Many people have expressed interest in learning how I turned a bright idea into a multi-million dollar real estate conglomerate in less than two years, I want to share some things I’ve learned the hard way. Try doing these things and watch your startup business becoming successful.
BTW, I’ve received requests from businesses with a lot of potential looking for players. If you’re an entrepreneur or want to help in a startup, reach out to me!
Early Days Startup Musts
1. You MUST work out what you want. Figure out what you want to HAVE as a result of your efforts, what product or service you want to produce and give to your clients/patients/customers. It should be something legal, ethical and pro-survival that you enjoy. Ask the question, “Would I do this for free?” It’s not an idle question because in a startup you’ll probably end up having to do it for nothing at least part of the time, and if you won’t do that, you’ll go out of business before you can get off the ground.
2. You MUST decide how much you have to make. Look at the amount of exchange (profit) you require to support your lifestyle. You have to come up with this much money during the launch or you’ll run aground. Maybe your existing job will cover it, or some savings or pre-launch sales. It’s best to be prepared to survive longer than you expect it will take to launch – the voice of experience.
3. You MUST verify long-term profit potential. How much do you want to make from your business after it becomes established? Check online and with entrepreneurs in this kind of business. What’s real? Get specifics. Your desires need to match what your new business is capable of producing or you’ll end up with problems that won’t solve. Don’t lean your ladder of success up against the wrong wall, or you’ll get part way up and have to climb down and start all over on a different wall.
4. You MUST brainstorm and find good reason to get Come up with some ideas on how this would work. What could you do? This is the green light stage. Don’t get caught up in stops or barriers or practicalities. That comes later. Enjoy creating this glorious future! Get really excited about it, or go back to #1 and find something that does excite you. Trying to start a new venture without enthusiasm is usually fatal. It takes a lot of push to get something new launched.
5. You MUST do your homework. Go online and look at existing companies producing similar Learn all about them, their products, pricing, how they pitch it, who they appear to be talking to and those things I listed in my last newsletter.
6. You MUST discover how much you’ll have to invest to get. What’s the BEST way to launch? Can you afford that? Is there a cheaper way that will actually work? You may be able to get into business on the cheap, then have to redo your website, promo, business cards and all the rest once you get good income flowing. Look at the optimum investment you can afford. If you’re going to have inventory, work out how to get that, possibly having your vendors financing part or all of that cost. Don’t be scared off – in most industries these days you can start pretty inexpensively.
Calling All Pirates!
7. You MUST be willing to take risks and experience setbacks. You may have employee problems, unhappy customers, nasty vendors, regulatory requirements and legal issues. On top of that there are hurricanes, economic swings, national and global events, competition, illness and more. Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart.
You don’t have to be a pirate, but it helps!
8. You MUST make decisions. One of the best ways to fail is to freeze at the controls and run your business off the road. Decisions are not “Right” or “Wrong,” they are on a scale of 100% Right to 100% Wrong, with at least 200 gradients in between. You just have to be more right more often than you’re wrong, and don’t screw up too badly on the really important stuff.
9. You MUST learn from mistakes – both yours and other people’s. My ol’ dad told me, “Learn from other people’s mistakes – you don’t have time to make them all yourself.” Being an entrepreneur comes with free enrollment into the School of Hard All the money you lose or fail to make is your tuition that you pay as you go. So if you’re smart, you’ll learn and be happy it didn’t cost you more. My tuition in the School of Hard knocks is in the six figures and I’m still learning, so you’re in good company!
10. You MUST focus on helping good people and discovering what you can do for. If you keep all your attention on how much you’re making (or not making), you won’t make much and it won’t be much fun. So don’t do that. That’s why you do MUSTS 2 and 3 above, so you know you’ll make money if you can get your business really rolling. Put your attention on your customers and staff. But if you work with people who make you miserable, you’ll find your business a grind. You might even start making mistakes and getting sick. So skip the SOBs. Find some good people you like and concentrate on them and you’ll find most of them will help you back. And importantly, you’ll have fun!
Take Advantage of This Window of Opportunity
Do you have a start-up? Does your business need to be rebooted? For a very limited time I’m offering a free 1-hour consultation to help you evaluate your business and guide you in achieving your goals for your business and life. Call me now and let’s change things this week! It is possible to achieve your goals, you know! Send me an email now or give me a call at 727-304-5000 !
