I’ve decided to use NC.Business as an experiment in starting a business in NC. The idea is simple. Going forward, I’m going to be as transparent as possible. Therefore, I’m going to write articles explaining my business decisions. Additionally, I’ll be soliciting suggestions from my audience on how to run the company. Ultimately, I want to see if we can crowd source the best content for starting a North Carolina business.
Financials
We’re going to bootstrap this business. Unfortunately, we can’t purely bootstrap because there are a few upfront costs. For example, this domain name was already paid for. Additionally, we have hosting expenses. Finally, I also have a subscription to Hootsuite through my main job.
In disclosing the financials for this company, I intend to provide periodic updates on profits/losses/etc. I intend to be as transparent as possible in these disclosures, but obviously there are limitations to what I can disclose.
Rules
Every experiment has ground rules to make the most out of the experiment. I haven’t put a ton of thought into these, so they may change. However, my rules start off as follows:
- I won’t betray anyone’s trust or confidentiality. There are times where I’ll likely not be 100% transparent in order to protect someone’s trust or confidence.
- Nothing illegal.
- No high pressure sales tactics, MLMs, or other programs or services that fall into the same vein.
- No investors or public offerings of stock or ownership in the company.
- Avoid highly regulated industries. I’m already in one with my legal career, so I’d like to focus on something others can more easily get into and one you don’t have to go through a licensing board for.
Weekly Progress
I’ll report in weekly regarding the tasks I had set out, my thoughts, and upcoming plans. I plan on using this site to do my weekly progress reports as well as solicit feedback. However, I might use social media, newsletter, and other methods to keep in touch with you as well.
This site will be my main hub of information though.
Timeline
This timeline is very flexible right now. I’m only starting to formulate my thoughts. Therefore, what follows is just a rough draft of a timeline.
We’ll largely be following the guidelines of Check Mark Startup by Richard Bobholz (That’s me!) for our steps.
Week 1: Create a better timeline.
Week 2: Lay out my values, strengths, and weaknesses.
Weeks 3-6: Start figuring out a product or service to sell.
Okay, this is the worst timeline I’ve ever written. Sorry about that.
Goals
In order to have a successful experiment, we have to create some goals.
- Make $50,000 per year by the 3rd year.
- Create a wealth of content that can help other entrepreneurs start and run their businesses.
- Make most, if not all, of my income passive income.
Disclosures and Disclaimers
- Yes, I’m a lawyer. No, I’m not giving legal advice on this site. Everything I’m doing is geared towards this specific company or for educational purposes only. Nothing on this site creates an attorney-client privilege. Put another way, I don’t owe you anything and if you use the information on this site and it ends up costing you, that’s your problem.
- License. Unless stated otherwise, everything on this site is available to be reused by you on two conditions: (1) you make it clear that the content came from this site, including a link back to this site, and (2) you do not make modifications to the content except where the content specifically provides for customization. Primarily, I’m referring to contracts, legal documents, spreadsheets, and marketing materials. I want credit for the good things I produce, but I don’t want to be blamed if you wreck it with your changes. Got it?
- I own several other companies and try to keep pretty busy. Therefore, if I’m late posting, please cut me some slack (or check in on me). I’ll get into a rhythm, but I’m definitely not there yet. I’ll frequently refer to my other businesses when it naturally comes up. I benefit from these referrals.
- NC.Business has a few ads on it. Revenue from these will be reported along with any other income NC.Business generates.
- If I collect any personal information from you, for any reason, I won’t sell it to third parties. I’ll either use it internally or forget I have it. I’ll create a better privacy policy at a later date.
- Yes, I financially benefit from any suggestions that my readers give me that I use. No, I’m not obligated to share the financial benefit with anyone else, regardless of how much you contribute. I would like to create some way to reward those readers who are most active, but I don’t even know what the company does yet, so I can’t make any promises.
Let the Experiment Begin!
This is my first post in this line. Keep checking back for updates or subscribe to our RSS or upcoming social media links. If I can fall into the right pattern, I’m hoping to post Sunday or Monday every week.
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