Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Well the problem is that they just aren`t that interested in talking about serious (in this case business) topics. I`m kind of the odd one `cause I think differently, plus I think I matured faster than them and perhaps even faster than my older brother!

With regards to the discussion group, that`s going to take longer `cause I`m going to have to find like-minded people which is kind of hard to come by here since everyone around me is still into the "we`re only young once" phase in their lives and thus prefer to avoid the aforesaid type of topics.

As for the older and more experienced people, they tend to be busier and are often unavailable so I can`t rely on them too much..


-------------------------

Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

Your initial question was a) how to start an interesting community, and b) how to get interesting people active in that community.

Yes, it will take work to form a discussion group, even with only 2 people. And it`ll mean going out into the world, talking, finding, seeking, searching, and all the standard things everyone does in life. :-) So...do it!

If you can`t find 1 other person of like mind, then you`ll stand little chance of building a community of those like-minded people. See? But you`ll certainly have a good chance of finding someone in the physical locality, rather than just putting up a forum and fishing for interesting, like-minded people on the Internet.

The other option is to begin with a blog, and open it up for commentary. That`ll find you one or two like-minded people, if they`re not already doing a blog. Your third option is to find a blog of someone like you, comment on theirs, and gradually open a dialog in the real world. :-)

All right, thanks for everyone`s suggestions! But now I have a new problem.

Let`s say I do get the website up and running and people flock to it. How do I assure my members that their ideas will not be stolen from them?

As we all know, a lot of people are reluctant to post their ideas and let the whole world see it even before he/she can act on it. No one wants their idea stolen, especially start-ups.

So how can I prevent this?

P.S. Sorry for the late post, I`ve been busy lately `cause I have this project that I`m managing.


-------------------------

Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

I can`t remember exactly the location, but there was an article about the most common reasons a startup fails. One of the most common is that the entrepreneur is so afraid someone is going to steal their idea!

Consider that if you give 10 different writers the same idea for a novel, you`ll get 10 very different stories. So too with any idea. If there`s an idea for a single product and it`s so unusual, most people ought to see how to hold back the "key" ingredient that would prevent it being taken prematurely.

I think the problem here is more about coming up with reasons (excuses?) to NOT proceed, rather than organizing a community about developing business. :-) There comes a point where "what if" becomes a sort of "diarrhea of the imagination." It`s time to rein it in and stop the "what ifs" at that point.

Begin with the first step. Don`t worry about having a site that`s huge and being flocked to until it happens. THEN you can worry about that, if it`s still a problem. :-)

For the record, the website construction has already been started; it started a week or 2 ago.

Thanks for all your inputs! I`ll be sure to contact you guys if ever I need help, you`ve all been great!


-------------------------

Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com