13th February 2012

A long commute…

How many of you have had a long commute to work?  Well, if you have and you enjoyed your job, you probably didn’t mind it.  And if you disliked your job, I imaging the commute was most likely hell.  To give you some idea on where I’m coming from here, I’ll explain.  I was commuting over an hour and a half each way to work.  On a packed train that was usually running late on my way home.  I had a twelve hour day without working any overtime.  Oh, and I did not enjoy my job to put it lightly.

I was in a dead end job, working just to pay the bills.  Exhausted, miserable, and quite unhealthy.  I felt stuck, and something had to change.  So when I lost my job, a day most people dread, I on the other hand was thrilled.  I took this as an opportunity to do something with my life.  To work on things I truly enjoy, and produce something people could benefit from.  Something I actually believed in doing, and could see myself doing it.  

And what could be better than working for myself.  Well I get to make my own hours, do the job I want, be creative, and…….and it is a lot of work.  But I’m accomplishing something, and that is why I’m doing it.  It is a complete 180 from what I was doing a few months ago.  So I’ll put in the twelve hour days (minus the commute), and ultimately I’ll be better off for it.          

Tags: startup commute working

10th February 2012

4 notes 

What could be better than a desk, comfy chair, free wifi, and a large cup of coffee while you’re working?  For me, not much. So not having an “official” office space yet has allowed me to peruse my local coffee shops in walking distance, sampling what each of them has to offer. I have all these amenities at home, but it feels more like work when I’m out of the house.  Somehow I tend to get more done.  And that’s the key isn’t it?   I’m not a fan of Starbucks. There, I said it.  Yes they have free wifi (usually cuts out or slow), coffee (not my favorite), comfy chairs, and an occasional desk, but I would rather support the local shops. Besides, if you want one of those comfy chairs you should plan on getting there before they open.  They go faster than a new Apple product. Everyone knows the importance of social networking these days.  But most people today neglect the importance of face to face social networking.  Coffee shops are a great way to get some face time with potential clients, consumers, and colleagues.  You can also promote whatever it is you’re working on, for free.  Working on mobile application development, I can use the coffee goers as a way to get feedback on my designs.  This helps because for weeks I’ve been the only person looking at my work.  It helps shine new light on my work. So for all you start-ups out there, that think you need a big office space, state of the art equipment, over priced furniture, and big board rooms… I say try your local coffee shop first. 

What could be better than a desk, comfy chair, free wifi, and a large cup of coffee while you’re working?  For me, not much. So not having an “official” office space yet has allowed me to peruse my local coffee shops in walking distance, sampling what each of them has to offer. I have all these amenities at home, but it feels more like work when I’m out of the house.  Somehow I tend to get more done.  And that’s the key isn’t it?  

I’m not a fan of Starbucks. There, I said it.  Yes they have free wifi (usually cuts out or slow), coffee (not my favorite), comfy chairs, and an occasional desk, but I would rather support the local shops. Besides, if you want one of those comfy chairs you should plan on getting there before they open.  They go faster than a new Apple product.

Everyone knows the importance of social networking these days.  But most people today neglect the importance of face to face social networking.  Coffee shops are a great way to get some face time with potential clients, consumers, and colleagues.  You can also promote whatever it is you’re working on, for free.  Working on mobile application development, I can use the coffee goers as a way to get feedback on my designs.  This helps because for weeks I’ve been the only person looking at my work.  It helps shine new light on my work.

So for all you start-ups out there, that think you need a big office space, state of the art equipment, over priced furniture, and big board rooms… I say try your local coffee shop first. 

Tags: coffeeshops coffee remote office freelance working iosdev startup

7th February 2012

Start Up

About two weeks ago I decided to start my own business. The business of developing apps for IOS devices. App development aside, the business aspect has keep me quite busy. Meetings with banks, accountants, realtors for an office space…it has been a whole new experience.

Currently I am working on completing my business plan. Which is a full time job in itself. Luckily I found some great tips and tricks online, and was told about a free “business plan writing class” that I’ll be attending.

All this work and so far not a dime has been spent. Well as long as you don’t count my numerous coffee breaks as a “business expense”. And I really haven’t had to work that hard or spend any money on advertising. Social media pretty much covers it for me. I thought I would need to budget some big bucks to get Don Draper to create an ad for me. Luckily not the case.

I feel like I have made some great progress over the past few weeks, and I can really feel the momentum picking up. Hopefully I’ll be in business (so to speak) before you can say iPhone5.

Tags: startup iosdev working
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