The Million Dollar Lab

In my last post I mentioned that I am in the process of building a business. At this stage it is a part time venture and I am looking forward to building it up over the next twelve months.

I am going into Property Management for residential rentals, this is something I have experience in through managing my own properties and helping out with some friends' properties.

What I've Been Working On
Recently I have been working on my logo design, website design, etc... Mainly the fun creative side of building a business; coming up with a name, and then building that name into a brand.

I'm not particularly good at the design side of things and I have had to get a lot of help to do things properly. In my search for helpful providers of these services, I have stumbled onto something of a gold mine called Elance.

Outsourcing The Easy Way
Elance is like Trademe or Ebay but dealing only in services. You post a job and people who provide the services you need bid for that job.  It is then easy to go through the bids and choose the provider who you think best suits your needs.

There are Elancers all over the world and there is always someone who can do your job. The biggest benefit of Elance is the price things can be done for: webdesign for $12-$15/hr, logo and corporate image for $140.00, or a virtual assistant for $10/hr (Prices in USDollars).

So far I have found the quality of the providers I have used to be fantastic. These people are efficient; I have posted jobs at 8.30pm NZ time and bids are waiting for approval 15 minutes later. The jobs progress faster than I can keep up with.  Sometimes I've felt bad for not getting the next set of instructions through quick enough!

Get Stuff Done Faster
We all live in a very busy world and if you have a project that needs doing, Elance is a fantastic way to call in some extra help.

Today anything is possible; if you can dream it, you can build it. Use the tools around you and work smarter not harder.

I'm currently in the process of building a brand new business. It's been something I've had on my mind since selling my first business (a section care and lawn mowing company). A few months ago I decided that it's time to get stuck in now and have a go.

I remember a while ago reading a book by Richard Branson where he stated that the basics of any business can be learned in about 2 weeks. There must be some truth in that statement because he has built more than a few companies in his time. Richard Branson is also a business hero of mine. I really enjoyed reading his biography and finding out how he started and how he got to where he is today.

With most things in life the hardest part is always getting started. Like I said I have been procrastinating on my idea for about a year and a half now; but the beauty in starting is that it costs you something and that cost builds comittment. So even though to be honest I am on a bit of a shoe string budget, (which is no excuse in any case) I've found it really helpful to invest a bit of cash and get things on the move. Even with only a few hundred dollars in, it becomes a lot harder to give up or get lazy and stop. A bit of commitment also causes unexpected help to show up; I personally think once your fully committed and all in, God lends a hand.

Where it is starting to become a lot of fun, is the little gems and opportunities that show up along the way. So far I have found a place to get graphic design work done super cheap and super quick (http://www.elance.com/).  I have also found a way to setup a business phone line for $10 a month and because my beautiful wife is also on the hunt for customers, I have a few people lining up to use my company. Elance and the $10 a month extra phone line are massive blessings that explode a few of my worries and excuses. It is amazing the things that can be done and the opportunities that arise once you're started on something

With my last business, I built it purely to escape a job. With this business I want to build something that works, is replicable, and is sell-able. I found with the section care contracting that it became just a job and by the time I realized, I was pretty sick of it and ready to move on. What I'm doing with this one is building it in such a way that it is ready to be sold straight away. It will be built in such away that it is apart from me rather than a part of me that I have to slave at all the time.

In any case it should be fun.  I'm still on the look out for new ideas. I'll keep you posted on how I go.