I Started My Company (EMJ) From The Trunk Of My Car (and It Was A Small Trunk So Thats A Small Business). I Grew EMJ To 375,000,000 In Sales Prior To Selling It To SYNNEX. I Am Now CEO Of A 1 Billion Business. My Successful Blog At (jimestill.com) Generates A Lot Of Comments And Questions. I Want To Share One Of These Thoughtful Questions With You, And Share My Answer.The Question:"First Off I Just Want You To Know All I'm Asking For Is Advice, Which Is The Most Valuable Thing I Can Get Right Now.I Have Been Working In A Field Of Interest For Many Years Now As A Hobby. I've Always Had Many Very Good Ideas But I Never Had The Resources To Make Them Happen. I Always Figured It Was Because I Was Too Young. Now I'm Older, I Have A Job And I'm Plagued With The Same Problem. I'll Have A Great Idea But It Will Usually Be Out Of My Range Because I Either Do Not Have The Technical Ability, The Funding Or Resources To Make The Idea I Vision Happen.My Most Recent Plan Evolved From My Experience Running Similar Websites, I Found There Was An Un-fulfilled Need. I Decided To Start Judging The Need For What I Was Offering So I Did My Homework And Contacted Over 130 Other Similar Sites. Within A Day I Had 20 Sites Interested In What I Had To Offer. That's Great And All But Those 20 Sites Generate About 6 Times The Traffic I Could Handle. So Once Again I'm In The Same Position. I Do Not Have The Resources I Need To Properly Execute My Idea.My Basic Question, What Is The Best Route To Take When You Have A Great Ideal That Is More Then You Can Handle.A Little More About Me, I'm 23 Years Old, I Have Been Running Web Sites And Involved In The Industry For Around 6 Years. I Have A Good Paying Job In Another Industry Which Makes It Even More Difficult To Make The "jump".Thank You For Your Time."My Response:1 - There Is Never A Right Time. Entrepreneurship Involves Risk. This Means Yous Sometimes Need To Just Jump. This Said - I Always Say "fail Often, Fail Fast, Fail Cheap" So I Always Look At The Downside.2 - It Is Very Powerful To Be Under Resourced. It Will Make You More Resourceful And Likely Allow You To Run A Leaner More Competitive Business.3 - I Like To Choose Opportunities That Are The Right Size For Me Now. This Is A Beautiful Thing For Business - There Is Always A Right Size Business Opportunity For Everyone At Every Size. When You Are Starting From Your Basement, You Can Take A 100,000 Opportunity And Do Well. Bigger Companies Cannot Do This So Will Leave You Alone.4 - When The Opportunity Is Too Big For Me, I Consider Narrowing My Scope. Instead Of Being The Biggest Seller Of Bar Code Equipment, Be The Bigger In Bar Code For Warehouses Etc.5 - Consider Partnering. It Is Better To Have 10 Of Something That Is Worth Something Than 100 Of An Idea.6 - Ideas Are A Dime A Dozen. It Is The Implementation That Counts. How Often Do You See A Restaurant With A Line Outside And The One Next To It Goes Bankrupt. All The Time. Ideas Are Easy. 7 - I Know A Lot Of People Who Almost Start Businesses. They Are Not Successful. To Steal From Nike - "Just Do It". And Do It Now. Time Is The Enemy Of Ideas And Business. Someone Else Has The Same Idea. It Is The One Who Perfects It That Wins.
