I'll Try to Create a Business that Generates $2,000 Per Month

Even before I read The 4-Hour Workweek, I knew that Tim Ferriss was a kindred spirit.  What is the Lazy Business Owner, if not a guide to reduce the amount of time you spend on a successful business?  On top of that, Tim recommends the use of automated systems and processes to create this low-maintenance business.  He calls this type of income-supporting business a "muse".  How easy would it be for me to create this hands-off, web-based business to provide extra income?  And if I can create a muse once, how about multiple times, each providing streams of new income?

My Background 

The book (rightly so), is focused on a general population and provides in-depth details on how to go about coming up with an idea, testing the idea, and implementing the idea.  Some of the details, such as marketing the products, are glossed over but he provides excellent resources on how to learn more about the topics.  As someone who has been involved with most of the components of starting a muse for several years, I thought that I would be a good candidate to see if I can successfully create a muse.  Because if I can't create a successful Pay-Per-Click campaign and I'm certified as an Adwords specialist, isn't it going to be pretty difficult for someone else?  I know there are other things I could do wrong like not choosing a good product or other operational issues, but these are the same mistakes other people can make.  I have multiple inherent advantages in that I have been around the industry enough to know what I'm doing.

What also makes me good is that I haven't created a Muse before.  I have only worked in service related businesses and not chosen a product to sell online before.  So I won't be able to draw on experience of creating a successful business.

Finally (and this is most important), I have always wanted to try something like this.  There have been several ideas floating around for the past year or two but I have been so busy with other projects, I haven't had the time to work on what really is a side project.  But hey, if it works, why not create 10 different muses and run that as a separate business entirely?  I know that would require more than a 4-Hour Workweek but remember, I still would like to build up successful businesses, not just extra income sources. 

My Muse(s)

Our company has worked with a furniture company for several years on different online-based projects.  We have always talked about setting up an online store for them but they have been too busy with other projects to get it going.  But they do have a reseller arrangement in which they could distribute some of their products, along with other items that they sell.  They have some good classical office furniture (like desks) but that is too saturated to work well for my project.  They also have some more niche products like computer carts, and different office accessories that are worth pursuing.  

There is actually another Muse that I am building as well but I think it's a small enough niche that I'm not quite prepared to share it just yet.  I'll provide the results of that as well but won't provide as much detail to it at this point. 

No Testing at This Point

I thought about doing some testing, but in all honesty, it would be much easier to test out the muse with real products.  I have already contracted out a very good Yahoo Design Firm to build the stores and provided them details on what exactly I'm looking for (by creating a mock-up with the features I wanted).  One of the important things I did before creating the mock-ups was coming up with a Purple Cow idea (based off of Seth Godin's book).  I don't want to have something like JimsFurnitureStore.com so I created a twist, a bit of a marketing angle.  This was actually something that I first learned from the Surfing Guru on one of the projects that we worked on together.  

I Will Keep You Updated

I created a list of the steps that I need to complete (about 20 of them) to make these Muses come alive.  I've gotten through some of them already and will provide you updates as I go.  I should be getting the design back soon and I will start adding products shortly thereafter.  Remember, I'm a Lazy Business Owner so I don't want to spend too much time on this.  I provide the ideas and then Outsource Everything. 

I've probably spent about 10 hours total so far on these projects and don't plan to spend too much more.  I've also spent $2750 on the 2 web site designs and Yahoo programming for them.   I hope to be earning $2,000 per month by the end of the year (hopefully sooner) and be profitable in month one. 

My project to create a muse is not affiliated with Tim Ferriss or The 4-Hour Workweek.  I think it's a great book and strongly recommend that anyone who wants to be a Lazy Business Owner read it.  I will probably share the results of my project with Tim after it's completed, but based on the amount of publicity he is getting from the book, I'm not sure I'll get much of a response.