Welcome to the Darkside!

Well, I've finally taken the leap... a little over a week ago, I took the plunge and bought my first Mac. It was not a decision to be entered into lightly. Of course, the creative side of me has been salivating over Macs for quite some time... however, having worked in the enterprise space, I've been subjected to endless advice from the IT departments about why Macs are just not a good fit for the business world. When you filter that advice with the thought of an IT department looking at a machine that seldom breaks down or attracts a virus, it's easy to see how self preservation sets in for corporate America. Also, in today's economic environment, it's easy to see why the pricetag drives away a lot of folks doing the financial decision making. 

However, as an entrepreneur starting a new venture, I'm at a place to be able to determine the platform my business is going to run on. So, after much over-analyzing, and posing the question to my online community of Facebook & Twitter, I took all the input and caved to my own selfish desire to go against the grain. 

So far, I haven't really run into any of the dreaded roadblocks that are supposedly waiting for me in the non-pc world. Granted, it's a bit of a pain to have to re-learn all of the short cuts on the Mac that were second nature on the pc... but in the end, I'm finding the output to be far superior on the Mac. 

Also, as the entrepreneur in a new venture, I would just as soon have the genius bar as my IT department for a while. :-)

I am, however, still interested in hearing further input on this whole Mac vs PC battle. Especially since, I don't think the battlefield is finished being developed. Both Macs & PC makers have taken great steps toward gaining a second look from past die-hards. Mac has really stepped up their business application toolkit, and with the parallel windows option, it's hard to imagine why a Mac wouldn't be a fit in any situation. However, with the current price consciousness in the marketplace, it's becoming more difficult for Apple to maintain that Total Cost of Ownership over time is similar to that of a PC. Especially with Netbooks starting at around $200, there's really not a comparable "basic" alternative for a business to outfit it's workstations.  

What are your thoughts on this whole debate?

Entrepreneurs Can Change the World

Check out this re-branding of a company called Grasshopper. Simply brilliant!

This commercial was followed by the company (Grasshopper) sending via FedEx, 5000 chocolate covered grasshoppers! Check out http://Grasshopper.com/inthenews to see the reaction they got.

Are you CRAZY?! Starting a Business in Today's Market

It seems like anytime an entrepreneur decides to launch out on their own, there's no shortage of folks to inquire about the mental health of said entrepreneur. However, in today's economy, it seems like this sentiment is on hyper-drive!

The good news is, when the time is right, these challenges serve to strengthen your resolve, and spur you on to finish what you've started. Also, because there is power in the words we say, the more we speak the vision, the more real it becomes and the more folks get behind it.

I've linked to a post on the CSO Online blog on this very premise... if the idea is good, the time is right to launch a company. It offers insights from several entrepreneurs that have successfully launched in tough times.

Here's some nuggets from the post to consider for those of you thinking of or in the middle of a startup right now...

• "when the going gets tough, the posers go home" Doug Camplejohn, Mi5 Founder & serial entrepreneur
• "It's not about the externalities. It is really about believing in ourselves and the validity of the technology" Aaron Turner, Co-Founder of RFinity on the premise that if the product has promise for profit, it will find a way to market.

Also, I was recently meeting with one of the top executives of Administaff to discuss Collaboration Insights. While we were meeting, he reminded me that Administaff started during a terrible economic environment in 1986. We now know that it has since gone on to create the PEO market.

Please share some of your favorite "insight" received in response to starting your own business.

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