Why buy when you can rent?

Tapprs business cards

How long do you keep someone’s business card with you?

Not too long I guess. Most cards get discarded very quickly.

You need to be very creative to register in the mind of the guy before he decides to throw it away… which is a very short period.

The more creative or interesting the card is, the better the chance of making an impact with the card.

Of late, I have needed a few cards. So, I decided to get one done.

I remember having read from my friends blog about a guy who put Google results on his card. He apparently ranked #1 for the keyword and put that on his card.

Using that as a tongue-in-cheek idea, I did my card this way. Perhaps, not very good looking, but it tends to make people curious.

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3 skills entrepreneurs need

I realize the increasing need to have 3 very very important skills while running Tapprs.

Those are:

1. what does the customer need?
2. how much will he pay for it?
3. how does he decide

If point 1 above sounds too simple and obvious to you, it helps to read the story of Iridium, the satellite phone company that never was. And I think they realized it after plonking down a good 5 billion $ down the drain. And I think 7-8 years of ignoring market signals.

As for the 2nd, you may do well if you were reborn as Steve Jobs.

As for the 3rd, I would get insanely rich if I could crack the code.

Am sorry if you came here to know how to get those skills. There’s no short cut. So, go figure them out yourself.

And come back to leave a comment when you attain nirvana!

Small steps

“Think big”, an oft used phrase.

Think big, one should definitely do provided the thinking isn’t beyond means and methods.

And for small ventures, “think big, act small” is more ideal. This part, you and I know already. Many books and articles have been written.

“Think big, act small!”.

We read. We listen. We nod in consent.

Yet, when it comes to doing, we forget!

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Value chain

Many of us first time entrepreneurs get it wrong.

When we conceive an idea and execute it… most often we get excited and blinded by the greatness of the idea that we fail to study something vital. (Or like in my case, after wanting to start something exciting and not getting any great idea, start something without actually studying vital information.)

That vital thing is value chain. (I don’t know if there’s a better phrase for it.)

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