We’ve spent two years stumbling along, making mistakes and (hopefully) learning from them. We’re still not awesome, but we’re getting there one stumbling step at a time. For the past two years though, we’ve found that these 5 things, when kept in mind and executed carefully, will help any startup supercharge its business by leaps and bounds. They’re in no order though – we think they’re all important, so figuring out what you want to do first is entirely up to you:
1. Partners
Ok, I may have said that last sentence up there too soon. This is the first thing you have to look at. Your business partners mean the world to your startup. A powerful team of partners behind you gets the job done, while partners who sit around asking when the money’s coming in are just going to drag you down.
When thinking about finding partners, we suggest you look at these few criterias:
- Hearts of steel – these are people whom, when the going gets tough, they just keep on going.
- Entrepreneurial spirit – now this does not mean a person who thinks about money, but more of a person who has the long term vision of how they want to grow their business and how much that business makes a difference in this world. This is an important trait, and will make or break your team when your business starts making money
- A little bit of crazy – a little bit of a risk taker is a good trait, you don’t want partners who hold you back from achieving your grand vision. but a little bit, not ‘mental’ crazy.
- Complementing skills – think about what your business needs are – you’ll need people who are good in sales and marketing, operations, administration, technical etc. You can’t be all of ‘em, so find partners who can do what you can’t
- Complementing personalities – you may be an introvert, so get a partner who’s an extrovert. you may be a nice guy, so you need to find someone who’s more assertive and aggressive. Just like no. 4, you can’t be all of ‘em, so find partners who are what you aren’t
2. Network Like a Maniac
When we started out our business, we thought that if we built something really really good, all the customers would come to us. You see, we thought that all the cool products in the world, like Google, made waves because they were great products, and didn’t require marketing in the age of the internet. What we didn’t figure out was, you needed to network for a lot more reasons than just the marketing alone. And so, for a good part of our first year in business, we failed to do just that: network. We’re lucky to have partner companies that do network, and help introduce us to other people, but not all companies are as lucky as we are.
There are a few reasons why you’d wanna network like a maniac
- Of course, in business, it’s got more to do about who you know (and who knows you) than what you can do
- Networking gives you access to a lot more information that you may not be able obtain from spending hours alone on the internet
- When you network, you can explore possibilities of working together with other companies, especially those that can help you do what you can’t do (even technically), and access markets you don’t have access to.
- We all have weaknesses, and if you don’t network, you’ll never find the right person to complement your weaknesses.
Reason no. 4 is the reason why networking is so important. network like a maniac and see your business grow.
3. Bootstrap like Scrooge
Even when your company is doing well, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment – and start buying all the lavish things you know you shouldn’t buy. Be careful, even when your product is great and the VC’s are practically pouring in money down your bank’s throat.
When in business, being a stinge like scrooge has it’s benefits:
- Saving for a rainy day. Shit happens – the problem is, you never know when
- Lengthens the amount of time you can spend experimenting with your product and finding the right formula for success
- Avoid overgrowth – spending for infrastructure and business setup that’s way beyond what your sales growth can sustain, which was what happened to Webvan
Of course, there’s also that saying that goes “penny wise, pound foolish” – so don’t stinge on stuff you shouldn’t stinge on, like rewarding great employees. Stinge wisely, but spend wisely as well.
4. Customer Development Engineering
Even if you screwed up and didn’t do items 1-3, practicing this one will ensure you can survive longer on a product than most of the other startups around you. Customer Development Engineering was a term developed by Steve Blank in his book The Four Steps to the Epiphany where he outlines the steps you need to take to become successful with your product (see image below). It’s a really good read for all you startups whose founders are mostly geeks (or if you think you’re cool: engineers and people from the tech background) – heck, even if you’re not geeks, and you’re all business savvy and stuff, reading Customer Development Engineering will at least shed a brighter light on what you need to do to ensure your product’s success.
I’m not going to explain much here – I can’t, there’s just too much to explain – the links I’ve put in here will explain everything.
5. Giving Back
Now this I like the most – I never really understood this until I saw it working for my own company. A lot of people like Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Warren Buffett, and all the other ‘rich beyond my wildest dreams’ folks always say ‘give and you’ll get more in return’ – or something like that. I always thought that that was a bunch of crap the rich tell you so that they’ll look good. My father always told me to give, and I would, but I never really thought much of it.
My partner was a different story – he had always believed in giving, and had always helped people even when it was difficult for him (and us). As a result, we find that people trust what we do – which is especially important when doing business – in the end, we get referred to customers a lot, and get businesses from people we helped a lot. Well, what do you know?
So even if you think you don’t have a cent – you can always give back in terms time and effort. It may take some time to get your payback, but when it does, it’s worth it. A caveat though – you need to give sincerely – if you give whilst expecting something in return, be prepared to be quickly disappointed.
So, that’s 5 things you can do to supercharge your business – it’s not an all-encompassing list, so don’t treat it like it’s the 10 commandments (or 5). Learn from your business one day at a time – you’ll get through most of the challenges you face. Just hang tough and be patient.
