Imagination exercise: What Startup would you like to start up?

ALS Topic 2 Date: 19 February 2018 : Imagination exercise: What Startup would you like to start up?

Focus questions -

(feel free to add more focus questions) . Focus questions are not intended to push one viewpoint! You can adopt any position you wish. We actually like friendly disagreement - it can lead to deeper understanding. Note: clearly not all of these questions can be properly covered in a meetup, but they give us a conscious choice about what to talk about while making the background context clearer. It is up to the people who come on the day to choose what aspects they would like to deal with.

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Recommended reading: "What Percentage of Small Businesses Fail? (And Other Similar Stats You Need to Know)" [US figures] - https://www.fundera.com/blog/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail

1. Make a list of your objectives in starting a Startup.

2. What Startup would you like to start up? Why?

3. What is stopping you from starting this Startup?

4. How might you overcome the roadblocks to starting your Startup?

5. What kinds of people do you think are NOT suitable for starting a new business or other venture? Why?

6. The general failure rate of new businesses is fairly constant over the first 5 years (about 50%), though it varies with the industry. Why do you think you might succeed, or fail?

7. Running a business usually requires depending upon other people (employees, customers). How do you think this kind of dependence might shape your views about human behaviour, compared to (say) someone who just works in a big organization and collects a salary?

8. How do you think starting an enterprise that is a completly new concept might be different from starting a well known kind of business (e.g. a restaurant).

9. "Big risks mean big rewards" - how true is this? How many billionaires took bigger risks than the average small business startup?

10. What kinds of social, cultural and political environments are likely to best equip people to attempt startups? Why?

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1. All past topic questions are now listed at http://thormay.net/unwiseideas/DiscussionTopics/DiscussionIndex.htm

2. From another meetup I run for English learners, twenty-four sets of 10x questions (from Thor) designed for students of English as a Second Language are online at

http://thormay.net/lxesl/Discussion%20Topics/Adelaide%20ESL%20Meetup.htm

Comments:

A few links to help the discussion along:

1. How Adelaide became Australia's secret start-up city @ http://theupsider.com.au/alvin-fernandez-fashion-designer-aelkemi/2698

2. The 36-year-old who made $80m in three months with online flea market @ http://www.theage.com.au/business/world-business/the-36yearold-who-made-80m-in-three-months-with-online-flea-market-20171204-gzyqgg.html

3. Got a great idea? Turning it into a successful business won’t be easy, but these tips could help... @ https://www.theguardian.com/qantas-business-rewards-rewarding-australian-small-business/2018/feb/01/5-tips-for-starting-a-small-business

4. Need some extra dollars in your pocket? A 'side hustle' may be your solution @ https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/need-some-extra-dollars-in-your-pocket-a-side-hustle-may-be-your-solution-20171227-h0al7b.html

5. CBA wouldn't give Victoria Kluth a $500 credit card, now Araza is a $30 million business @ https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/small-business/cba-wouldnt-give-victoria-kluth-a-500-credit-card-now-araza-is-a-30-million-business-20171130-gzw44j.html

6. The millionaire inventor who drives a car run on fish and chip oil @ https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/the-millionaire-inventor-who-drives-a-car-run-on-fish-and-chip-oil-20171130-p4yxb1.html

7. Uber’s Growth and Dominance ‘Entirely Artificial,’ Says Expert @ http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2245610-ubers-growth-and-dominance-entirely-artificial-says-expert-2/

8. I don't like start-ups and here's why @ http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/small-business/trends/the-big-idea/i-dont-like-startups-and-heres-why-20170320-gv22iz.html

9. What Percentage of Small Businesses Fail? (And Other Similar Stats You Need to Know) @ https://www.fundera.com/blog/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fai l

10. Anthill Magazine @ http://anthillonline.com/category/topic/

11. Finimpact (2019) "Finimpact Survey" @ https://www.finimpact.com/smb-survey-2019/ [Quote: "Finimpact Research Team went ahead and decided to poll business owners with regard to their perspective on running a small business in the USA. The July 2019 survey was conducted on a large number of business owners to gain an understanding of what motivates their everyday decisions. Despite many complaints, it seems that small business owners are one of the most satisfied of all social classes. As it turned out, the reasons for the high levels of satisfaction are manifold ..."

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