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Priorities for Entrepreneurs #5

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I recently had the opportunity to review a book for entrepreneurs that had some great advice, a list of seven priorities for the critical first year of business. The more I thought about this list, the more important that it seemed to me. So I have decided to create a series of posts elaborating on this theme. While “Young Guns“, by Robert Tuchman, is targeted to a just-out-of-college-and-wondering-what-to-do market, I believe that these priorities apply to anyone starting a new venture.

Try to fund it yourself, or mostly yourself. It pays to go after the least amount of funding that is necessary. When you’re starting out, it feels good to say that some venture-capital firm invested millions of dollars in your idea.But a few years down the road, when you’re doing well, it will not feel so great to know that you own only 25% of your company.

Well, I can’t say too much about this – since none of my little ventures have ever been funded by anybody other than me – but it sure sounds like pretty good advice to me. If you keep outside funding to a smaller share of your enterprise, then when it does take off you can afford to buy out your partners.

What is your experience with funding a start-up? Share in the comments.

Thoughts on “Rules of Thumb”

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I picked up a copy of “Rules of Thumb” by Alan M. Webber in our local bookstore last week, and it has some interesting ideas.  First of all, being a fan of all things index card, it was fun to read about the stack of 3x5s that he has been collecting throughout his career.

“I’ve recorded these lessons on three-by-five cards that I carry with me every day at home and on the road. (This wonderful system is something that I learned more than 20 years ago from Harvard Business School professor Ted Levitt, one of the mentors you’ll meet in this book.)

Not long ago, I reviewed all the three-by-five cards I’d written on and saved. This time my goal was to capture the rules I’d learned.”

Well, I (Stephen) certainly didn’t go to Harvard Business School, but I have been carrying notecards and notebooks around for a pretty long time. After I finish reading this book I am going to have to dig into those archives and see what pearls of wisdom I can recover.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at rule #1: When the going gets tough, the tough relax.

I can get behind this idea! In fact, it reminded me of something I had read somewhere before, especially as Webber expands on the idea, “Anytime you approach a task with fear you are a double loser.” and “Don’t let fear undermine your chance to do that one thing you’ve wanted to do.”

What are you really afraid of

Indeed, fear can make a mess of things. Fear can also cause you to not make a mess, because you just might. Quoting from Frank Herbert’s Dune: (wikipedia link)

The litany against fear is an incantation used by the Bene Gesserit throughout the series to focus their minds and calm themselves in times of peril. The litany is as follows:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

(I trust that this isn’t getting too deep.) Fear is the mind-killer. The dream-killer. The slayer of ambition and innovation. Fear of the unkown has killed more good ideas than we can probably count.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when prudence is called for. But there are also times that you need to “feel the fear and do it anyway“.

Even George Costanza was able to overcome his fear and start making decisions. Completely opposite decisions to what he thought – knew –  were right:

What fears have you overcome? Or, put another way, what would you attempt to do if you believed that you could not fail? Share in the comments.

Priorities for Entrepreneurs #4

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I recently had the opportunity to review a book for entrepreneurs that had some great advice, a list of seven priorities for the critical first year of business. The more I thought about this list, the more important that it seemed to me. So I have decided to create a series of posts elaborating on this theme. While “Young Guns“, by Robert Tuchman, is targeted to a just-out-of-college-and-wondering-what-to-do market, I believe that these priorities apply to anyone starting a new venture.

Talk to absolutely everyone about what you do.

During the first year, you must be the mouthpiece for your business. Talking to people about your business at parties, at family gatherings, at outings like sporting events should become second nature. Consider every person who crosses your path a sales opportunity, even if he or she might not ever be the end customer. In addition to continual word-of-mouth marketing, pick up the phone and call reporters to let them know what you are doing.

This strategy of always talking about your business is essential. Blog about it. Tweet about it. Leave comments on other people’s blogs to show your knowledge and credibility.

I also like Tuchman’s advice about reaching out to reporters. In fact, Free Press Release.com has a service that allows you to publicize your business and Peter Shankman has a pretty cool service called Help a Reporter Out that allows you to answer questions or provide interviews to journalists looking for help with stories. [Ed. Note: I do this all the time, it is fantastic]

Do you have any other suggestions for getting the word out about your business? Share them in the comments.

Priorities for Entrepreneurs #3

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I recently had the opportunity to review a book for entrepreneurs that had some great advice, a list of seven priorities for the critical first year of business. The more I thought about this list, the more important that it seemed to me. So I have decided to create a series of posts elaborating on this theme. While “Young Guns“, by Robert Tuchman, is targeted to a just-out-of-college-and-wondering-what-to-do market, I believe that these priorities apply to anyone starting a new venture.

3. Get your website up and running

Your website has to say “This is who we are” to the world in a way that is compelling. A great web design doesn’t have to cost a fortune. If you don’t have the HTML skills or graphic talent in-house, look for a young and hungry web designer who’s looking for a shot, as you are.

Expect to update your website regularly and improve it constantly over time. Having a website with months-old or irrelevant content is a real deal-killer. It makes your company look stagnant, at best.

website-screencapAt the worst, it makes your company look unprofessional and incompetent. Your website is your online brochure, your 24-hour answering service, and your business resume, all rolled into one. There are also compeling reasons for your website to include a blog.When considering content for your business blog, you should consider calling one of your customers and asking them for an interview.

You can then ask some questions and post the Q & A right on your website, with a link to the customer’s site (sharing is good!). I recommend that these interview questions should be along the lines of:

  • How can our business help you succeed?
  • Why is our product/service important to you?
  • What is the impact of this decision upon your own business?
  • What happens if you don’t do something about this situation by using our product/service?
  • If you were to identify the business tactics most critical to your success, what would be number one?

When you understand your customer’s emotional connection with your product/service and how it influences their need to buy, you can position your product/service in the market for what it will do to address that emotion.

If you can help them address their “need-behind-the-need,” then a prospect becomes a probable purchaser and, ultimately, a customer. Your website is a very powerful tool for doing just that.

Skills for Journalists (and Others too)

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Katie Renn prepares for her class, History of Photography, in Ernie Pyle 210.
Katie Renn prepares for her class, "History of Photography," in Ernie Pyle 210.

Last week, Shel Holtz delivered a keynote talk to the faculty of a university Journalism department. He went out onto Twitter for some ideas and put together a really impressive list. I believe that these skills have a much broader application than simply for Journalists…

What should journalism schools be teaching their students?

Whatever those jobs are, journalism students will be better equipped to qualify for them if they have learned the following as part of their education:

* SEO—Most of what I remember about writing a basic news article is consistent with the principles of on-page optimization, but the importance of writing so people can find your articles shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s particularly important since students in journalism classes today don’t have a clue whether they’ll be working for a centralized news organization or some kind of distributed network. This synchs nicely with my next point:

* How to think like a freelancer—With nobody certain what economic model or (more likely) combination of models will pan out for professional news, journalism departments need to instill a mindset in students that will allow them to tap into whatever opportunities arise. That’s quite a shift from the view of professors when I was in journalism school: If it’s not a daily newspaper, major newsmagazine or network TV news channel, it’s not journalism.

* Flexibility—Print, broadcast, radio, online…journalists had better be prepared to report anywhere. When I worked in journalism, I was a print reporter with no interest in electronic journalism, which was a whole different ballgame. Those lines are gone and today’s students need to be prepared to do it all.

* A continuum of reporting—When I was a reporter, I filed a single story following on-site reporting of news or research for an investigative piece. Today, a single report is inadequate. Read more >>

What other applications could these skills have? Discuss in the comments.

(Image credit: Courtesy of Indiana University.)