What you see above is a quick server clustering infrastructure schema we put together in a 5mins brainstorming session today. Looks ugly, eh? Here’s why:

Here at Brainient we believe light planning, heavy testing & often review is the way to go. We don’t spend hours on specs, docs or other mumbo-jumbo. We rapidly put together something that we can understand and get it rollin’.

The good thing in the above image is that our sysadmin guru perfectly understands what it says . He’s a genius, we know.
And yeah, the sun on the top right is part of the schema. Can you guess why?

Problem: You want to do everything from hamburgers to rockets. Right? Thought so… we all do. Ok, maybe not everything, but still… as much as possible.

Well, sorry to let you know but that’s how you’re gonna take your business to the ground. Really. Why? Here’s a few reasons:

1. Because if you try to do everything, you’re not gonna do anything right.
2. Because people these days need specialists not one-stop shops.
3. ‘Cause it’s better to have a large steak from a small market than tiny bits (or nothing) of multiple markets.

Solution: Pick a niche. Do something really really well. Be the best in your branch. Try to be the leader, not the follower!

A few tips that might help you:

1. So, how do you pick the niche?
Really simple: make a list with every thing that you love doing. Done? Good. Now, which of this hobbies / passions would you like / be able to transform into a business? Well… guess what: that’s your next business, dude!

2. Research.
If one of your passions / hobbies is building rockets, you might want to reconsider. We don’t wanna discourage you or anything… but make sure that the niche you pick actually exists. Or at least make sure people would be interested in it.

Here’s a few tips to help in your research:
a) start with your friends - talk to them about your idea / product / service. Would they be interested? Would they use it? Would they pay for it?
b) publish some polls - on your blog / site or anywhere you get a chance. Business is all about the people. And if they don’t find any value in your service / product… they ain’t gonna use it
c) follow your instinct - if your subconscious tells you it’s gonna work, try it. You’ve got nothing to lose! Except money, of course… but after all… it’s only money

3. Be ready to work 24/7
If you’re a family person and prefer spending more time with family/friends/fun, don’t start a business. We’re not saying that you should be an antisocial freak, or that you shouldn’t go out, have fun or spend quality time with your family, but you should find a balance. The 8hs/day schedule isn’t gonna work, so better find a good solution from the beginning.

So, finally… we believe that in order to have a successful business you need to do ONE thing right from the beginning:

PICK YOUR 1%

Problem: You’re in a market where the big guys make the rules. In order to survive, you think that the best thing you could do is stay in your row and do your thing. Well, to make a long story short: it’s not going to work.

So, what can you do? Simple: start picking on the big guys. Here’s why:

1. If you don’t, they will
Yup, sooner or later you’ll find yourself kicked out by a product / feature / service improvement they offer. Or, they’ll spend their millions with a marketing strategy that will leave you in the dark. Or, or, or…

So the best thing you could do: Pick on them. Build a better product. You’re in with McDonald’s? Make a better hamburger. Or give two for the price of one. And so on.

2. ‘Cause you’re agile, they’re not
Big companies suck because in order to get things done, they spend half a year on meetings, memos, meetings about memos and so on. You’re small. You can adapt better to the market. And you have one thing that they (really) don’t (although they try to act like they do). For you, it’s easy to have a close relationship with your clients.

3. If you don’t, you’ll feel intimidated by them
Yup, if you don’t start picking on them today, you’re always gonna be intimidated. You’re always gonna be afraid that they’ll come up with a better product / service than you (eg. make better hamburgers, etc).

Why won’t you be intimidated if you pick on them? Simple. It’ll become a game. You do something better, they do something better. You make better hamburgers, they try to do the same. So pick on them! It’s a game!

4. It helps you grow
By picking on them, you constantly need to improve your kick-ass business, to grow / strengthen your product line, or… well, sell more hambugers.

5. It’s fun
Yup, believe it or not, it’s gonna be fun. It’ll help you stress out, relax, drink a lot of caffeine, eat junk food (or hamburgers ), and well… have a really active kick-ass business!

I was thinking the other day about how I started this company. I dug into some of my backups and found the very first business plan: A Mobile Software company with some (pretty unique and) interesting ideas.

Three years have past since I created that business plan. And time made those ideas fade out. But you know what? A short google search showed me that no one has thought about it yet. Or maybe there isn’t a market for the kind of mobile application I was trying to build. Or maybe… people just aren’t interested, who knows?

All in all, it’s all about connecting the dots (how Steve Jobs likes to say). I couldn’t connect the dots then, nor can I completely do that now. But there’s a few things I know for sure:

1. Being an entrepreneur has thought me a lot about … life
2. Life ain’t pink
3. The “biggest” people on this planet were not afraid of failure
4. It’s not good to always be a YES person
5. Having vision and strategy makes the difference

We wish you a brainy new year!

This post is for all the idea-geeks out there who’ve been wanting to launch that brilliant, innovative, new, fresh web 2.0 application, design agency or development company but got stuck where 90% of the people do. Funding.

So here’s 5 simple steps that have done magic for our company.

1. Don’t be afraid.
Statistics say 90% of the people prefer a smaller but safe income than try something on their own. Statistics also say that 50% of the businesses get flushed out the toilet. So I guess that fear is justified, ha? Well, if you ask me, it isn’t. How do you know you’re business isn’t going to work if you don’t start one. Go ahead. Work on your smart idea. Make a business plan. Focus on what you have to do rather than what you’d like to do. Compromise.

2. Get money in.
You’d like to invest some money but you don’t have them, ha? No problem. Our days, all it takes is a website and a few referrals to get you rolling. Build that nifty presentation website. Print your short and clear business plan. Talk to your parents, friends, colleagues. See if they’re interested in joining you on your new adventure.

After you have some money in, say… 500 dollars, start looking for web design clients (people/companies that need websites). You don’t know how to build websites? No problem, we’ll get to that part too. Bid on freelancing websites. Post announcements in the newspaper. Do everything you can to get that first client. The rest will follow.

Ok, so after you get that first web design client, how do you build his website? Well, outsourcing. Find a Romanian, Indian, whatever company that will build it, for a lot less money you’re going to get from the client, I can assure you. You’ll see that the 500 dollars you spend on outsourcing will triple after your first project. Nice, ha?

4. Don’t spend what you earn
Working with outsourcing companies brings you a big advantage: you don’t have any expenses. No programmers/designers to pay, no office rent, nothing. Just pure profit.

Raise the money for that nifty web 2.0 application or whatever project you want to launch. When you think you have enough, outsource the project. Get the same company that has worked for your clients’ projects work for you now.

5. And if you only want an IT company that builds websites, creates web, desktop or mobile apps…
…stick to outsourcing. Get a good western Project Manager that will be the interface between your Company and your Clients. Take advantage of the internet and develop all your projects with Outsourcing Companies. It’s the best thing an IT Company can do.

That’s about it. I’m sure it doesn’t answer all your questions, and it’s possible that you don’t agree with this strategy, but Comments are open .