Advice needed

Hi,

As in every discussion there is always an out of framework post, not particularly related to other posts but a person asking needed to start somewhere so there you have it. This is that type of a post.

So I finally decided it is time to move on. I am not young enough to change the job and start all over with my 90' programming skills (like someone nicely phrased it in response to one of my previous posts here) and not old enough or should I say not arrogant enough to steal someones else's position in the company I currently work at. So I decided to start my own business. Since I've been in system administration and search engines for a while now and know a thing or two about it I decided to frame my business idea around it. However for that I need a financial injection and/or an access to a machine (hopefully not too expensive) where I can set up my Internet business. Since this is not a typical internet sales framework I cannot just set up a web site and start selling. I need a full unix/linux environment with ca. 100GB of disc space 4-8 cores 4-8 GB of RAM and an Internet domain. Is there any service that you know that can rent something like that? Second I never programmed any money transfer app. And have no idea how to do it right now so is there any perl module that can be used to do something like that? Or how do people setup something like that so a client can safely make a money transfer. Essential I need some basic first hand advice on how to start an online business. How to register it even if I am looking at some donation based system like here at perlmonks. I have been googling a lot about the subject but there are bunch of advices like

1. Have an Idea.
2. Register a company
3. Make a website
4. Make a gazillion dollars

Well maybe it is just me, but this is so vague that I cannot even begin to rationalize what the author meant or what was he/she thinking when writing something like that. So if there is anyone here that has some experience with it and willing to share I would gladly take some advice. (Positive or negative, both are welcomed)

cheers,

baxy

Comment on Advice needed

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Re: Advice needed by InfiniteSilence (Curate) on Jul 01, 2014 at 15:43 UTC
I don't get it. If you feel that you are not up to learning new skills/techniques, why in the world would you want to start an IT business? IT businesses are based on constantly learning new things. Heck, just from a security standpoint, you have to learn new things all of the time. I don't think you should focus on an IT business. I would recommend that, if you really want to be in business, that you focus on a different primary line of business and leverage your knowledge of IT to automate much of the operation. You will be more responsive to customer needs and you can use IT to create seamless integration with institutional buyers. Let's look at the food truck business for example. You have a food truck that drives around selling something like tacos. Right now these guys are using Twitter or some social media tool to tell their users where they are going to be. This is using computing and automation, but one can do better. Statistically speaking you can mine data to discover the best times of day to be at certain corners. You can target customers that love reheated tacos with a database. You can create a POS (point of sale) system with loyalty cards that offer discounts. Etc. etc. All this you can do at a fraction of the cost of a competitor because you are smart enough to hack open source and build your own servers from scratch. That would be my route. Celebrate Intellectual Diversity	[reply]
Re: Advice needed by AppleFritter (Vicar) on Jul 01, 2014 at 17:20 UTC
I need a full unix/linux environment with ca. 100GB of disc space 4-8 cores 4-8 GB of RAM and an Internet domain. Is there any service that you know that can rent something like that? Many hosters will offer preconfigured servers that you can rent on a monthly basis and for a monthly fee. You're from Croatia, right? I can't recommend any Croatian ones, but df.eu has a good reputation if you don't mind doing business with a foreign company.	[reply]
Re: Advice needed by perlfan (Vicar) on Jul 02, 2014 at 12:15 UTC
Get a job that provides free colocation. Seriously. Get some old Dell PowerEdges and an external disk array off of Craigslist or eBay, then go to town. Any service you pay to rent a machine or colo for you is going to be a rip off. The alternative is to use something like Linode or similar to start off small, and scale if if necessary. Try and do a niche version of your grand idea. The key is to test your ideas for as cheaply as possible and don't bleed cash for things you can do or arrange yourself. Good luck!	[reply]
Re: Advice needed by 1s44c (Scribe) on Jul 06, 2014 at 04:20 UTC
The server is easy. Hetzner,de are fairly cheap and have predictable costs. See http://www.hetzner.de/hosting/produkte_rootserver/ex40. If you don't need something so powerful there are many cheaper cloud services. You can buy domains from eurodns.com or gandi.net, I think both of them will let you use their DNS servers so you don't need your own. Servers and domain names are easy. What's your business plan?	[reply]
Re: Advice needed by sundialsvc4 (Abbot) on Jul 07, 2014 at 14:06 UTC
I am in polite, respectful agreement with InfiniteSilence on this one, I think. To put it extremely bluntly ... and hoping that you will take this in the manner intended: If you don’t know what you are doing – exactly what you’re doing – don’t do it. Don’t even begin to do it. “Being in business” is not a bed of roses, especially in IT. You need to start with a business plan, and then you need to get well-seasoned counsel to blow that plan completely out of the water ... two or three or twenty times ... until (and unless) you actually come up with something that is worth speculating money on. (Most especially yours.) Forget about “crowd-funding” or “donations,” etcetera. If you’ve got an idea worth investing in, and you can prove it to a skeptical audience, then “the money is there ... with strings attached.” (And if you were on the opposite side of that desk, looking to invest your own (or somebody else’s) money, you’d put plenty of strings there, too. You’d be brutally honest, ruthlessly demanding, and rich.) Until and unless that time comes, then I advise you to consider that you are “merely discontented” in your present job, but not necessarily prepared to embark upon creating a job for yourself. Certainly by the middle of the second paragraph I had “dissed” your idea completely, and I am quite sure that others would do the same. For the time being, continue doing what you know – get another conventional job, doing what you know, at somebody else’s company, so that you maintain a stable revenue-flow while you methodically explore and develop business opportunities. Dropping into the water without a damn good life-jacket is merely a recipe for drowning, and you surely won’t be the first “hopeful” to have done so. “A gadzillion dollars” is a cruel fantasy, and nothing more. Stay ashore. I’ve been in-business for twenty-two years. I have thousands of customers worldwide, but the gadzillion-dollars boat still hasn’t shown up at my dock, and I don’t expect it anytime soon. Forgive me for being blunt, and perhaps for being utterly and completely wrong. I would be delighted to be utterly wrong, but I would not gamble on it ... nor should you.
Re^2: Advice needed by Anonymous Monk on Jul 07, 2014 at 14:11 UTC
"If you don�t know what you are doing � exactly what you�re doing � don�t do it. Don�t even begin to do it" When will you begin to take your own advice?	[reply]