Aim for big company. It’s easier to manage bigger company than the smaller one.
Idea
Start with what you love doing, what you obsessed with. Don’t be scared if the idea is not original. It doesn’t matter, if you outpassion them.
Find a partner for the things you don’t like to do, but he/she does.
Execution
What is the first thing you can do to make your idea come to life? Make first step easy, don’t be hard on yourself.
Consider where revenue is gonna come from. Experiment with revenue models. Don’t limit yourself, especially with charging by the hour.
Find the purpose. If the only purpose is to make money, then everyone who is working for you, will want more money. Everyone who you are working with, will want to pay you less money.
How to win
- Love what you do.
- Delay gratification. Don’t rush to charge your clients. Consider if working for free could allow you to understand you customers better. Build value, charge later.
- Client-centric culture.
- Be lucky. Hack the luck: be persistent - outlast other people, know your destination - know what is success for you.
- Learn how to take risks. Embrace fear. Accept the fact that you can lose everything.
How to lose
Success is accepting the failure. Don’t be scared to lose. Learn how to bounce back. Build stamina to lose.
Don’t let things own you.
Let you short-term ego go. It’s the type of ego that cares how you look in the eyes of other people. Let people underestimate you.
Take your time.
Business plan is useless. Make a mindmap.
Hobby → Business → What can you do → What it would lead to, what directions the business can go
Find purpose. What is your purpose.
Ask yourself “What problem matters to me?“. If it doesn’t come up at first thought, ask yourself what was you affected by, e.g. “banks aren’t open after 5 pm”.
Match what you do in your daily life with what is your purpose.
You don’t have to do it on your own.
Find a co-founder with the same moral code but who is the opposite of you in terms what he/she likes to do.
How to sell
Sell the sizzle, not the stake. Talk how the product is a game-changer. Tell about outcomes, results, philosophy.
Understand your customer. Focus on the people that do need what you’ve got.
Understand the person you are working with: do you like them? Do not work with people you don’t like.
Think long-term. Top 1% sales people build system to keep in touch with their desired client regularly, e.g. every single month, and send them something to keep in touch and be visible, build relationship. It takes long time. Build email lists. Be persistent.
Bring your personality into sales. Be authentic, be yourself.