“Josh, what in the world do you do all day?”

“I wish I worked for myself.”

“So what exactly are you guys creating?”

These are some of the questions that I get on a daily basis. Friends are often jealous of the fact that I took the plunge to “work” for myself. It doesn’t “feel” like work to me. Some people say that is because we’re a startup and haven’t made a dollar yet. That may be partly true. However, the key I’ve found; is it’s hard to feel like it’s work when it’s something you’re passionate about.

One of the easiest pitches we’ll ever have to make is the fact that we officiate and we’re building a tool that we will use. Which means we won’t ever get complacent about improving and adding to this web application!

It is fun working for yourself. However, it’s also challenging because the main focus is generating that revenue instead of waiting for a paycheck every two weeks. I actually see myself as extremely lucky. I get to work with some of my best friends and build a product that is going to make my love for officiating easier to execute.

In fact this is how terrific my job is. I’m currently sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings in Plainfield, IN watching the Butler game. Ah, what a life…

Our mission here at IndianaStartup.com is to not only help entrepreneurs and startups by providing useful information from all of our guest bloggers – we want to get the word out about why Indiana is a great place to start a business (see tag line at top of screen).  One of the questions I have been asking each of our featured startups is “In your opinion, what makes Indiana a great place to start a business?”  Lots of people around this state have opinions on this topic – but really – who knows better than the people that are in the trenches.  I have included a summary post below of all the responses we have received to date.  Have something to add?  Leave a comment!

“In your opinion, what makes Indiana a great place to start a business.”

The people in Indiana—especially central Indiana—are wonderful. They are intelligent, hard-working, and proud of their state. They want to turn central Indiana into a hot spot of entrepreneurial activity, and they’re passionate about that goal. These people are the reason why the entrepreneurial community here is growing so rapidly. Another thing that makes Indiana a great place to start a business is the limited amount of government interference. Bigger governments in other areas can make starting and growing a business more difficult than it has to be.    - Matthew Barloh, Sales and Marketing Manager, Giggil.com

Indiana’s startup culture is beginning to gain national recognition. We have a history of creating some great online marketing and software companies. There is a lot of talent, and because the startup scene is still relatively small, the competition for that talent is not as great as it is in other areas.  - James Paden, Founder, Emailium.com

Indiana has a very active tech community. We’ve seen it with groups like the newly rechristened “Verge” and with Indianapolis Startup Weekends. Additionally, there are communities in Indiana that are interested in bringing in new businesses and are willing to help. We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with the city of Shelbyville, who wants to bring more tech jobs to their area and have funds budgeted for economic development. Communities like Shelbyville are becoming more proactive in bringing in jobs and it makes this a great place to start a business. – Andrew Morin, Cofounder, LifeShare Technologies

I love Indiana. I have started several companies here (from lawn care to .com’s to a real estate company) and enjoy the people, low cost of doing business, and opportunities. – David Hosei, Founder, eFamily.com

Indiana is a wonderful state, full of interesting people and strong demographics. As a marketer, Indianapolis serves the purpose of “concept” testing very well and is ideal for an endeavor such as launching your own online business. More specifically, the city of Indianapolis, has provided a great opportunity for profitability and growth for Snappening.com for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being its pending spotlight associated with the 2012 Super Bowl. While investment has slowed or stopped elsewhere in the country, the Indianapolis region continues to flourish to meet the demands of its industries. The ten-county region surrounding Indianapolis is literally “raising the game” with its high-profile event preparations. The most noteworthy of these preparations being the multi-billion dollar investments in new event facilities such as the Indiana Convention Center’s expansion (moving Indy from the 32nd to 16th largest meeting facility option in the nation) and the construction of the new JW Marriott.  Indianapolis has nowhere to go but up in our nation’s meeting and event industry profile, and we certainly want to be part of a collective effort to make this process the best it can be. Being a Hoosier native myself, I couldn’t think of any other place I’d rather start that right here at home. – Crystal Grave, Founder, Snappening.com

If I have learned anything in this process, it is that Indiana is just wide open for so many opportunities. There are many businesses that are absolutely booming in bigger cities that have not come to Indy, and I have also found that people are just so supportive of local business. Indy has a lot of great resources and a population that wants to see our city on the cutting edge. Tiffany Schutt, Cofounder, PrettyIndy.com

I’ve never seen anywhere as open to networking as Indiana and specifically Indianapolis. Also, once you’ve found a great networking group that meets the necessary requirements (same target audience, sales cycles, etc) they actually begin to work FOR you and with you to help you grow your business faster than you’d ever be able to alone. John Cannon, Founder, MyCarDoc

Indiana…like any place in the United States is a great place to start a business. That’s what I love about this country. We don’t live in a caste system. There are no limits to what you can do if you are willing to work for it. The United States is fertile ground for entrepreneurs. – Mike Reed, Cofounder, Guardian Tracking

Indiana is a great place to start a business for the simple fact of the incredible amount of support and network opportunities available to entrepreneurs throughout the state. I firmly believe that once a startup begins networking they will find that we have a small town “everyone knows everyone” environment. – Josh Koch, Cofounder, TheTyros.com

Today’s featured startup is Giggil.com, a startup with a simple yet brilliant business model – they take your used stuff and sell it online for you (right now just books, CDs, DVDs and video games – but I am guessing they won’t stop there).  Despite how prevalent selling used goods online has become, there are lots of people and organizations out there that either don’t have the time, the inclination, or the know-how to sell their stuff online.  Others just are no good at (me for one).  Plus there is more to selling books online than posting an ad on craigslist – at least if you want to be successful doing it.  The price needs to be right, the proper online marketplace needs to be identified, the books needs to be properly described…etc.  Giggil does this and more – streamlining the whole process.  Giggil is yet another example of innovative central Indiana entrepreneurs identifying a niche (a HUGE niche, right in plain site, that everyone else seems to have missed), and figuring out a way to commercialize it. I can’t wait to see where they take it next.

Tell us about your startup…your words…whatever you want to say.

Selling used goods online is broken. It is complex and convoluted, and it has left many people feeling confused and discouraged. Giggil decided we were going to do more than just simplify the process, we were going to improve it. In May 2009, Giggil took our first strides towards improvement by creating an easy, environmentally conscious alternative to selling online. Right now, Giggil is an online consignment shop for books, CDs, DVDs, and video games. We help individuals and organizations make more money with almost no effort by marketing and selling their books and media online for them

How did you come up with concept for your business, and how/when did the business model for that concept become clear?

The founders of Giggil wanted a business that could be profitable, and ultimately become national or global in scope. The founders also wanted to start small and without a lot of fundraising. Most importantly, the founders wanted a business that could change the world in a positive way. The trick was finding a big idea on which the business could grow once it had become cash flow positive. To determine which business met all those requirements, the founders debated hundreds of ideas, and the idea for Giggil came out on top

What made you first believe that starting a business is right for you (i.e. as opposed to working for someone else)

Giggil’s CEO likes to joke that brain damage in his childhood made him want to start businesses, but really I think it’s his ability to recognize opportunities for change in the world, and develop businesses that take advantage of those opportunities. When someone has the ability to recognize opportunities like that, the decision to start and grow a business probably comes naturally.

What challenges have you encountered?

We wanted to begin by selling all types of used goods online, but we had to sacrifice that desire in order to perfect our model and build a foundation for rapid future growth. So, we decided to start by selling just books and media. We’re glad we decided to start that way, but we’re excited to ultimately move into all types of used goods.

We’ve also had to sacrifice time and energy. Building a business is thrilling, especially for a great company like Giggil, but it requires a lot of dedication. Most of us work 60-80 hours a week, if not more than that, just to grow the business as quickly as possible.

In your opinion, what makes Indiana a great place to start your business?

The people in Indiana—especially central Indiana—are wonderful. They are intelligent, hard-working, and proud of their state. They want to turn central Indiana into a hot spot of entrepreneurial activity, and they’re passionate about that goal. These people are the reason why the entrepreneurial community here is growing so rapidly. Another thing that makes Indiana a great place to start a business is the limited amount of government interference. Bigger governments in other areas can make starting and growing a business more difficult than it has to be.

If you could give an entrepreneur looking to start a business one piece of advice…what would it be?

Value each and every customer very deeply. Your customers will be the lifeblood of your business; without them, your business will wither and die. So, it’s not enough to simply act like you care about your customers; you must really care about them and their success, because when they succeed, you will too. At the same time, monitor your customer acquisition costs and try to keep them as low as possible.

Stat Sheet:  Giggil.com

• Website:  www.giggil.com
• Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/giggil
• When was the business founded: May 2009
• Twitter: @Giggil
• Business Description in 140 Characters or less:  Giggil markets used books and media for you online. No matter who you are, you can use Giggil to generate more cash easier than ever before.

Ah, a nice break does the mind good. I’ve been off a couple of weeks. But now I’m back. We’ll do 10 installments of this blog and then we’ll pick a new topic.

As this blog evolves I look forward getting to know some of the readers. Please feel free to comment. It seems like I run across people daily who read this blog. I guess I say all of that to say this, let’s get to know each other!

These past couple weeks have been terrific. We’ve had a lot of great meetings. Some expected, some not expected. If you want to know how glamorous running a start-up is I’m currently writing this blog while watching Home Improvement. Ah, what a life!

We’re learning by leaps and bounds as everyday passes. Something we are implementing is called StrengthFinder 2.0

This is a book we will require all employees to read and the test at the end of the book accurately depicts a persons top 5 strengths. We will then know who to pair with who when completing tasks or projects. This will allow us to focus on employees strengths and grow that culture that we always preach about.

Until next week…Go Michigan!

Today we profile a tech startup that personifies the thing that fascinates be about tech startups and their founders – Emailium.com.  I consider myself a relatively tech savvy person as far as non-developer types go – but the ideas and niches some of tech startup guys identify (and to an extent create) are just amazing.  I would have never guessed that a need existed for Emailium.com, but after talked to James, and seeing his answers below, it seems obvious there is a need for something like this.  Mark James down as another tech startup junkie that Indy is lucky to have.

Tell us about your startup…your words…whatever you want to say.

Email marketing campaigns are hidden behind a subscription wall and stuck in the inbox. There’s no way to look at the history and no way to find campaigns except to search for campaigns you’ve subscribed to by date or sender. For most people, this isn’t a problem, but for email marketers, it’s a huge problem. Emailium is a big database of email marketing campaigns that solves this problem. Emailium allows email marketers to easily spy on the competition, fight designers’ block and analyze email marketing trends. For example, if you’re working on Christmas email design for your company or client, you can easily use Emailium to look at last year’s Christmas campaigns and find a lot of great design ideas.

Emailium is currently in a free beta period so anyone can sign up and give it a try. After we’ve completed a few additional features, we’ll start requiring a monthly subscription to use the service. I’d love any feedback on the service or functionality from IndianaStartup readers!

What made you first believe that starting a business is right for you (i.e. as opposed to working for someone else)

I’ve believed that I’m an entrepreneur before I could even spell entrepreneur. It’s just ingrained in my personality.

What challenges have you encountered?

I’ve been bootstrapping Emailium with only a small angel investment. It is definitely a financial sacrifice.

In your opinion, what makes Indiana a great place to start your business?

Indiana’s startup culture is beginning to gain national recognition. We have a history of creating some great online marketing and software companies. There is a lot of talent, and because the startup scene is still relatively small, the competition for that talent is not as great as it is in other areas.

If you could give an entrepreneur looking to start a business one piece of advice…what would it be?

Stop talking. Stop reading. Stop networking. Build something, today.

Stat Sheet:  Emailium,LLC

• Website:  www.emailium.com
• The People: James Paden, Founder
• When was the business founded: 2009
• Twitter: @emailium
• Business Description in 140 Characters or less:  Emailium is a big database of email marketing campaigns, allowing email marketers to spy on the competition and find design inspiration.

Today we take a break from the tech startup scene – and profile a more traditional startup business – Just For You Senior Services, LLC.

Tell us about your startup…your words…whatever you want to say.

Just for You is a licensed personal care agency by the State of Indiana Department of Health, Acute Care Division. We offer unique solutions to the aging population and their families by assisting with the various stages of aging and helping them cope with the difficulties and related stress. Our services consist of personal care, downsizing assistance, moving, housekeeping, home chores and repair, transportation / errands and much more. In addition to the services we offer a line of senior center products to enable seniors to remain independent in their own home.

We completed our market research and reviewed other segments but all the data pointed towards the elderly / senior market. With this data in hand we decided to develop a senior related business model. Since this type of business is regulated by the State of Indiana our start-up was a learning process concerning rules and regulations. We have started and own other businesses and knew what to expect in that regards but the senior market is somewhat different.

What challenges have you encountered?

Once we completed our research it was clear to us what market segment we should target. With the substantial growth of the senior population over the next several years and the lack of presence in the market it was a clear choice. In order to set ourselves apart we offer unique solutions to the most common issues facing the elderly and their families. We remain flexible and listen to our clients; offering what they require at an affordable price.

What made you first believe that starting a business is right for you (i.e. as opposed to working for someone else)?

I spent several years in the automotive industry which was a great learning experience and sometime rather rewarding but always wanted more. During the last two years of my 21 year automotive career I often found myself thinking of other opportunities and what I would do if I didn’t work here. While still working in automotive I received my MBA which truly opened my eyes to the possibilities of venturing out on my own. I have owned a human resource consulting and outsourcing company for the past two years and cannot imagine every going back to the daily grind of manufacturing. With the addition of the senior service company and with its possibilities, I am extremely confident that I made the right decision.

What challenges have you encountered?

Like most small start-up companies we struggled with financing. In the beginning it is very important to watch every penny and make every penny count.

What sacrifices have you made to start your business?

With every dream or anything worthwhile, there is trade-offs. As the owner you must be willing to give up more than you thought you would. For example; the security of a steady income and benefits, normal work hours, deferring problems to someone else, departments and possibly family time. To be successful you must have thick skin, be a problem solver, be willing to take ownership for everything, possess the drive to work hard to succeed and a great support group.

If you could give an entrepreneur looking to start a business one piece of advice…what would it be?

Do your homework; you can never be too prepared. Have a great support group who is willing to be candid and honest. Stay positive at all costs, this is your business and you cannot build it if you do not believe in it. Always remember who the client is and treat them with respect and understanding. Lastly, have more capital than you think you will need.

Stat Sheet:  Just for You – Senior Services, LLC

• Website:  www.justforyouss.com
• The People: Chris Kane, President/CEO
• When was the business founded: 2010\

Blessed. Not a complete sentence, but should be. How incredible the feeling to simply feel…well…blessed.

The team was talking last night and reflecting on the many months of work we’ve already put in. We mentioned the names of people who have been there for us, who are currently there for us, and whom we will meet in the future. These people range from a CEO to a waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings. Lucky, nah…blessed.

You see Kyle & I are from very small towns. I have around 1200 people in the town I grew up. However, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family where they always put pride in making yourself better. I knew I was going to be involved in something great from childhood.

We have met some amazing people throughout this journey and I’m going to use yet another forum to let you know about them.

Steve Fero (www.careersolutionsindy.com)-we can’t tell you thanks enough for inviting us to present at the Columbia Club on November 23rd, 2010. Your positive energy and guidance has been so helpful to us. We can’t explain how huge it was that you introduced us to the opportunity in Shelbyville.

Jeremy King (www.flashpointhr.com)-you have been a huge voice and positive influence for us. Thank you again for everything, for hosting our party, believing in us, and for helping us get connected to some great people.

The City of Shelbyville-The Hack Attack, you are the best and that’s just a fact. Look it up on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is terrific, it’s a website where literally anybody can put facts on there so you know it’s all true!

Mayor Furgeson (the only true Fergie)-Thank you for your support, and we look forward to representing the city.

Kenan Farrell (www.klflegal.com)-what can we say? You have been right with us, promoting us, connecting us, and walking with us every step of the way.

Brian Powers (www.bvplegal.com and www.indianastartup.com)-thank you for believing in us and giving us the opportunity to have you work with us. We feel extremely lucky to have both you and Kenan.

To any aspiring entreprenuer out there reading please, as cliche, as it sounds count your blessings. It’s the people that believe in you early that you know are authentic.

Today we profile another Indiana tech startup – LifeShare Technologies.   These guys have a novel and gutsy concept – take the communications tools of choice for today’s youth (email, sms, social media) – and get them in front of and used by aging members of the population via the television.  If you think about how prevalent those forms of communication have become – it only makes sense to try facilitate their use by older segments of the population.  I can already envision getting a text from my grandmother (delivered from her TV to my iPhone) asking me to bring her over some cat food.  Thanks LifeShare!  It is worth noting that LifeShare just this week inked a deal with the City of Shelbyville, complete with some hefty incentives, to become the first tenant at the Intelliplex business incubator.  Congrats Lifeshare!

Tell us about your startup…your words…whatever you want to say.

As family members age, it can become more difficult to stay in touch with them. Our lives are moving at an ever-increasing pace, and our methods of communication are constantly evolving. LifeShare technologies aims to encourage and simplify communication by allowing us to use those methods with which we’re most familiar – email, SMS, social networking, etc – while enabling the aging population to receive those message using a medium with which they are comfortable – the television. Our service aggregates these forms of communication, as well as other content such as news articles, and presents them to subscribers in a simple to use television-based interface.

What challenges have you encountered?

We are venturing into a market we have not worked in previously, which presents a challenge. Understanding your market is key, because the product you eventually sell rarely matches the concept you initially come up with – it has to evolve to meet the needs of the consumer. If you don’t have a full grasp on what your market needs, that evolution becomes difficult. We’ve learned so much already about both aging care and family communications, and that process is going to continue. Being as agile as possible with your product’s features and focus is key.

In your opinion, what makes Indiana a great place to start your business?

Indiana has a very active tech community. We’ve seen it with groups like the newly rechristened “Verge” and with Indianapolis Startup Weekends. Additionally, there are communities in Indiana that are interested in bringing in new businesses and are willing to help. We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with the city of Shelbyville, who wants to bring more tech jobs to their area and have funds budgeted for economic development. Communities like Shelbyville are becoming more proactive in bringing in jobs and it makes this a great place to start a business.

If you could give an entrepreneur looking to start a business one piece of advice…what would it be?

Be flexible. As I mentioned, you never know what you’ll encounter or how the needs of your market will change. Unless you’re ready to adapt to what you see, you won’t make it very far.

Stat Sheet:  LifeShare Technologies,LLC

• Website:  www.lifesharetech.com
• The People: Andrew Morin, Josh Esslinger, Co-founders
• When was the business founded: 2010
• Twitter: @lifesharetech
• Business Description in 140 Characters or less:  The goal of LifeShare Technologies is to keep the aging population connected with family and friends through technology.

Today we profile another Indy tech startup – eFamily.com.  David Hosei, a serial entrepreneur and eFamily.com’s CEO answers some questions below.  Founded in 2010, eFamily.com is quietly building up quite a following.  They have an interesting take on creating “private” social networks, as well as the struggle lots of dot-coms have – free vs. pay services.

Tell us about your startup…your words…whatever you want to say.

eFamily is a passion project that will change the world. It may be in a ’small’ way, but its goal is to connect families in a private and secure place online to share content and connect.

We currently have over 7200 families that have signed up for the service and have over 227,000 profiles associated with the family sites. A profile can be defined as a member of the family tree. We’ve had over 100,000 stories, photos, videos, and comments posted to the site. We have a freemium model, which means that we offer both free and premium services. 99% (literally) are on the free model. We need to do a better job of converting users to premium services. For the free users, we provide advertisers a platform to message to our family focused demographic. We are actively pursuing brands that want to reach this market.

How did you come up with concept for your business, and how/when did the business model for that concept become clear?

eFamily as a concept was conceived on my wife and I’s honeymoon. We were just getting ready to sell a .com that I was involved with since college and wanted to do something else in the Internet space. We were excited to be starting a family together and had family members across America. MySpace was the dominant player in the market for social interaction, but had a terrible privacy and connecting environment for families. So, we saw an opportunity and started building.

We attempted to build our idea two times in one way or another and failed both times. We finally merged with a company called Famiva.com to get us the technology suite that we originally dreamed of on our honeymoon.

We’ve known pretty much the whole time that the business model was a freemium service. At my previous .com (3GUPLOAD.COM), we had a freemium service and it worked really well for several years.

What made you first believe that starting a business is right for you (i.e. as opposed to working for someone else)?

I had an opportunity to work for $5.15 an hour at McDonald’s as a 15 year old. I took the application and thought to myself this wasn’t for me. At about the same time, I was offered an opportunity to cut my neighbor’s lawn for $15. It took me 45 minutes to cut the grass - effectively making me $20 an hour. I did some calculations, while I was cutting (I always loved thinking about other things when I cut grass). I figured if I could cut 30 times a year and had 50 clients averaging $15, I’d make over $20,000 a season (which was a ton of money at the time for a 15 year old part-time worker). And so my entrepreneur career began. I ended up making over $40,000 in gross revenue during my years in high school and had several friends working for me. I loved and enjoyed it very much.

To your point about working for someone else, I don’t mind working for other people. In fact, during high school I was a bus boy for my grandmother’s country club on Friday and Saturday nights. I have had several bosses over the years and enjoy learning different styles, what not to do, and the stability of income.

What challenges have you encountered?

Getting traction in the marketplace has been a major challenge. Although we have 7200 families signed up, we need 100x that to make our model work effectively. Now, the question is do we change our model or are we missing the ‘killer application’. Working through whether we change our model has been a challenge. Figuring out what or if a ’killer application’ exists in this space has been a challenge.

What sacrifices have you made to start you business?

I have made a lot of financial sacrifices to start this particular business.

In your opinion, what makes Indiana a great place to start your business?

I love Indiana. I have started several companies here (from lawn care to .com’s to a real estate company) and enjoy the people, low cost of doing business, and opportunities.

If you could give an entrepreneur looking to start a business one piece of advice…what would it be?

Find a great business partner that complements your skill set, has the time to dedicate to the business, and is passionate about the business.

Stat Sheet:  eFamily.com

• Website:  www.efamily.com
• The People:  David Hosei CEO
• When was the business founded: 2010
• Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/efamily
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/efamily
• Business Description in 140 Characters or less:  A website application that provides families with a private and secure place to share and connect with the people they love.

Excitement, anxious, and to be perfectly blunt…not patient! These are the 3 main emotions myself and my team has experienced these past 8 months.

Tonight we had the privilege to view the main structure of our social network. It looks fantastic. It gave us goose bumps to look at something actually on the computer screen that we’ve been talking about and working on so hard.

An important thing you must do in any venture is surround yourself with people not only more experienced than you but also smarter than you. This doesn’t mean overall intelligence but it means finding people that are talented in certain areas that you aren’t.

I’m ovbioulsy stressed about the launch but on a calming side I’m excited because we’ve assembled a team that is the defenition of the above.

We’re heading into launch and beta-testing…keep reading things are about to get really fun!