Often entrepreneurs are born out of necessity. That is the story behind WhosGonnaHireMe.com and Marc Apple, who is this week’s Start-up Profile:
I just launched a site called WhosGonnaHireMe.com. The site was born out of a necessity for me to find a new ,but I soon realized that keeping it to myself would be selfish, especially in these times.
The site is built around the principle that the traditional way of finding a job (cover letter and resume) to a random jobs@anyemployer.com email box just doesn’t cut it anymore. In order to rise to the top of the hiring manager’s attention you need something that shows off your entire skills set— your own profile page that features your resume, your connections, your videos, your audio, your presentations and much more! We give job seekers their own profile page at WhosGonnaHireMe.com/Your Name.
Questions and Answers:
Q: How many users do you have on WhosGonnaHireMe?
A: We did a soft launch last week by starting a Twitter stream that focuses on news about the economy, jobless rate and the housing crisis, as well as updates on the site. We also have an active Facebook fan group. This week is devoted to sales calls and marketing. I’ve been networking with others who were laid off when I was let go, and they will be my first users. My projection is 1000 users in the first three months with substantial growth from there. I’m using my social networking / Web 2.0 background and applying it to my business model. We will be a virally driven company that helps others reach their goals through the power of the Internet.
Q: Have you ever started a business from scratch before?
A: This is my first business. After sending out countless numbers of resumes to the standard “jobs@employer.com” and my eyes getting blood shot from staring at craigslist’s postings, I felt I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to have an income. In addition, I felt like the idea for the site, while originally just for me, was too good of an idea to keep to myself. I wanted to give back and help others that might be in the same situation.
Q. When you first loss your professional job, was creating a new business the first thing you thought to do?
A: Yes and no, see my answer above. It came about pretty quickly in the “what am I going to do now” thought process, but I still needed to wrap my head around the whole concept of not working for someone else.
Q. What is the largest challenge you have had as you started a new business?
A: Having worked for someone for my entire 20+ year career, I had little to no knowledge of what to do. I made an appointment with a SCORE counselor, bought a book, searched on the Internet for advice and then just went for it. I’ve made a few mistakes along the way with setting up the company, but I learned from them.
Q: What is the largest lifestyle change you have had to do undergo as you moved to being an entrepreneur?
A: There are a few, and one does not seem larger than the other when you are making a decision on what steps to take. Everything from self employment insurance, to “can I write this off” questions, to making a choice on spending money for a nice dinner with your wife or ordering the really nice business cards are all thoughts I never imagined having.
Q. Do you ever see yourself going back to the corporate world?
A: That would all depend on the situation and offer. As of today, I am focused on building my company and seeing where that leads.
Q: When will you consider yourself a success as a start-up?
When WhosGonnaHireMe.com reaches its user goals, when I can enjoy a comfortable lifestyle based off of the money earned from the site and after I start my next business based on the knowledge I’ve learned from my first company.
Writers are under appreciated, many thanks for taking the time to post this.