BOP and stuff
After another day of sitting around and not really doing all that much, I’ve come to the conclusion that relying on other people to provide you with work is kind of like sitting around with your mouth open, hoping that something will fall in there, preferably food, but the fact of the matter is that even when something does go in there, it’s probably going to be something more akin to bird shit, so you aren’t going to want it anyway. I guess that’s just my overly optimistic view of things.
Recently I just finished reading the book Small Giants, by Bo Burlingham. It was an interesting book that went through about 10 businesses that were small and were kept small by the conscious decision of their proprietors. I found it interesting and actually quite heartwarming at times when they would describe the various acts of the entrepreneurs and their efforts to reward employees and to run their business in a way that would be the best for both profit and for the workers that were employed there. Reading about these various companies and their amazingly strong corporate cultures really make me look at the company that I work for and realize how little culture actually pervades into the workers. Seeing as how there is so little interaction between “team” members, except perhaps those on projects, I don’t really feel that there is any recognizable culture, even if they do constantly try to bring to light that there “supposedly” is a set culture. It’s kind of like saying “I have personality!” and then going silent…just hoping that people believe you. Either way, the book made me realize that eventually, once I have gotten to a point where I can start my own business, creating and following up with the philosophy that gets set is going to be an important key to creating a successful company. I totally recommend this book, it’s well worth the time it takes to read the 250 pages.
In addition to my reading of the Small Giants book, I’ve also started to get Entrepreneur magazine. Every little thing that I read about starting up a business just makes me really want to go crazy and just jump into it. I know that I can’t possibly start anything right now, seeing as how I don’t want to remain in New York City for any length of time, but it still got me thinking a little bit more about different types of businesses that I could run. One thing that came to mind that is kind of a business anomaly is a BOP (Brew on Premises). What it is, is a shop that you can go to where all the ingredients are provided to you so that you can make your own beer. They provide everything you need and the guidance necessary, and off you go. You come back two weeks later to bottle your beer and bam, you have 6 cases of premium homebrew. While this seems to me, someone that homebrews, to be a great and excellent idea, it has failed to be successful all over the country. Currently, there are around 41 (according to beeradvocate.com) BOPs in the United States, so that’s not very many. Pending on where Laura and I end up (hopefully Austin) I will definitely have to look into opening up some sort of BOP/Brewpub/Bar type establishment.
One o the major problems with a BOP is that I can’t really imagine that it would be all that profitable, and having a solid source of income is something that is fairly important to me, so I may end up looking into some other sort of industry. There are thousands of them out there, and seeing as how I have around a year to look into it, I plan on spending a bit of time in the coming months looking into various ideas that I come across.
Today, Laura found out that there are openings at her job. While I just started my job, I had her submit my resume anyway. Yes, I know that it’s not the best idea to leave your job after only 4 months, but at the same time, I could probably finagle a 7K raise, along with getting to work from home and not having the risk of long term travel that I am currently facing. The other huge benefit is that once Laura finds out where she is going to be going to Law School, we can move immediately, thus ridding us of the discontent that comes with living in New York City. Hopefully, in the next few days, we will hear something back from Laura’s job in terms of their interest in speaking to be about a position there, and if not, then I will continue to go about my currently boring existence.