91–99 of 99 posts
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Writing letters isn't high-prestige either, which is why lawyers don't describe their job as writing letters all day. Learn from their example.
And an m&a investment banker actually edits a file in word for 14 hours a day and on weekends. For the first 3-4 years he doesn't even get to come up with the content in those files. It's amazing what people will do for "prestige".
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Perfect consistency is only useful if your perfectly consistent product is any good. Much depends on your target audience. Bad quality control can hurt a lot, but so can perfect consistency in producing a bad product. If your audience is the sort that thinks McDonald's is quality food then that's obviously where you should aim, but many audiences don't.
Having worked in Quality Control in a major multinational, and studied and lecture statistics, I have seen that significant decreases in quality are accepted in exchange for increased consistency.
A relevant example of this is organizations who are CMM Level 5 certified.
This is exactly the premise behind Michael Gerber's E-Myth series of books: That loving something /= running a business that sells or does that thing.
The coffeeshop fallacy is, in fact, a fallacy. People don't open coffee shops to drink coffee all day any more than someone would open a bar because they want to drink all day. My brother is a wine maker. He is insanely passionate about wine (Pinot to be precise). When he's not working he's talking about and sharing wine. But at the end of the day, he's just a farmer. He tends his vines, picks the fruit, puts in vats…
I wrote an essay a while ago, very similar to this one, only I cited people who actually fell prey to what I called The Cute Little Café Syndrome:
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I've been thinking about this. Saying "I'm a software developer" just doesn't communicate what I do, even though programming is... well, what I do. Thanks for reframing the problem succinctly. You thought about this, so how do you describe your profession?
patio11's answers are cute, but if you say things like that you'll probably just end up defending yourself against people's misinterpretations. "So you're a teacher?" or "You mean like a security guard?" I think the best approach is a middle ground, rather than say what you are, or what the ultimate result is, just say what you _do_. "I build websites" or "I build iphone applications" or "I run servers and networks"…
patio11-type answers -- Cathedral Thinking answers -- otoh, open the doorway to conversation. They are the statement equivalent of open-ended questions.
I tend to tell people that I "help small businesses kick ass," which is def an accurate Cathedral Thinking answer, but lacks verve. Still looking for my perfect response.
Without taking anything away from the article, it's worth noting that running a software business absolutely can provide one with a great lifestyle. More so than pretty much any other profession I can think of. The lifestyle I wanted: pretty much as close to zero required work as possible, the ability to do said negligible work from anywhere I feel like parking myself (preferably with good rock climbing), enough mone…
"So yeah, set your goals right and you'll find you've chosen the one industry where you really can own that coffeeshop." So there's an interesting idea... Lots of startups start up in coffee shops, at least occasionally overstaying their welcome (from the coffee shop owners point of view). It probably wouldn't be _too_ much of a stretch for a talented developer/consultant to back a $200k investment in return for "off…
Without taking anything away from the article, it's worth noting that running a software business absolutely can provide one with a great lifestyle. More so than pretty much any other profession I can think of. The lifestyle I wanted: pretty much as close to zero required work as possible, the ability to do said negligible work from anywhere I feel like parking myself (preferably with good rock climbing), enough mone…
"So yeah, set your goals right and you'll find you've chosen the one industry where you really can own that coffeeshop." So there's an interesting idea... Lots of startups start up in coffee shops, at least occasionally overstaying their welcome (from the coffee shop owners point of view). It probably wouldn't be _too_ much of a stretch for a talented developer/consultant to back a $200k investment in return for "off…
I believe they avoid the health inspections by simply giving away the coffee and pastries, employing a Keurig machine, or locating in a hip area near good coffee shops, which is often the case. If you provide an ergonomic desk and chair in a quiet room with great internet, then coffee and pastries are less important.
The coffeeshop fallacy is, in fact, a fallacy. People don't open coffee shops to drink coffee all day any more than someone would open a bar because they want to drink all day. My brother is a wine maker. He is insanely passionate about wine (Pinot to be precise). When he's not working he's talking about and sharing wine. But at the end of the day, he's just a farmer. He tends his vines, picks the fruit, puts in vats…
Quite. I speak here as someone who owns a coffee shop's less profitable cousin, the independent film company. There are basically two types of people who will start a "cool" company - those who like hanging out in coffee shops, and those who would be making coffee for people whether they were getting paid or not. Those people, in fact, whose happiness is in large part directly related to the percentage of the day the…
My wife is someone who would happily spend all her waking hours on the back of a horse. She's trying to make her horse training/riding lesson business work while I wonder if it's ever going to be possible to make a living at something that's essentially become a luxury but which people aren't willing to pay luxurious prices for. Talking her out of it would be pointless, so the only thing I can do is try to help her find ways to make it even slightly even more profitable.
Even has an HN component: I just mentioned patio11's Appointment Reminder as she was sitting around with four horses tacked up and ready to go, pissed off at the people who made an appointment and didn't show (eventually got here about an hour late).
At least hay's cheaper per ton than coffee :-)
Since when does a coffee shop have a 10% success rate? According to a large study by the Speciality Coffee Association of America, independent coffee shops in the US have a 90% success rate. Perhaps the author mistakenly assumed coffee shops have the same market dynamics as a restaurant, but coffee is low-staff, low-overhead, and high-profit. So long as people are walking in the door, you'll do okay.