So here I am like a sailboat in water without any wind. I know that they say if you make any progress forward even if it is just small steps it still is progress forward. I sure don't feel like that at times. One thing I'll tell you about startups, they never lack people asking you for more money. So in the past 5 months what has progressed you ask? Well here is my adventure filled startup story. I have 3 things going on at once. First I have my 'virtual stethoscope/otoscope' prototype being made, next I have my House Calls Mobile ® App being developed in India and finally I have my Patent being filed with the US Patent and Trade Mark Office. Each are 3 big money pits. For the 'Virtual stethoscope/otoscope' I ordered circuits from China which were delayed due to the Chinese New Year. When they finally arrived they were missing components and didn't work. My Electrical engineer says that some components won't be available anytime soon since there is a circuit shortage (Think of same shortage going on with the automotive industry). Since the circuits don't work that is several thousand dollars down the toilet. We will have to order new ones, maybe this time from the USA which will cost more but hopefully work this time. Next the App developer from India wants to integrate the payment platform into the Mobile App. Well, I was using Square for my website so I figured let's use Square for the App. Well Square didn't like my App developer from India contacting them and thought I was a high risk business and just closed my account!! Ugg! Now I'm looking to convert everything to Stripe a different online banking platform which hopefully has better business practices. As for my Patent, well I tell my Patent attorney that he is a giant pot I have been just dropping money into for the past 4 years. You'd think that in 4 years I'd have a patent but its just back and forth with the Patent and Trade Mark office, filing appeal after appeal. I thought you just applied and got the patent. I had no idea that these games went on for people to get a Patent issued! Ahhh, the Adventures of a Startup business. They say a typical small business has difficulty after 3 years. I see how that happens. They also say that if you can make it past that hump you are more likely to have a successful business! If I can say one thing about myself and this startup is we have tenacity! We don't give up! We continue to sail on! If we have to row this boat forward we will!
Below is the House Calls Mobile ® survey to determine the price point we will use for our 'virtual stethoscope/otoscope'. If you haven't already, please complete the below survey.
Take the House Calls Mobile ® survey by clicking the below link:
