Public Transit … an injection to the entrepreneur spirit

A startup online video producer wanted to attend a 1 Million Cups  meeting with me. At these meetings a couple entrepreneurs are featured each week to talk about their business ventures. 

I had been talking to him about the benefits of using public transit so I suggested he meet me there. He said he could ride his bike to get on Line 9, transfer to Line 2. Then he could get off just a half of a block from the meeting location. Afterwards, he could go back on Line 2 which goes by his new office (of which he worked out a deal with the owner of the office space trading video services for use of the space.)

I was telling him how using public transit can make a difference in getting a business idea off the ground. Here’s a few things I pointed out to him.

1. Keep overhead costs down. Do the math. It costs less to use public transit than using a personal automobile. Let your wife use the car to get to work, and you follow the walk, bike, bus combo plan. It keeps living expense down by not having to pay for and maintain two cars.

2. Stay unnoticed. In the beginning stages, as you work to establish a good track record, staying unnoticed is important. Fly under the radar for a while so you can build things up. Some make the mistake of going overboard in talking about their business. Talk less, do more, and be discovered by how well you do your business.  On the bus you can remain unnoticed. By blending with regular folks, you stay humble and keep working diligently.  

3. It gives you time to think. I get many ideas while on the bus. I am not distracted by traffic issues I have to deal with while driving myself. It’s good to have think time, solve problems, have a place where ideas pop up. The bus provides you that opportunity. I get many solutions to things or get ideas while riding.

Physical exercise is good. By using the bus he walks more, and with his bike he is getting the blood flow that refreshes the brain (helping to subdue stresses of the day and remaining calm while thinking through issues of his business). To make his business work, keeping costs down, staying unnoticed, and thinking, creative-thinking time contribute a great deal to the entrepreneur mind.  The bus is a unique strategic option for stimulating the entrepreneur spirit.

In all things it is important to stay humble, be frugal and cultivate the innovative spirit by looking at things from different perspectives.  A danger we face is to be too pre-occupied with our life and lose sight of what is going on in the lives of those around us.

Here’s a new book about how to get an idea, product, company up and going by Lori Greiner of Shark Tank.

http://spiritsavvybiz.blogspot.com/2014/05/invent-it-sell-it-bank-it-visionaries.html

Invent It, Sell It, Bank It.

…..

A city bus terminal … a city’s cultural intersection

This week I had the privilege of sitting in on an informational gathering session in prelude to an architectural firm designing a new bus terminal. The firm was seeking community preferred interests for a terminal’s function and design.

After hearing viewpoints from many aspects of a city’s functions, organizations and rider interest groups, I sent a response email to the session’s facilitator. As I was writing the email, I realized I was expressing a philosophical position for city public transit. So I decided to post the core of the letter as it has relevance to any city’s culture and a desire to build a healthy, vibrant lifestyle in a community. Below:

To summarize my views, as a city bus passenger for the last couple years, I have a cultural mission in what I do. Which is...  transit within its operating practices and services can affect a community beyond the functional service it provides to revive it, make it stronger, and stimulate economic and sociological advancement.

Some may see it as a service for the poor, disadvantaged, down and outer way to get around. In my view, the general culture of our community would benefit from more cross-cultural interaction.

A bus transfer facility could enhance this. The struggling, less influential culture could be positively affected by those who have established, comfortable lifestyles. A quality facility, physically attractive as well as functional, could attract the more accomplished person who would lend to a balanced blend of people connecting daily. This intermingling presence alone would have positive impact on a culture as a whole.

So I see the terminal as a key cog to facilitate this. Also, a quality environment would bring the self-image up of those who use transit as their sole method of getting around… being bus patrons who are part of something the community sees as a positive center piece of community activity. It can be an attractive gathering place blending a city's cultures, promoting better community understanding, and nourishing a community's heart of well being.

From this perspective, it is a key to creating long-term, significantly positive impact on a community.

Lesson learned: one part affects how all parts work… each affects all the others. Maybe that’s why Jesus prayed may they be One as We are One. A chord in a piano out of tune makes the whole piano sound out of tune. All in tune with each other can make music very pleasing to the ear.

…...