Monthly Archives: June 2014

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5 Start-up Must-dos

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Peter Russo, Director of the Entrepreneurial Management Institute at Boston University,  wisely points out that avoiding mistakes is not quite the same thing as doing the right thing.  Avoiding mistakes is being on the defensive,  the yin side of the equation.  Doing the right thing is proactive,  on the offensive,  the yang side of the equation.  Here is Peter Russo’s list of essential must-dos for those who plan to launch a business venture.

1.   Know your goals for the venture.  “A lot of people see an opportunity without ever asking themselves what they’re doing it for.  Are you trying to make a quick buck?  Create a legacy?  Afford a certain lifestyle?  It’s critical that you know from the beginning what your goals are,  because everything else is going to revolve around that.”  Launching a full-time venture that is expected to grow exponentially and generate for the owners ever-expanding  profits is not always a goal.   Some people start a business to generate some income by leveraging a creative ability.  For many years my father,  who had a day job,  worked in a landscaping venture that was started by my mother’s uncle after he retired.  The two worked evenings and Saturdays for about 15 years.  My father and great-uncle understood that it was not practical to attempt to expand the venture into a full-time endeavor,  for any number of reasons and so they didn’t.  But they made money and that was their goal.

2.   Recruit and hire the best people.  “It sounds almost like a cliché to say that I’d rather have an A team with a B idea than a B team with an A idea.  The right team can fix a lot of problems.  If you don’t have the right team,  you don’t have much of a chance.  Get the best available people at the time.”  Hiring friends and family who need a job is not the way to staff your start-up.  You need experience and talent,  creative and resourceful professionals possessed of an excellent work ethic and who are a good cultural fit for the organization.

3.   Develop a forgiving strategy.  “Things are going to go wrong.  They’re going to be harder,  take longer and cost more money than you think.  You have to have a strategy to survive.  A lot of people put together a plan that will work only if everything goes right.  It’s not going to.”

4.   Be honest with yourself.  “Acknowledge shortcomings,  weaknesses and problems immediately.  Do not ignore them or try to talk yourself out of them.  Address them head-on.”  So if you have production problems,  distribution or quality control problems,  fix your system.  If business is distressingly slow,  then re-think your business model—do you have a viable concept?  Or might you have been too optimistic about market potential,  or your ability to enter and win customers?  Should you step up your marketing efforts?

5.   Commit to the business.  “You can’t really do anything significant without fully committing yourself to it.  A lot of people try to dabble.  They think they’ll do it part-time and see how it works out.  If you plan to be successful,   you have to commit.”  Refer back to #1—what are your goals for the business?  Plenty of people operate successfully as part-time caterers,  musicians,  wedding photographers/videographers,  website designers,  etc.  They start a business to generate some money by leveraging a creative ability.  It takes a great deal of energy,  discipline and focus to launch and sustain a part-time business while simultaneously working a full or part-time job.  You must commit to the business if it is to succeed.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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Sidestep Start-up Screw-ups

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Presented for your edification are the final five elements of the start-up advice recommended by John Osher,  former CEO of Dr. John’s Products, Ltd. and an entrepreneur extraordinaire who started three businesses from the ground up and sold each at huge profit.

13.   SEEKING CONFIRMATION OF YOUR ACTIONS, RATHER THAN SEEKING THE TRUTH

“This often happens: you want to do something, so you talk about it with people who work for you.  You talk to family and friends.  But you’re only looking for confirmation.  You’re not looking for the truth.  You’re looking for somebody to tell you you’re right.  You have to learn to give more value to the truth than to people saying what you’re doing is right”.

14.   LACKING SIMPLICITY IN YOUR VISION

“Rather than focusing on doing everything right to sell to your biggest markets,  you divide your attention …trying to be too many things at one time.  Then your main product isn’t done properly because you’re doing so many different things”.   I have been guilty of this and maybe you have,  too.  I was trying to hook as many customer groups as possible using every skill set that I owned.  As a result,  when I would tell someone what I do,  they would sometimes get this confused look on their face.  Eventually,  a networking group colleague told me that he was having trouble trying to categorize me,  couldn’t figure how to remember me for referrals.  A couple of years ago,  I finally found the courage to pare down my offerings,  to simplify and sharpen the focus of my suite of services.   Referrals eventually increased and business got better.   This is a business model issue.  Sometimes,  less is more.

15.    LACKING CLARITY IN THE BUSINESS PURPOSE AND GOALS

“You should have an idea of what your long-term aim is.  It doesn’t mean that won’t change,  but when you aim an arrow,   you aim it at a target.  What are you trying to do?  If you want to create a billion dollar company with a certain product,  you may not have a chance.  But if you’re trying to create a million dollar company,  then maybe with that product,  you’ll have a chance.  Clarity of your business purpose is very important”.

16.    LACKING FOCUS AND IDENTITY

“This list was written from the viewpoint of building a company as a valuable entity.  Remember that the company itself has an identity,  a brand.  Do not go after too many things at once and end up with a potpourri of products and services,  rather than a focused business entity.  When you go into business,   it’s important to maintain a focus and an identity.  You must be focused on who you are and what you do and you build power and credibility from that”.

17.    LACKING AN EXIT STRATEGY

“Have an exit plan and create your business to satisfy that plan.   You may build a business that you feel will start fast and make a good deal of money and for that reason will attract a lucrative buy-out.   Maybe you figure that you can make lots of money for about two years but after that,  competitors will enter and you won’t be able to protect yourself from them.   So after the first year,  you watch the marketplace very carefully and keep a close eye on inventory.  Another exit strategy can be to hand the company to your kids someday.  The most important thing to do is build a company with value and profits so you have all the options open to you;  keep the company,   sell the company,   go public,  raise private money and so on.   A business can be a product, too”.

Next week,  we can examine five things to get right as you build your business.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Don’t Screw-up Your Start-up

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John Osher has business in his blood.  During his 7 years as an undergraduate college student,  Osher started and sold a vintage clothing store and an earring outlet.  On his way to building ConServ,  his first major business venture,  he worked as a cab driver,  plumber and a carpenter.  Second venture Cap Toys,  where sales volume reached $125 million,  was sold to Hasbro in 1997.

When formulating the strategy for his third venture,  which became Dr. John’s Products,  Ltd.,  Osher wanted to start the perfect company and so decided to make a list of everything he had done wrong as he built the previous two.  In 1999,  he used this list when he started Dr. John’s SpinBrush,  an electric toothbrush that retailed for $5.00.  Maybe you had one?  The SpinBrush became wildly popular and in 2001,  Proctor & Gamble bought him out for $475 million.  Enough said!  Below are more pearls of wisdom from John Osher’s list of start-up screw-ups:

7.    FAILING TO HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN TO ADDRESS A SHORTFALL IN SALES PROJECTIONS

“Even if you’ve been realistic about your ability to enter and penetrate your market,  sales projections and start-up and operating expenses,  there are things that happen when you start a new business.  These aren’t a result of poor planning,  but they happen.  Bank rates could go up.  There could be a strike.  You need a Plan B to cover yourself should things not work out within the timing that you want.”

8.     BRINGING IN THE WRONG OR UNNECESSARY PARTNERS

“There are certain partners you need.  If you need money,  you’ll need money partners.  But too many times the guy with the idea takes on his friends as partners.  Many people don’t provide strategic advantages.  Before people are made partners, they have to earn it”.

9.      HIRING EMPLOYEES FOR CONVENIENCE RATHER THAN SKILL

“In my first business or two,  I hired relatives,  but in many cases they were wrong for the job.  It’s hard to fire relatives and friends.  Spend time to handpick people based on skill requirements.  It bogs you down when you hire people who can’ t do the job”.

10.    NEGLECTING TO MANAGE THE ENTIRE COMPANY AS A WHOLE

“You see this happen all the time.  They’ll spend 50% of their time on something that represents 5% of the business.  Too often, the business owner doesn’t have a view of the whole company.  They get involved in part,  but don’t manage the whole.  Whether I handle this aspect or another,  whether I hire someone to do what I can’t,  I consider how it all fits into the long-term and short-term big picture.  Constantly try to see your big picture.

11.     ACCEPTING THAT “IT’S NOT POSSIBLE” TOO EASILY, RATHER THAN FINDING ANOTHER SOLUTION

“I had an engineer who was very good,  but with every product we developed,  he would say  ‘You can’t do it that way’.  I had to be careful not to accept this too easily.  I had to look further.  If you’re going to be an entrepreneur,  you’re going to break new ground.  A good entrepreneur is going to find a way”.

12.    FOCUSING ON SALES VOLUME OVER BOTTOM LINE PROFIT

“Too much of your management is often based on sales volume and market size.  There’s too much emphasis on how fast and big you can grow the business,  rather than on how much profit you can make”.

I’ll conclude with the final five elements next week. Thanks for reading,

Kim

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17 Start-up Screw-ups

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Serial entrepreneur John Osher has developed numerous consumer products,  including an electric toothbrush that became America’s best-selling toothbrush in just 15 months.  He also started several businesses,  most notably Cap Toys,  where he built sales to $125 million a year and then sold to Hasbro, Inc. in 1997.

Osher’s most important contribution to American business may not be the companies he’s started and profited handsomely from,  but rather the business advice that he’s willing to share. His list  “17 Mistakes Start-ups Make”  became a Harvard Business School case study.  See what you can learn from his entrepreneurial experiences and use it to create your version of the perfect Freelance consulting business.

  1. FAILING TO ADEQUATELY RESEARCH THE IDEA TO ENSURE IT IS VIABLE

“The most important mistake of all.  I say nine out of ten businesses fail because the original concept is not viable.  You want to be in business so much that you don’t slow down and take the time to do the up-front research,  so the business is doomed before the doors open.  You can be very talented,  but your business will fail because the concept is flawed.”  Go to the library and do your research.  Read blogs,  journals and newsletters that pertain to the industry you plan to enter,  so that you’ll know what’s going on.  Develop a credible business model.

  1. MISCALCULATING MARKET SIZE, TIMING, EASE OF ENTRY AND YOUR POTENTIAL MARKET SHARE

“Most new entrepreneurs get very excited about their concept and don’t look for the truth about how many people will want to buy what they they’re selling.”  Take the time to research and understand targeted customers and get to know why they will want to buy from you or hire you.  Calculate your potential to penetrate the target market and grow a client list you can live on.

  1. UNDERESTIMATING FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS AND TIMING

“Based on inadequate research noted in Mistakes #1 & #2,  fledgling entrepreneurs operate from the premise of over-stated market size and their ability to enter it.  They then start spending more money than they should on start-up costs,  creating costs that require those inflated sales projections to be met,  so they run out of money”.

  1. OVER-PROJECTING SALES VOLUME AND TIMING

“You have already miscalculated the size of the market.  Now you over-project your portion of it”.  Always another way to run out of money, no?

  1. UNDER-PROJECTING EXPENSES

“Cost projections are often far too low.  Part of the problem is that you’ve projected market share and sales volume that are too high.  There are always unknown reasons that come up to make expenses higher than planned”.

  1. OVER-SPENDING ON AN OFFICE, OFFICE EQUIPMENT AND EMPLOYEES

“Now you’ve got lower sales,  higher start-up costs and then you layer on too-high operating costs.”  I have seen colleagues maintain fancy offices when they have the ability to run the business from the kitchen table at home.  If you can take clients out to a restaurant for meetings,  then why pay for office space?  You can get a telephone answering service to personally take messages,  so it looks like you have a secretary.  I’ve done it for a dozen years.  Besides,  no one answers the telephone these days,  especially not in major corporations. When you need another pair of hands to take on a big project,  hire in another Freelancer and spread the wealth.

More next week.  Thanks for reading,

Kim