Micro-business folk build their businesses with spare parts, odds-and-ends and stuff they have on-hand. They “MacGyver” their businesses. If you don’t know who MacGyver is, that’s really a bummer for you. He’s only the coolest, most clever action hero ever conceived by Hollywood – except for Aquaman. If MacGyver had ever tired of saving the world, he would’ve made an excellent micro-businessman.
Toward the end of the nineteen eighties and through the early nineteen nineties, MacGyer saved the world countless times using only his Swiss Army Knife and whatever junk he could pull together in a pinch. A prototypical MacGyver episode would find secret agent Angus MacGyver facing imminent nuclear annihilation. Then, he turns to his cohorts just as everyone starts to panic and say something like:
“Wait a minute. I have any idea. Does anyone have a fountain pen, some duct tape and a kazoo?”
With these meager instruments of salvation, MacGyver would thwart the bad guys and save everyones’ hide.
I’m on Lanai diving, again. My good buddy would like to cut back on his hours at work and start something of his own. He’s already added a third paycheck to his family income by setting up part of his house as a bed and breakfast. That’s paying for his son’s college education. Now, he’d like to replace some of his regular income with more micro-business income.
He’s thinking of starting an adventure camp for dudes who need to lose a few pounds. We’ve noticed that we all lose weight when we come to the island because of all the hiking, hunting, scuba diving, fishing, kayaking and swimming we do while we’re here. What would it take to expand his B&B into a full-blown health and fitness camp with a healthy measure of outdoor adventure thrown into the mix?
Initially, Steve was tempted to invest big. He could buy a dive boat, build a ropes challenge course, add on to his home and load up on paintball gear. There is a certain allure in going deluxe, right from the beginning. Instead, Steve and his wife Jane are figuring out what they can do with the stuff they have on-hand. Steve knows a guy who’d rent him used kayaks. The guests could dive off of those AND get a good workout at the same time. Also, Steve has a zodiac sitting around gathering dust that he can borrow to act as a support craft. By cutting a deal with his employer, he can take the guests bow hunting as part of the adventure. Also, he used to work for the local scuba outfit and he thinks they’d give him a great deal on tanks and equipment. He already owns a truck and a minivan that he includes for rent with his B&B. With a little legwork, he could start this thing right now without a dime of up-front investment in operations!
That’s a good thing, because it’d allow him to let his marketing be priority number one. He’s thinking about how he can hit his target market of overweight, adventure-seeking outdoorsmen. Since he’ll have no other up-front costs, he can spend a little bit of money on several approaches to marketing his micro-business.
Any ideas for Steve about where and how to advertise?
