes my idea any different than my potential competition?

Obviously there are going to be many more questions to research and answer.  I have given you these as a way to get your wheels turning.  Research these basic questions and if you don’t find yourself getting excited, if  you can’t envision the road ahead and what may lie on the other side, then STOP. You are wasting your time. You are not wasting my time.  If you want to follow this blog great! I need the readers. You are only hurting yourself and wasting your time.  While you’re here why don’t you click on one of my ads?  After all it takes money to fund a start-up.

The point is folks if you are not excited now in these very early stages, and if you cannot envision your idea coming to fruition, then you probably will never be able to. It’s imperative you be having some level of excitement at this early stage. Our incubation period.

Do me a favor? I want you to ask yourself these questions above.  Do some research on them.  Start keeping track of the answers you find.  Look into your heart as you do these tasks.  If you are not getting excited about you idea, your start-up, then take a break and do some reflecting.  Maybe you will then start to feel it. If you do, then please come back again next week.

And for those of you who are ALREADY getting a little shiver down your spine, at the mere thought of your start-up, then congratulations!  You may have caught the fever. I hope so!

Thank you all for joining me this week. Remember to be kind, honest and loving human beings.

Until next week,

       Middle Income American III

AN IDEA IS FORMED

From Wikipedia;

In the narrowest sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images. Many philosophers consider ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being.

The capacity to create and understand the meaning of ideas is considered to be an essential and defining feature of human beings.

In a popular sense, an idea arises in a reflex, spontaneous manner, even without thinking or serious reflection, for example, when we talk about the idea of a person or a place.

WHAT IF?

Picture if you will a man sitting in front of laptop. He is lying on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. With his wife away and his kids at the neighbors he had planned on spending a leisure afternoon navigating his way through the World Wide Web. Yes, he should be relaxing. But he isn’t. You see, he purchased a diamond ring from a major online retailer for his wife’s birthday present and wouldn’t you know it was too big.

He tried calling the phone number the store had on its customer service page. In fact he had called three times only to be told by the mysterious prerecorded voice of the phone lady that “all customer service represenitives are busy helping someone else. Please try again later.” Click. And for a second he thought he heard the phone lady laughing hysterically. Nah. But too busy to help me? Again, really? I made a purchase. Don’t I count? Why should I have to keep calling back to speak to a REAL person? Years of dealing with scenarios like this had taken their toll on him and he had enough. He decided right then and there he was going to do something about it. He would open his own online retail store.

I must confess the person I’m speaking of is me. My name is Joe. Well Joe is my last name. I know. I know. But if you had to go around with a name like Middle Income American Joe III you’d use your last name too. That’s right my father and his father before him were Middle Income American Joe’s as well and we are damn proud of it too.

Anyway back to my idea. I didn’t know it but my idea had actually been formed and locked away in the deep recesses of my sub-conscience about 6 months prior to trying to return my wife’s. I don’t know this for fact but from what I’ve read this is most certainly the case. At least in my mind. He-He. Let me explain.

It was last Christmas and my wife had purchased a new laptop for me from a MAJOR retailer. She had done her due diligence (or so she thought) and was so excited she could hardly contain herself. We had been going through some very tough times. I was diagnosed with a major illness a year and a half ago and last year my wife’s hours were cut way back and we lost our insurance which her work had provided.  Oh my wife’s out shopping. Her name is Middle Income American Jane. A lovely women really. But lately I’ve noticed the stress starting to get to her. I try to keep positive for her and the kid’s sake. But I too am feeling it. Anyway back to my idea.

I had problems with the laptop from day one. It wouldn’t stay charged and it seemed to overheat. I arrived at the store my wife purchased it from with receipt in hand. Since I had my receipt it should be easy sailing right? Wrong. I stood in line for a half hour only to be greeted by a girl who looked no older than a teenager. With her mouth busy chewing gum and her fingers busily texting away we made eye contact. And she looked as happy to help me as I was happy to see her.

She seemed bothered and pre-occupied as I explained my dilemma.  Well to make a long story short (Yes I like to talk) I was informed that the laptop my wife had purchased was actually refurbished! Imagine my shock as the manager of the store, who was no happier to see me than Texting Employee Girl was, let me know it was my wife’s fault if she didn’t read the fine print in the ad explaining that all models were refurbished.

Looking back my wife and I were both upset that we were out $300.00 AND I had no laptop. However I realize now that the whole incident was probably a blessing in disguise. You see while I was having the manager explain to me that I couldn’t return the useless laptop I had a fleeting glimpse of myself sitting in a big office, behind a big desk, and it came with a sense of joy and accomplishment.

The vision was over in probably a second or two but little did I know that a vision I had, a fleeting glimpse of what the future might be, would come to light months later. Folks, that day I tried to return my laptop was the day a seed was planted in my subconscious. I assume it has been in there doing its own thing since that day I tried to return the laptop. In my brain. Planning and strategizing. And just waiting for the right moment to be reborn.  And that day was June 18^th, 2011.

My brain gave birth to an idea that day as I was on my NEW laptop trying to return my wife’s ring. And no it wasn’t painful. But I must say I know what that vision meant and what it is I’m supposed to do. My mission if you will. And that mission is to build the biggest (in terms of diversity), most efficient and consumer friendly online store the world have ever known.  With an emphasis on customer service, I mean TRUE customer service , the kind that harkens back to the old days, I will  to build our company’s foundation.

And with that in mind I invite you to join me each week as I try to take an idea from, well from an idea to a fully functioning profitable (hopefully) company. I make no promises, but can assure you I possess the two most necessary attributes to insure an endeavor like this succeeds. A strong will and determination. Paired with a desire to include my fellow Middle Income America  Joe’s and Jane’s,  I promise to listen to you and value your input. You will not only be following this diary but I will be asking you for YOUR input as I build this company. Your input is what will help shape and mold our company.  And when you visit our site you will know that however big or small, your input helped in taking a man’s idea and making it a reality. I refer to the site as OUR site. And when you think about it really is “our site” and “our company” and soon we will all be able to look back on a job well done!

Oh one more thing. Perhaps the most important point I’ve made thus far. NIZBO’s coming.

Well that’s all for this week. Please be respectful, honest and loving human beings. And I’ll see you next week.

Middle Income American Joe III