LJ Idol Season 9 Week 2 The Missing Step

[puppetmaker]

Step One: Collect Underpants
Step Two: ?
Step Three: Profit
From the South Park Episode entitled “Gnomes”

I swear this is the business model of a lot of start up businesses. They have an idea be it goods or service and they kind of try to skip step two and get onto step three. For every Facebook or Twitter there are a myriad of other businesses that were like that but that didn’t work out. Some were too early and some created too late.

Google is a good example of something that caught lighting in a bottle and worked. Their competitors, at the time, are either gone or have reinvented themselves so many times it is really absurd (I am looking at you Microsoft Explorer). Google as a business worked hard to get where they are today. It was not dumb luck (OK maybe a little) but a good business plan with some seriously careful planning that brought Google to the top of the search engine heap.

I know a lot of artists of all kinds of disciplines. I know some that have gone on to make money with their talents and others who never really got off the ground with what they could do. It is not that one group is more talents than the other. It is more that one group has a better business sense and ability to promote than the other. Or they have someone to manage them and promote them. I know a husband and wife team where the wife got tired of having her husband’s good nature taken advantage of so she became the hard ass you had to go to before her husband put pencil to paper. Now he is making a decent living as an artist and lets his wife take care of the business side of things.

A lot of people start a business with high ideals and hopes for what they want to accomplish but if they haven’t figure out that second step, they are pretty much doomed to failure (Yes, I know there are exception but there are always exceptions to various business models). Many times this takes the form of biting off more than one can chew or taking on too much work and then realizing that one has taken on too much work. I have seen artists burn out doing what they once loved because they tried to do too much to earn a decent living. Or they do one thing or style, it is popular for only so long and either others copy them but are cheaper or the style goes out of vogue. Andy Warhol even stated that Pop Art had a limited life span.

Without that vital missing step, a business goes under and they are left wondering what they missed.

This has been my entry for the LJ Idol this week. Personally I can promote others til’ the cows come home but have a sucky time at promoting myself. I hope I have convinced you to vote for me in the next poll. Thank you.

Comments

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

I remember my father talking about a similar problem in farming. Previously, the son would leave high school early--sometimes, he wouldn't even go to high school--and come home to the farm, learning the ropes from his father. The trouble would come when the seasons were particularly tough and a bad business decision could cost you the farm. Experience counts for a lot, but there is also something to be said for learning how to budget, undertake risk assessment and having more advanced literary and numeracy skills than primary school level.

The greatest idea in the world won't make you money if you don't have a plan! Or if it does, you won't keep the money for very long ;)

Good topic link, too :)

[x-disturbed-x.livejournal.com]

This is so true! If only more people would have a plan before jumping into a business.

[similiesslip.livejournal.com]

What you wrote is true. Talent has to include business skills in order to lead to success.

I wish I had thought of making it "missing step" instead of "missing stair." So obvious! How could I not think of that?

Great job on your entry :)

[i-will-not-say.livejournal.com]

Having a plan is quite important, isn't it?

I'm not great (at all) at the promotion side of things, so I think I'll need someone to manage that for me should I try to go anywhere with my writing!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

This is so, so true!

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

This is a wonderful take on this topic! I too have seen a lot of incredibly talented people not quite able to figure out step 2.

[monkeysugarmama.livejournal.com]

I knew exactly where your quote came from when I saw your post, lol. It's sad but true that you really need a strong plan to get from passion and inspiration to a real money making venture. And capital. Start up capital is vital. Some day I'd love to own a small business but I need that money stuff to get there!

[goldmourn.livejournal.com]

This is so true.

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I feel this way about the novel I keep trying to write, except that it's more like this.

Step One: Build World and Characters, write horrible first draft
Step Two: ???
Step Three: Publish!

I don't even care about the "profit" part. I just want to finish the stinkin' book! And it would be nice if a few people read it, but I have a day job and I make decent money and I like it well enough, so whatevs.

SOMEONE FIGURE OUT STEP 2 FOR ME. XD

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

All very true - a little planning can go a long way towards success!

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

Neat analysis.

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

Yeah - and step two usually involves a lot more hard work than most people are up for!

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

Loved this entry! and so right..it's Step 2 that makes all the difference!

[basric.livejournal.com]

A great original take on the prompt. Well written seems cliche but it is sooo well done.

[cheshire23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen this "business" model too. Including startup social services providers such as adoption agencies.

[dusty-chenille.livejournal.com]

This is really well done.
I like it. And, so very true.