Healthier. Fitter. Slimmer. And leaner. A startup story begins.
Fatter. Bigger. Sicker.
“Startup.” A word that sounds like adventure, dangers, possibilities and it also has this connotation of endless happiness.
However, I’ve also seen it differently. I’ve been there, when the 2k .com bubble burst and I have watched all of those newly born entrepreneurs return their frequent flyers platinum cards, 300hp cars (mine included) and say goodbye to their totally overpriced IBM laptops. Before the big bang, a company that did not employ at least 20 people was, at that time, not considered a serious venture.
So, as I have laid out the plans to start “The K-Plan”, an online version of my self invented method of workout & nutrition that finally made me lose over 90lbs and keep those pounds off, I asked myself one thing: How can I avoid even getting a frequent flyers card for useless travels and employing 20 people or more without any need for them?
Smaller. Leaner. Faster.
Times have changed, fortunately. The internet has evolved over what we had 10 years ago, and nobody needs to invent any code for standard features of any kind of software.
We connect with the whole world and experts are available 24 hours around the globe. No need to pen people into a (may it even be quite luxurious) office space. There are goals to be met - not class schedules.
For “The K-Plan” this gives me a very unique opportunity: I can fully concentrate on content. The content, that will get you as our community members the plan to finally get a healthier lifestyle.
I dedicate all the power I have on that core, my heart, my passion: Giving people a way to get in shape and change the way they live their lives.
I can only achieve this through some very simple principles:
- Faster: There are experts
While I created the first logo for “The K-Plan” myself, I had the current logo being designed through a contest on 99designs.com. Easy. Fast. And highly satisfying. Time saved. Money saved. Since I am not a native english speaker (which you may have already noticed by now :-) ), there are a lot of good sites that will do professional copy editing. Same counts for music experts, video cutting and photoshopping of pictures ( every tried making a clipping path of a bicycle yourself?). There is so much talent out there. Use it.
This is the purity of fast. - Smaller: Use backend software that is available, easy to maintain and supported by a strong community
The K-Plan uses a professional Open Source CMS system as a reliable backend. Lots of features, expandability and high class service available when needed.
You may not want the full blown up professional CMS with that enormous price tag. Stick with a solution that does the job now and can be customized (maybe not by you, but then by an expert you hire) to your needs easily when you need to scale.
This is the beauty of being small. - Leaner: Use Software as a service (SaaS) that can grow with you
While the K-Plan will incorpate a so called “Freemium” business model itself, I am happy that I can also use SaaS that offers Freemium models for all those things that would have taken ages to do your self or literally tens of thousands of dollars to rent back in the last century. Mail Marketing? Mailchimp! Extranet for Team Communication? Pendio! SMS reminders for your weight loss plan? Texting.ly! Be available? Skype! Synchronize your team of experts? DropBox!
All these services have a free plan with sufficient features to get started right away and a paid plan with added features that you can activate in seconds, once you need it.
This is the freedom of lean.
All of this allows you to start with your idea. Now. Like today. Not tomorrow.
“The K-Plan” is not a one man show. There is a designer in India, a copy editor in the US, a video producer in the UK and a photographer here in good old germany. My physician, who is counsellor on the medical aspects left off for a new home in Argentina and there is a scout for rare low calorie foods in Japan.
Make no mistake: All of this does not happen by itself, and yes, I also need to invest time in order to coordinate everything, make briefings, discuss sugestions and the like. However: This is only a fraction of the time one would need by doing it yourself (heaven forbid!) or by employing all of this talented stuff full time, even if the required job is rather small. The results are professional, timely and they make the content look polished, without sacrificing anything on the quality of the content of “The K-Plan”.
The world is connected. In the smartest, leanest and most effective way we have ever encountered up to this point. The result of this work, “The K-Plan”, will not only be an unique experience for you, as our future community of “K”s, but also for everyone here behind the scenes, building that awesome new way of getting in shape for you.
We do this with all our passion, because we want you to be Healthier. Fitter. Slimmer.
Have a “K” day,
(Oliver K. - Master of K, you know)
PS: Now is a good time to sign up for the free beta of “The K-Plan”!
PPS: “The K-Plan” participates in the “Lean Startup Challenge” - a perfect fit for us :-) Vote for us here.
