Always invest in the best of breed. It’s a winner-take-all world. The top startups in each market dominate. If a startup is aiming to be 3rd, 4th or 5th in their market, they are DOA (dead on arrival). Smart capital, customers, and economies of scale always favor the market leader. Everyone else will struggle to survive.
Take a different path than everyone else, even if it takes longer and the journey is more difficult. That’s the only way to discover something new.
Always have fun and make new friends wherever you go! If you can’t enjoy the ride, there’s no point going.
In every city I travel to, I always make time to have some fun. For example, last week when I visited Wuhan, I reached out to my network and asked them to introduce me to some random locals–people I didn’t know.
I went out to dinner each night with new people, made new friends, biked all over Forest University, ate crayfish, and did business.
Perfect two days in a new city!
Every startup must have a culture. Culture isn’t about having a Ping Pong table, free food or hip furniture.
It’s about having a belief that everyone shares–a belief that guides your company. What do you believe your business is all about? What’s your mission–beyond making money? Why does your company mean something to people?
That’s culture. Now go create it!
Brian Stumbaugh
By no means am I here to halt your horses or thwart invention. Get out there and fight the good fight, that’s what you’re here for. Yet there are some egregious mistakes you should especially avoid if you want this stellar idea of yours to get off the ground.
1. Lacking on Location
Not all startups will ramp up in Silicon Valley or Seattle, but there are some armpits in America to surely avoid. It’s important to surround yourself with like-minded folk who can advise you when things get tough, and help re-direct course if strategies aren’t working well. Whatever your business is about, do research to see if your location is one that can support and grow your brand whether you’re building your startup around an app or a product. The reasons why established hubs thrive is because that’s where the experts of industry hang out. That’s where the people you want to hire live. The standards bar is set higher. Choose your location carefully and surround yourself with people who are more understanding of what you are trying to do.
2. Half-Assing It
Pardon my French, perhaps you’d prefer “half-hearting” it. Either way you get my meaning, you have to pour yourself and attention into your startup. This can’t be your side project if you want the attention of the big leagues one day. The sooner you jump in wholly the better, and you’ll have to jump in sooner than you think you’re ready to. Having a well done start up business plan is great way to make sure you’re ready for all of the challenges that come with starting a company. One of the biggest reasons for startup failure is letting the project fizzle because the day job was always #1 priority. If this will be a successful startup, get a little traction and then go all in.
3. Building For Too Many Audiences
This isn’t too dissimilar from half-assing it. The second you try to broaden your scope to encompass everyone’s wants and needs, is the same second all potential customers will become less interested in your final product. You simply can’t do two – or twelve – things great. Find the one thing you can knock out of the park at, and focus on the audience that will devour it. Build by understanding your target customer and stay focused.
4. Drinking Your Own Kool-Aid
This is a pretty easy one to spot. If you can’t explain your idea without getting buy in from friends, family – or almost more importantly – strangers you meet, you aren’t going to make an impact on the market. Friends don’t let friends build garbage businesses, so pay attention to the critics that will surely fly your way. Everyone has an opinion on everything, so give the naysayers the platform every now and then and listen to how they can help you refine your idea into something that will get them and other cynics to buy and make you rich. There are many accelerator and incubator programs that can help you prepare, so take advantage of them when you can.
5. Not Launching Soon Enough
It can be tough to let your baby fly. You want to make sure it’s ready to fight every fight, and never embarrass itself in any situation. That’s never going to happen so come to grips with that now. Get your product out there and learn through testing and feedback. Just like it’s hard to quit the daytime job, it’s hard to believe your product will ever be perfectly ready to launch (psst, it won’t be!). Set a deadline and stick to it. The beauty of this is it’ll force you to actually get it done in a reasonable amount of time without exhausting resources. Swear by that deadline and launch.
While I could rattle off a parade of other reasons, the biggest mistake is making excuses not to get started. Get started — and keep going.
Brian Stumbaugh is a Marketing Associate at The Startup Garage, a consulting firm for high growth startups located in Encinitas, CA.
Every year there are many new business books which find their way to the market. Whilst all offer advice and will assist in running a successful business there are a few which stand out more than all the others. There advice will truly help you drive your business forward; the best five are as follows:
This book was first written by Dale Carnegie in 1936 and is still well worth reading today. A revised version was released in 1981 which updated it for a more modern society. As the title suggests, How to Win Friends and Influence People is designed to show you how to win people over to your way of thinking. This is an important skill as being able to do this opens up doors to more clients, more friends and more influence. It is also shows you how to handle complaints and to give good public speeches. The fact that the book is as relevant today as it was when first published says volumes about both the business world and the vision of its author.
Reading this book will change the way you present information to any group of people. No matter how good you are at delivering presentations you will find some useful information and tips in Presentation Zen. The book focuses on how PowerPoint is used when creating and delivering a presentation. It claims and shows that the methods which most people use are actually hindering their speech and that there is a better way. The methods described include the importance of pictures in a presentation and how these should be utilized in a speech to maximize the results. Reading this will make you realize that a speech should be kept simple; this will ensure people take in the information.
The title of the book may not make it seem that appealing but the information inside is extremely relevant and informative. Its subject is the increased globalization of Business. The World is Flat explains how the rise of computers and various software packages have meant that businesses all over the world can now compete on a level playing field. The book was first published in 2005 and has since been revised and republished in 2006 and 2007 as the ability to do business globally steadily increased. The book lists ten important occurrences which have contributed to the flat world and its author, Thomas L Friedman explains how they have changed the world of business. More importantly he advises the best approach to take to make the most of the ever changing world of business.
Tim Ferris wrote The 4 Hour Work Week and states that some of his inspiration came from reading “The World is Flat”. The book emphasizes the possibility of dramatically reduces your workload by outsourcing and remove the mind numbing boredom of basic tasks throughout your day. It also provides some excellent advice on how to get rid of bad clients without upsetting them and the best way to free up your time so that you can indulge in your own passions.
In contrast to the other titles listed above, The Knack is firmly aimed at the small business market or those who aspire to be entrepreneurs. The book covers how to start a business and how to grow the business to whatever level you want to achieve. It also offers some excellent advice on how to sell the business, should you wish to. The book is written by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham who have been through a successful business start up and wish to share their experiences and knowledge with others. It will be of valuable assistant to any small business owner.
Are you a business leader looking for some motivation? Do you have ideas but are afraid to put them into practice? The above mentioned business books will help you overcome all your fears and thus be able to do whatever’s necessary for your startup’s success.
Author Bio: Davis Miller has a great interest in reading books; he spends several hours in reading good books. Apart he also writes for a site http://www.lovereading.co.uk where you can find lots of books and eBooks for buying.
Mistakes tend to happen for even the most seasoned startup veterans. Maybe you scaled too quickly, mistimed your product launch, or perhaps you just hired the wrong person. Whatever the reason, mistakes often provide a humbling opportunity for reflection and personal growth, and most importantly, give you an idea of what not to do going forward. At the end of the day however, there are some mistakes that can easily be avoided by listening to the advice of others.
We spoke to nine startup founders and asked them what their best advice was for avoiding the most common startup mistakes. Here’s what they said.
1. Focus
Don’t get stretched out. Tackle a single problem and be the best at doing that one thing. Once you’ve conquered the market, see if you can make it even better before jumping into a new vertical.
Peter Ostroske, OFI
2. Be Realistic
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Create very specific milestones that will lead to tangible growth and focus on those.
Tessa Court, Intelligence Bank
3. Stay Humble
One of the key mistakes particularly smart entrepreneurs make is thinking they know everything and not leaving their previous experience and egos at the door. Listen to advice from people who have been there before you and made the mistake themselves, be open to opinions and accept them for the constructive or nonconstructive manner in which they are offered. Sometimes taking a step back before making key decisions and asking advice when your not 100% will say you a lot of frustration and money too!
Paul Trayman, LivePhuket
4. Accept Change
A common mistake is not being comfortable with changing trends. This year is set to be a very fast paced year with many more advancements in different sectors.
Kenneth Lou, Novelsys
5. Have a Backup Plan
Always have a Plan B, and C, in case Plan A fails.
Amos Ahola, Collaboration Objects
6. Never Stop Improving
The biggest trap a tech entrepreneur can get into is thinking that the product is finished/done, and they just need to sell it. It is very important to realize that the processes of building/improving a product and selling it are inextricably linked, and there’s huge value in using the experience from selling a product to building it further.
Niraj Rout, Mailflo
7. Prioritize
As the market continues to go faster and faster, I think one of the most important entrepreneurial skills that is needed nowadays is the ability to focus on the top priorities. So, lack of prioritization is the one we should avoid doing – it’s a triangle: what, when and how you do things.
Radu Vrabie, Marketizator
8. Follow Through
Stay focused and keep your eye on the ball. A common trait among entrepreneurs is that we have a lot more ideas than time and resources to implement and execute. Avoid the mistake of getting into the cycle of believing you have another great idea, starting to follow through and take action only to discover that you have been neglecting your core business and revenue model(s). That said, brainstorming can be very positive. Keep an entrepreneurial diary that you look at from time-to-time, but ultimately stay focused on your core business.
Tim Nichols, ExactDrive
9. Track Your Goals
One of the biggest mistakes for us in the past has been to set too many goals. The result is we end up spinning plates with some goals getting completed whilst others end up delayed. This year, we are creating a goal diary where milestones are checked and dates are provided for completion. No other projects are started until completion of existing tasks is finished.
Robert Sturt, TNU, BT Global MPLS Experts
© 2024 Founders Space
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
