So I’m at work a month or so ago and instead of doing the two hundred and twelfth version of my 2010 budget for the next board meeting, I’m taking a few minutes to goof off with a friend. We’re talking entrepreneurship. This is the same conversation that takes place every day in every corporate office in every city and town in America several times a day. It’s the “Man, I’ve got the awesome idea for (fill in the blank) – I should just start a company, get rich, and blow out of this place.” You know the conversation.
In this case, my friend was describing his idea for buying real estate while it’s cheap and selling it when the market recovers. I didn’t quite know how to break it to him that this was not a unique and brilliant idea, so I just said “Oh yeah, absolutely. You’ll clean up”. After waiting the appropriate time for his dream of riches to pass, I opened a new explorer tab and showed him the IceMule site (http://www.icemulecooler.com). He read all about how the IceMule is the world’s only totally leak-proof soft cooler, reviewed the testimonials, checked out the checkout and got really, really excited.
That’s when he said it: “Dude! Why haven’t you quit your job yet?”
If you’re an entrepreneur, you may have heard this question.
It’s a reasonable question I guess. After all, we’ve all read the books – the really good ones like 4-Hour Workweek and Crush It!, and the not so good ones that charge you a subscription to get the same information, though less well written, that you could find with a 2 minute search of Entrepreneur magazine. They all have one thing in common: a belief that the internet is a leveling technology, a killer app that can allow you to compete with well-capitalized, multi-national corporations with huge TV budgets, multi-channel distribution networks and a highly compensated sales force.
And, in fact, you can. But it is not easy. And anyone who tells you it is is trying to sell you something.
The truth is that access to consumers is now much more democratic. That’s the shift. The web gives you access to consumers, and consumers now have access to details about you – and your competitors.
So, the plan here is to use this blog to
- describe how I’m using (and experimenting) with the Internet to gain this access, to listen to my customers, and to build my business. I’ll also include any other relevant experiences or tools I find in the non-web world that I think may help my fellow entrepreneurial crazies out there….and
- connect with folks who are interested in all things outdoors – since that is part of who I am and that orientation led me to develop the IceMule in the first place.
Along the way, hopefully you’ll pick up some tips that will help you connect and build your business as well (or at least discover a great new spot for kayak fishing!). And – and this is the really cool part – you can share back. I certainly don’t have all of this figured out, but the Internet is a conversation, and we hope to make it a big noisy one here at Cooler Notes.
Let the conversation begin!
Oh, and as far as quitting my job, we’ve got a few more coolers to sell. 
Stay cool, James
