I am going to start an ISP
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So this topic is now going to turn a little business-y.
Best way to get funding. What is it? Basically assume that everybody around me is poor and cannot pitch in. What are the different types of investing along with each pros/cons?
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@bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:
Wow so we are just spoiled in Ohio.
Not something that you get to say very often.
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
So this topic is now going to turn a little business-y.
Best way to get funding. What is it? Basically assume that everybody around me is poor and cannot pitch in. What are the different types of investing along with each pros/cons?
Self Funding: Most dangerous, best returns.
Bank Loans: Very hard to get, lowers your returns.
Angels: Good luck
VCs: They own you and control everything. Your risk is low but your chance of success is lowered dramatically. -
@scottalanmiller said in I am going to start an ISP:
@bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:
Wow so we are just spoiled in Ohio.
Not something that you get to say very often.
LMAO, oh oh Ohio... I dont know how I ended up back here...
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@bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:
@scottalanmiller said in I am going to start an ISP:
@bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:
Wow so we are just spoiled in Ohio.
Not something that you get to say very often.
LMAO, oh oh Ohio... I dont know how I ended up back here...
I sold my house there this week. I'm free!
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@scottalanmiller said in I am going to start an ISP:
@bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:
@scottalanmiller said in I am going to start an ISP:
@bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:
Wow so we are just spoiled in Ohio.
Not something that you get to say very often.
LMAO, oh oh Ohio... I dont know how I ended up back here...
I sold my house there this week. I'm free!
I want to downvote this, this is the heart of it all! But yeah congrats lol.
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
So this topic is now going to turn a little business-y.
Best way to get funding. What is it? Basically assume that everybody around me is poor and cannot pitch in. What are the different types of investing along with each pros/cons?
There are a few ways to go here. We have financed build out rounds the same way we financed our original WISP startup. Get equipment for 100 subs, marketing and overhead covered for 6 months. At startup apply for an SBA loan so it will become available at the 6 month mark, that will carry you to 18 months.
Otherwise I would boot strap it if you plan to start small and be small for a long time.
Once you have 100 subs I know lots of people that would get behind a first series round to fund a build out.
It comes down to, do you have great credit? Do you have a truly great market with 500 sub potential?
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Car tags in Mississippi can range from about $25 to over $1,000 based on where you live and the value of the vehicle. I lived in the county when I bought my car new in 2013 and the tag was about $350. Had I lived inside my town's city limits, it would have been closer to $500-$550. My wife drives an '06 and her tag is around $30.
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I need to find a way of initially self-fund this company. Nobody around me is rich. My credit is not that great and I am starting from $0.
There is no point in fixing computers around me when you can just buy another $300 walmart special (man we are so wasteful). Small MSP has no money in it. I'm thinking of blogging/affiliate marketing in order to try to raise the money. Only problem is just about everybody and their dog has a blog (you see what I did there). Any other ideas?
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
I need to find a way of initially self-fund this company. Nobody around me is rich. My credit is not that great and I am starting from $0.
There is no point in fixing computers around me when you can just buy another $300 walmart special (man we are so wasteful). Small MSP has no money in it. I'm thinking of blogging/affiliate marketing in order to try to raise the money. Only problem is just about everybody and their dog has a blog (you see what I did there). Any other ideas?
A day job.
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@tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:
@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
I need to find a way of initially self-fund this company. Nobody around me is rich. My credit is not that great and I am starting from $0.
There is no point in fixing computers around me when you can just buy another $300 walmart special (man we are so wasteful). Small MSP has no money in it. I'm thinking of blogging/affiliate marketing in order to try to raise the money. Only problem is just about everybody and their dog has a blog (you see what I did there). Any other ideas?
A day job.
That just pays the bills for now.
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
@tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:
@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
I need to find a way of initially self-fund this company. Nobody around me is rich. My credit is not that great and I am starting from $0.
There is no point in fixing computers around me when you can just buy another $300 walmart special (man we are so wasteful). Small MSP has no money in it. I'm thinking of blogging/affiliate marketing in order to try to raise the money. Only problem is just about everybody and their dog has a blog (you see what I did there). Any other ideas?
A day job.
That just pays the bills for now.
There's always the path of Deuce Bigalow...
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
There is no point in fixing computers around me when you can just buy another $300 walmart special (man we are so wasteful).
It may seem wasteful from a material point of view, but the economics dictate this. If it costs me 3 hours to repair a $300 device, I am already in the hole.
So looking at the entire picture, I buy a device for $300. If all of my stuff is sync'd through a sync service, then it is way fucking cheaper to buy a new $300 device and just reattach my accounts than it is to pay someone 2+ hours to fix whatever is wrong with my existing device.
The only time repair should come into play is if data is not properly recoverable, meaning there was a failure to use that original device correctly.
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@jaredbusch said in I am going to start an ISP:
@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
There is no point in fixing computers around me when you can just buy another $300 walmart special (man we are so wasteful).
It may seem wasteful from a material point of view, but the economics dictate this. If it costs me 3 hours to repair a $300 device, I am already in the hole.
So looking at the entire picture, I buy a device for $300. If all of my stuff is sync'd through a sync service, then it is way fucking cheaper to buy a new $300 device and just reattach my accounts than it is to pay someone 2+ hours to fix whatever is wrong with my existing device.
The only time repair should come into play is if data is not properly recoverable, meaning there was a failure to use that original device correctly.
I'm not arguing with you one bit about this. I totally understand and agree with ya 100%.
I am just thinking of all of the electronic waste going to the landfills instead of being repurposed into something else, either by the consumer or a manufacturer.
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Update.
Looks like I have a potential investor. We've talked about numbers and the biggest concern they have is the monthly backhaul charges. They're thinking that we can negotiate the supplier down if we offer to pay for a year up front. They are doing more research to see how viable it is independent of my research, which I do not blame them for one bit. I know this person well enough that they are not going to steal my business idea, start their own, and leave me out in the cold.
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
Update.
I know this person well enough that they are not going to steal my business idea, start their own, and leave me out in the cold.
Maybe you are right. Everyone thinks this until they are proven wrong though
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This still moving forward?
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I've been mulling this one over long and hard. A couple of problems still in my way:
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Initial costs for 1st year startup. I can become profitable within 6 months if I quit this job and work solely on that, but coming up with the money upfront to get it up and going, getting customers, cash flow, etc, is a little daunting. There is an opportunity for me to receive a good investment if I can get one of the costs down. Haven't tackled that avenue yet. I need to get back on that.
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With Elon Musk's potential of Stars coming to fruition would just about put this project to bed within a couple of years. To me, there is a 50/50 chance of Stars coming into fruition, and, if it does, its going to still be a couple of years down the road. If it doesn't, or doesn't pan out to what I'm thinking it is going to be, then I still have a market to compete in.
Advice?
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@nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:
Initial costs for 1st year startup. I can become profitable within 6 months if I quit this job and work solely on that, but coming up with the money upfront to get it up and going, getting customers, cash flow, etc, is a little daunting. There is an opportunity for me to receive a good investment if I can get one of the costs down. Haven't tackled that avenue yet. I need to get back on that.
6 Month turn around! That's pretty amazing. Most SMBs never turn a profit and if they do it's several years down the road. Several people I've talked to say you should be prepared to not make a profit (and potentially not pay yourself) in the first 5 years.
