It's all about failure and lists 20 things you shouldn't have to learn the hard way. Ironically, I 'learned' a few of things when working with the colleague who inspired me - especially number 9 and 13.
A lot of the other ones, like the first one, I learned all by myself - the hard way.
I keep it here to remind myself - especially about number 20 - enjoy :)
1.
You can’t do everything on your own. Building a team is essential because there
are only so many hours one person can devote to a business. Exactly when you
reach that limit depends on your other obligations. If you’re a young single
person, you might be able to do everything for a year or two. But if you have a
family, your dedication will eventually hurt those relationships. Build a team
that can carry on when you’re not around.
2.
You may think your product is perfect,
but your clients won’t. Listen to user
feedback: Your opinion may not be the best one. The key takeaway here is
“release your product early and release it often.” You won’t know if you have a
great product until it’s in the field and users are beating it up. It’s like
some of the contestants on American Idol. They think they’re talented, and
their friends and family think so, too, but when they get on a bigger stage,
their flaws become obvious.
3.
Do
one thing really well. Entrepreneurs try to be everything to everyone, but it’s
hard to be the store that sells bait and baby toys and vintage Beatles albums.
Specialize, and you can charge for what you do provide. That said, if there is
a skill or service that would make your core product better, provide it.
4.
Get paid before you hand over a project
to a client. This is especially important if
you provide a service. Once you turn over that contract or website or design
project, you won’t have much bargaining power. When I was a graphic designer, I
watermarked all my projects and hosted websites on a private domain until the
bill was paid.
5.
Undercharging is not sustainable. You think, “I don’t need to charge $150 an hour, I
can charge $70 and make way more than I was making as an employee!” But you
might find out a short time later that your “great” rate is unsustainable. By
the time you pay taxes, employees, business licenses, insurance, etc., that
$150/hour is looking more realistic. Compete on quality, expertise and your
niche focus (see #3) instead of price. When competing on price alone, the
clients who are price-shopping will always leave for the person or company that
undercuts you.
6.
Patience and flexibility help you
survive the lean times. ShortStack
started out as a side project at my web and graphic design studio. We weren’t a
software development studio, but when a client asked us for a software product,
we didn’t say no. We were patient, scaled slowly — partly out of necessity —
and it allowed me to build with company without debt.
7.
Build for your actual market. All of my software-building experience so far
has been in answer to a demand. It is purely opportunistic. If you’re an app
developer and you think “Wow, I think xx industry could use xx,” you might be
disappointed. Put another way: I would never start a restaurant without having
worked in one…for a long time!
8.
Never enter a partnership without a
buy/sell agreement. No matter how well you think you
know someone, you just don’t know when he or she will want to retire or do
something else. Even if it’s on amicable terms, know how you can get rid of one
another when it’s time for one of you to move on.
9.
Be grateful. Appreciate loyal customers who show you there
is a demand for what you do. There is no dollar amount you can put on brand
advocates. Good will translates to loyal customers.
10. Look after those who look after you. ShortStack, who wrote this piece over
referral’s but it’s very much under the
radar. They want people to recommend the product because they like it, not
because they’ll say anything for a dollar. If they notice someone said nice
things about them publicly, they might send them a t-shirt as a thank you. If
they do it again and again, they might say, “Hey, you should become a referrer
and earn a percentage of the business you send our way.”
11.
It’s not a sale until it’s paid for. This sounds obvious, but I’ve known small
business owners who get very excited about orders and/or meetings with
prospective clients. But until the money for those products or services is in
the bank, it doesn’t count.
12. You’ll make more money being “wrong” than proving
you are right. Rather than fight with an unhappy
customer and say, “You’re using it incorrectly,” or “You don’t know enough CSS
to use our product,” we just refund their money. In the long run, these people
consume so much of the support team’s time and energy that it’s more cost
effective this way. They’re not our ideal client, and that’s OK.
13. People don’t leave companies — they leave
management. This lesson goes for both
employees and customers. A manager will lose staff if the employees think
they’re not being listened to or valued. Customers will stop using your
products or services if they are dissatisfied with them. The quality and
reliability of your products and services is a reflection of management.
14. The way you present your business should be a
reflection of your audience. If
you have serious clients, be serious. If
you have hip, fun-loving clients, have a sense of humor. You have to find
your niche and build your content to suit them. For example Constant Contact and MailChimp do essentially the same thing, but
their marketing content reflects very different client bases. (Ed. Something we have to think about more at Justaxi - a mobile app which helps people get the best taxi price... we have many competitors but hopefully not for the new market we are aiming at with our new marketing.)
15.
Agree on scope in advance. Have a clear contract before work begins.
Once a project goes beyond the documented plan, charge for it. If you agreed to
build a website with 10 pages, but soon the site is 20 pages, the client should
pay you for them. If your contract makes that clear at the outset, it is easier
to control scope creep.
16. If your company sells a variety of products, make
sure you know how to use/operate every single one of them. It might sound like a tall order — depending
on how many products your company sells — but learning to use what your company
sells will help you look at things with fresh eyes.
17.
When you think you’ve tested your
product enough, test it some more. Never
release a product until it has been tested and tested and tested by people who
don’t work for you.
18. Understand how social media networks work. When Twitter was first available for
businesses, I’d see people use it like an ad in a newspaper. If you go on a
channel and use it the wrong way, it could do more long-term harm than good.
19. Save up. You
can operate at a loss for a number of years but you can only run out of cash
once. Have a rainy day fund that has at least two or three months’ operating
costs in it. And have a line of credit available, even if you don’t plan to use
it. Having a CPA look at your books once a quarter is also a must. (Ed. I do it daily for JusTaxi - but we are a mobile app so it might be different for everyone else.)
20. Always let the CFO pay for drinks. Cheers!
The last one I managed to do just before I left my last client - but it was over Christmas so I cheated a little ;)
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