My little list of attempts, projects, ventures, or however you might classify them, is disappointingly short. Yes, only 4:
- QRMyRide
- Neskowin 5K Runabout
- The BOHK
- Cocktail Slidecharts
Surprisingly, I'm finding it hard to categorize each as either a success or a failure. Initially I was ready to state flat out that 3 of 4 were failures. But I hesitated, and now I'll have to break down each one and evaluate them, because maybe they are all failures and maybe they are all successes.
QRMyRide
Description:
In 2011 I was super intrigued by QR codes, those square barcode looking things that were going to soon be everywhere, on everything, linking the physical world with web links. QRMyRide was a web app where the owner of a cool car created a profile of his car online and then placed his unique static window cling on his vehicle. When he parked his car at the grocery store, movie theatre, etc anyone could scan the QR code in his window and comment and rate his vehicle. I honestly still kind of like the idea.
Time Spent:
I didn't do any of the web app development, instead finding a developer friend of a friend to team with. I think it was about 4 months later that the site was up and running and I had purchased window cling, mailing envelopes, business cards, etc. I really didn't spend much time on it other than meeting with my developer partner a handful of times to check on progress and toss around ideas. I did go to 2 or 3 car shows where I hoped to gain some early adopters that would help spread the word. In the end I just couldn't get anyone willing to latch on to the idea and it ended up just fizzling out.
Money Spent:
I probably spent around $200 on domains, static window clings, shipping envelopes, business cards, etc.
Experience Positives:
It felt awesome to finally follow through on an idea and get it to the point where it was a functioning product. It was also encouraging to be able to convince a developer that this was an idea worth pursuing and getting him to join me in the venture.
Experience Negatives:
It's a real bummer not being able to convince people to try out your idea, even when you're willing to give it away for free. I felt like some more salesman skills really would have helped out in at least getting the project further along.
I'll have to summarize my other experiences in another blog post. This is the end of post #1.
