My Next Steps to Financial Freedom

Given that I am starting from nothing, I should probably be spending some thought on a product idea if this experiment is to be a success.  The steps I will be following to get my new business up and running are:

1. Identify a market demographic that would make a “good one”, though more thought will need to go into theoretically what a “good one” is based on the rules of my experiment. I do know I need to take into account my financial goals and make sure the market and inherent profit margins are big enough to at least get me there.
    
2. Identify an untapped need or typical problem for the target market that I’ve identified in step 1. 
    
3. Think of solutions that will ”tap the need” or solve the problem that has been identified in step two. This solution should be refined to a point that it can be packaged. This will be my idea!
    
4. Start finding vendors who can validate the usefulness of the idea… I am not allowed to validate the idea myself as that would take entirely too much time and violate the rules. If the idea comes back false, I will have to go back to thinking more starting with step 1, though sometimes some of the greatest innovations haven’t tested with potential customers very well. Sometimes people just don’t know they need something until they have it.
    
5. Start finding vendors who can build my idea.
    
6. Start finding vendors who can communicate my idea exists (sales and marketing).
    
7. Start finding vendors who can handle the logistical aspects of delivering my idea to the customer (including ongoing customer support).

Since I now know what I need to be thinking about to discover my idea, I will spend some of my free thinking time on finding my idea that will set me free. I can do this at the gym, on my commute home from work, in the shower, before I fall asleep at night, etc. Really anytime where I am mostly alone and have plenty of spare bandwidth in the brain!

In a Globalized Economy, Ideas Can Set You Free.

I recently read The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. It’s a fascinating book on many levels as it explored, in-depth, the economical, sociological and political implications of the Internet and technology.  According to Friedman, we’ve now reached ”Globalization 3.0.”

I will save the general book review for others, however the point that I found most fascinating is that efficiencies afforded only recently through technology and the Internet has enabled large companies, who 20 years ago wouldn’t want to service any company short of the Fortune 1000, to now actively search for business amongst the little guys. They want to give people like me the benefit of their billions of dollars of R&D into their area of expertise in a nice little package offered for a ”pay as you need” pricing structure.

If you have a idea for a business you can, in theory, simply outsource the R&D to an engineering firm in India. You can outsource the design of your logo, product packaging, website and sales collateral to a design firm in Argentina. If you are selling a tangible product, and it’s not like you have to these days, then you can outsource your manufacturing to China. You can outsource getting your product here and all the details of distribution and fulfillment to reputable U.S. companies like UPS or DHL. The same goes for Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, accounting, legal, etc.

I aim to see how far I can take this concept of outsourcing everything. It would seem that just about every aspect of your business, except the original business concept – your idea, can be managed cheaply and efficiently by someone else’s employees, trucks, warehouse space and knowledge thanks to Globalization 3.0.