You need to be more outrageous

There's nothing wrong with a bit of showmanship

Marketing and promoting your company is absolutely vital. If nobody knows you exist then how are they going to buy your product?

Whatever you are doing now is probably not enough to get attention.

• I bet your business card is the usual name rank and serial number. Do you use it to provide contact details or is it designed as the mini-marketing tool that it really is?
• Do you put your opinions about what is not working in your  industry on the record?
• Do you tell a client when their scope (invitation to offer, etc.) misses the mark?
• Do you provide a client with what they need as well as what they say they want?
• Do you fight for recognition when the procurement section of a potential client decides not to use your company?
• Do you offer your opinions to the press?
• Does your website and branding reflect what the company needs as opposed to what you prefer? The odds are that you are more conservative than your brand should be.
• Do you talk to anyone you meet about your business? Sure it might be socially embarrassing on occasion but if you aren’t prepared to risk embarrassment then how will you ever promote yourself.
• And most importantly – do you attract attention to the business?

Act like you own it

Nah ... not my problem.

When you own a business you own the successes and the failures.

As an employee it is always possible to find a way to put off decisions and deflect blame. A lot of people go their whole careers avoiding making decisions or taking responsibility – and to a degree they are correct as the system largely determines ability to make a difference to outcomes.

The experience of setting up a business is a bit like moving out of your parent’s home. It is scary. There are a lot of things you don’t know how to do, and you didn’t realise how much was done for you.

It’s the weather. It’s the competition. My employees are just lazy. The red tape is too much. My suppliers have it in for me. We have a great product but nobody recognises it.

All these are excuses I have heard and can guarantee I will continue to hear. These come from people who don’t own the outcomes of operating a business.

Now it’s just you. Accept this reality and get on with it.

If you think you’ve been screwed you probably have

Being stuck in the middle hurts  

When you go into business you leave the protected and cosseted world of being an individual. Now you are fully exposed to commercial law at its finest.

• You will never have all the information you need to make a decision.
• Contracts are legally binding – Yes this is obvious, but many people entering business think that they can change their minds at a later date and the other person will be reasonable. You are required to perform. I see this mistake all the time. Make friends with your lawyer.
• You don’t have time to do all the homework you need to.
• The other party is under no obligation to pass on any information, other than that which they are legally obliged to for the formation of a contract.
• They may pressure you into making a deal now (the ticking clock approach, and the ‘this is a one-time opportunity’ approach).
• If you don’t include all your costs and the conditions precedent for you in the contract you may not get them.
• You are required to seek your own tax and accounting advice. Your agreed price may end up costing you more than you thought.
• Some people get tricky with the conditions and pricing of their services/products. This can come back to bite you at a later date.

All this is a fun learning curve – but never forget that it is a learning curve.

The other person will always know something that you don’t. A good businessperson leaves something on the table to keep the other party in a long-term relationship. However, some people can’t help themselves and they have to screw every last penny out of a contract.

The worst are those who profess to wanting a win-win outcome but by their actions don’t care at all. These are usually the big corporate purchasers who tell the media that they want a sustainable supplier base, and then tell their consumers that they get them the best price they can. You are stuck in the middle getting screwed by someone with good PR – and it hurts.

Trust your instincts, and find ways to duck and weave, delay decisions, build in options and variations, build in ratchet points or other mechanisms to revisit price, or other ways to make sure that being screwed doesn’t destroy your business.

Think like a wholesaler

Supply to as many as you can

Want to get stupidly rich? Then think wholesale not retail.

I don’t mean that you actually have to set up a wholesaler, just take the mentality.

Have a product and sell it to as many people as you can with a small margin.

By having a small margin – you product is more competitive and more attractive to more customers.

As your customer base grows, your brand grows and you will naturally attract more customers.

By having a product that reaches as broad a client base as possible then you maximise your chances of a sale, and you also minimise the effects of losing a single client.

And yes, this advice does go against the advice that is commonly given about finding an niche and becoming the best at it. While there are some good examples of that, most of the time going for high volume markets is a better choice.

The sticky bit for this model is that you need to have a good amount of working capital upfront to allow you to charge the lower margins from the beginning. Also, your suppliers will give discounts with volumes too, so your costs could go down over time on this basis.

There’s good money in thinking like a wholesaler.

Beg, borrow and steal

Alright, don’t steal, but the principle is important to most startups.

Let’s say it again – most stories we hear about startups are for the likes of eBay, Facebook, Google, etc.  They were in the right place at the right time and found VC money willing to back them.

Now let’s talk about the other 99.99% of startups – that means you.

You put together a business plan showing a wonderful story of how you are going to get the product right, market it to customers and then revenues will grow year on year forever.

You then go and put in what you can each afford. You are feeling anticipation and trepidation at the same time.

Fast forward 6 months.

You are late on your product.

Customers can’t buy what isn’t finished yet.

The market is flat.

You worry that the standards for your product are too high, and that it will take forever to complete. Your technical people disagree.

You are running out of money.

This is the point that many people give up. Your business partners may decline to spend any more, and become detached, if not pull out altogether with demands that the rest of you to pay them out.

Now you will need to get street smarts in a hurry.

• Can you pre-sell products or subscriptions for services?
• Can you get supplies on consignment?
• Can you find other markets?
• Can you rent in cheaper premises?
• Can you offer compensation to employees and suppliers through equity?
• Can you get government grants?
• Can you find an angel investor?
• Can you find other sources of income?

Many days will be a battle, but this is where the real entrepreneur comes out.