When I take on a project, I tend to just keep plugging away at the whole thing one chunk at a time.  If I come across a chunk that I don’t know how to do, the internet is my friend and I figure it out.  Of course, this can lead to me taking a couple weeks to a month or more to get something done.  So if you take a look at my site, don’t be surprised if it hasn’t changed in a while.  Changes are also delayed because I attempt to have some sort of life and time to spend with my son.

Right now I’m working on building a home-grown menu function.  The concept is easy, and there are only so many things to keep track of, but I’ve only hacked other peoples javascript or written small simple functions.  I’d like to write this one for myself so that I understand the underpinnings to the system.  Only by understanding it fully can I begin to improve it.  It’s taking time.  This dude over at ihumanable has a nice post to this effect.

For a bootstrapped business, I think this is an appropriate way to go.  It takes minimum investment and the end result is that I know what is going on.  Unfortunately, it can tend to drag things out.  Maybe my problem is that I am not that good at searching the web, but I can only spend so much time searching for something that does what I need without getting the feeling that I’m wasting time.  Thus I churn away at a problem until it’s done to my satisfaction.  It may be a little buggy, but it works for most cases.  At some point I’ll get back to the functions that are buggy.

With that said, if you happen to come across a bug, please drop me a note.  I have a long list of bugs and improvements that I attempt to work my way through as fast as possible.  Unfortunately, I tend to add improvements faster than I really ought to.  Right now, though, I’m trying to work through the critical path from 0 website income to lots.  So some of the smaller bugs are going to go on the back burner.

Some interesting sites

Alltop

allensblog

47 Hats

The web is a drug.  This is nothing new to most people, but it can be a problem when trying to get something done that doesn’t actually need to get done.  I mean, I don’t have to work on my website.  I’m not going to lose income by not working on it…there isn’t anything to lose yet.

One of my biggest problems is that there are a ridiculous number of websites out there dedicated to starting businesses.  And I’m not just talking about the V1@GRa reselling business.  Twitter, newspaper sites, university sites, the large number of web savvy business founders who also blog all lead to wasted time.

It is similar to what  can happen if you watch food network.  You get the feeling of accomplishment by watching without the actual accomplishment.  I like to read these sites because I want to know everything that I don’t know that I don’t know.  Lots of these sites are just about giving you a boost of confidence, some are about tools, some legal issues, some case studies, some business strategy… I’m getting better at discerning the type and quality of a post by the title.  Who am I kidding, though, I usually read it regardless the type.  I love reading the stories of hardship turned into success, but those are also usually the longest ones.

My method of dealing with this startup crack is to reboot the computer into Linux and do my coding without email or twitter open.  I have purposely decided not to use dedicated email or twitter clients on the Linux partition and it has helped keep me on task.  So when I come to a period of time where I expect to have uninterrupted time, I make a decision to either reboot and work, or stay in windows and browse my addiction.

Some crack for your perusal:

Y Combinator library

Inc.com

Entrepreneur.com

Does anyone have some startup or other web crack that they cannot get away from?

The week before Christmas, I spent a few hours going to various restaurants and trying to talk to owners or managers.  It actually went about as I expected.  Before I went out, I did a little bit of online research.

1st – google search for delivery restaurants and pick out a few that are not major brands and that look like they probably deliver or offer takeout

2nd – figure out which restaurants have websites, online menus, online ordering, etc

3rd – call each of the restaurants the night before to verify that they deliver or do takeout.  Find out if the owner or manager might be available the next day.

That evening, I found out what was likely to be my best bet.  It was a restaurant that has a website with one of those scrolling banners saying ‘Under Construction’.  Perfect.  Couple that with a name and description on the website that was ambiguous, and I had a juicy target.  They need a better online presence.

The next day, I went to them first.  I picked up a menu and had a conversation with the owner who expressed some interest.  Of course, he needs better sales, so come back when I’ve got more to show.  After the new year, I call back to touch base with him and he’s still interested.  He read my simple business description sheet and wants to see the menu when it’s ready to go.

That is about as much as I could hope for right now.  However, I didn’t have as much luck at the other locations.  I wasn’t able to get into contact with any of the owners of the other restaurants, but I did leave some info with the manager on duty.  My favorite managerial response was, “I’ll give this to my dad.”  The close second was, “You’ll never talk to the franchise owner, but I know a guy who knows a guy who can get this to him.  I will pass it on.”

Now as far as marketing in the long term is concerned, I plan to perform an informational campaign where I show how much service has picked up for existing customers.  How, on the other hand, can I pull in companies when I’ve got nothing to back it up?  What is a good way that I can get through to the owners of these restaurants?

Here’s a couple other sites that I frequent:

http://blog.entrepreneur.com/

http://www.davidblerner.com/david_b_lerner/

http://www.bootstrapme.com/

Since I started working on mydeliverylist, I’ve had doubts about starting a business; I’ve been excited, obsessed, driven, sleep deprived and probably lots of other interesting adjectives. I mean, I am sitting here on my own for the past 6 months and writing code, testing web pages, learning new languages and developing a business plan. Who the heck am I to think I can even do that! Am I just going to pull the wool over some peoples eyes to get them to pay me for anything? I don’t know. I keep talking to people about this website, and the usual reaction is, “yeah, that’d be cool”.  Instead of that, I need someone to say, “I want in!”

I’m doing my best to read every possible thing out there on entrepreneurship, startup companies, venture captial, angel capital, successful companies, companies that will be my competition, anything even remotely related, etc.  Can I even call myself an entrepreneur?  I am the company…without me there is nothing…but is that worth anything?  I’ve been constructing this project as a side project for the past 6 months.  In order to make this whole thing work the way I want, I need companies to sign up, I need to finish development enough that companies signing up even means something, I need to get a freakin business license!  I’ve got a list of about 12 things that I need to complete prior to being ready to support restaurants.  And most of those things have about 50 other subtasks.

What I need is a good month that I can lock myself in the office or beat the streets looking for clients.  I’ve had a few sessions of calling restaurants and trying to find any information.  The phone calls have yielded very little help other than screening a few that don’t do takeout or delivery.  The one time I actually got out there for a few hours, I did get one awesome lead and a couple maybe-not-horrible leads.  In order to really sell this, though, I need a prototype to show off. But I also don’t want to end up with everything done, and then start looking for clients.

Of the advice I have found online, the one bit I’ve tried to take to heart the most is to just do it (JFDI*).  I’m trying to keep my head out of the sand and keep making progress.  I’m not sure which blog said it, but trying to found a company is like trying to eat a 500 pound marshmallow.  You just have to take it one bite at a time.

* this acronym taken from Mark Suster

My current objective is to follow up on those 12 steps, keep in periodic contact with my awesome lead, find more potential clients, find a good business partner or two, and to keep eating the marshmallow as often as I can find the time.

Some entrepreneur/startup related sites that I frequent:

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://venturehacks.com/

http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/ – Pamela Slim also wrote a great book…which I actually like more than I do her website