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Articles filed in: Entrepreneurship
6 Questions Every Startup Should Ask
filed in Entrepreneurship, Strategy
1. What problem are we solving?
2. What need are we fulfilling?
3. Who are we solving the problem for?
4. How are we least like the competition?
5. How do we tell that story?
6. Why this, why us and why now?
What questions have you asked yourself?
Image by dasmart.
The Shortcut
filed in Entrepreneurship, Strategy
The secret to overnight success is that there is no such thing as an overnight success.
Here’s the formula.
DO GOOD WORK x TIME = OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED
This is how a self-published Kansas mother of three became the number #1 Amazon Business Bestseller in a week when ‘online influencers’ backed by big publishing houses launched books.
Crystal’s success didn’t happen because she wrote and published a book. It was built one blog post, one new subscriber at a time.
It turns out that taking the first step and caring enough to do it again and again is the shortcut.
Image by Dade Freeman.
Making Things Happen
filed in Entrepreneurship, Worldview
Making things happen is about making a choice.
The question you need to ask is “What do I want more?”
This or that?
Another slice of cake or smaller hips?
More time on Facebook or focus and increased productivity?
One more mind map in your notebook or something for all the world to see.
The best part is, that like puppeteer Kevin Clash you get to choose what you bring to life.
You get to decide what you want more.
If not this then what?
Image by Dan Thompson.
Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should
filed in Entrepreneurship, Strategy
The tiny suburban cafe is full to bursting every day. It’s become more than a cafe really. The early morning cyclists punctuate the end of their ride at the tables on the pavement outside. Their last stop before heading off to work for the day. It’s the place where young mothers grab a takeaway coffee once the school run is done. Where the lone businessman catches up with his email, and tops up with espresso before he heads off into the fray.
The place is buzzing, they’re doing great, but they could always do more. They get plenty of helpful advice about the possibilities. You should do this and that. Why not open another branch? Set up a twitter account? Take SMS coffee orders? Open for dinner and on and on.
Yes, they could do all of this, or none of it, but how do they decide?
The husband and wife owners think about the story they wanted to tell in the first place. About being a community cafe where people come not just to drink great coffee, but to feel that they belong. And they choose. They choose not to scale because scaling will take them away from their vision and further from where they wanted to be. They decide that they are not willing to sacrifice joy and fulfillment for growth.
They choose because they understand what will take them closer to their goal.
There are a thousand and one tactics you can use to grow your business, but each one is useless unless it aligns with your strategy and keeps you on the road you want to be on.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
You get to choose the story you tell.
Image by Peter Morgan.
The Bottom Line
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy
There’s an irony about entrepreneurship or starting a business and it’s this. When you begin you’re obsessed with the starting part. Just starting it seems is enough. You may have a vision for what could be, but there is not so much pressure to get there in the beginning. Once you’ve succeeded a little it is expected that you will find ways to scale.
When people ask you how business is going they generally want to know if your bottom line is heading in the right direction. Are profits up? Are you expanding or growing? And so business success is defined by one bottom line. A single metric.
It turns out though that many successful entrepreneurs don’t begin by focusing on just one bottom line. Visionary leaders, who build lasting brands don’t simply concentrate on revenues and profits. They begin with the ideal. They start with a problem they are itching to solve, or with the will to change something and the desire to make a difference.
If money is your only metric then you lose sight of the reason you’re in business in the first place. If you have one way of measuring your success then those numbers are what you focus on, and while your attention is there you forget what made your business successful in the first place.
The words of Neil Gaiman is his commencement address apply to entrepreneurs, creatives, freelancers, aspirational startups and MBAs alike.
“I decided that I would do my best in future not to write books just for the money. If you didn’t get the money, then you didn’t have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and I didn’t get the money, at least I’d have the work.
Every now and again, I forget that rule, and whenever I do, the universe kicks me hard and reminds me. I don’t know that it’s an issue for anybody but me, but it’s true that nothing I did where the only reason for doing it was the money was ever worth it, except as bitter experience. Usually I didn’t wind up getting the money, either. The things I did because I was excited, and wanted to see them exist in reality have never let me down, and I’ve never regretted the time I spent on any of them.”
—Neil Gaiman
Pay attention to the bottom line. Just don’t put your whole focus there.
Image by Becky McCray.
How To Get To Do The Things You Want To Do
filed in Entrepreneurship, Worldview
The best way, the only way in fact, to get from where you are to where you want to be is to begin.
You get to do what you want to do by doing it.
Maybe not all day every day at first, but it’s easier than ever now to start.
Decide what you want to see in the world.
Then go make that happen.
Image by Zen Sutherland.
Adapting Or Shaping
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy
Are you adapting to the current environment, or shaping what’s to come?
The most successful people, businesses and brands don’t jump on today’s bandwagon they design the future.
How are you doing that?
Image by Mark JP.
Make Your Idea Matter
filed in Entrepreneurship, Storytelling, Strategy
Make Your Idea Matter is finally available to buy on Amazon. Thanks to the people who bought the book yesterday it bagged a Top 3 spot on the Amazon Bestsellers list overnight!
It’s taken most of our Australian winter (or your summer), to simply get the book edited, formatted, designed and ready for publication. We’ve even completely redesigned the cover in the last three weeks. I love what Reese has done with it!
On Monday I published a post about the the subtle difference between thinking about how people feel, versus making people do. If I wanted to market this book with tactics I’d be offering you a carrot so that you’d go out and buy it. Since I’m not big on writing ‘squeeze pages’ with yellow highlighter, and I’m all about story I’ve been thinking a lot more about how you feel, than I have about making you do.
The path to success is littered with great ideas, poorly marketed, don’t let yours be one of them.
I hope that you’ll buy Make Your Idea Matter and begin using it today, to help you take your ideas out there into the world and make them fly. I hope you’ll use it to help your business stand out with a better story. I hope you’ll share it with ideas people, entrepreneurs and business owners that you care about who you know could use it too. I also hope you’ll tell us how it’s helped you in the reviews section on Amazon.com.
Lastly, without readers there would be no writers.
Thanks for making me care enough to show up every day.
Image by Sian Richardson.
How To Start Something
filed in Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Worldview
1. Make a plan.
A physical plan. Get the ideas out of your head and onto paper.
2. Create a deadline and stick to it.
Add the action steps that take you from where you are now to where you want to be.
3. Share your goal, or don’t.
Being accountable to someone other than yourself works for some, but not for others.
You decide what works for you.
4. Commit and chunk it down.
Set aside time to work on your idea every day. Gather resources. Rally collaborators.
5. Do the work.
Stop talking. Start doing.
6. Don’t let research and over-analysis stand in the way of getting started.
You’ll never have every single bit of information you need. Sometimes enough has to be good enough.
7. Stop making excuses.
Care enough to want to see your idea in the world. Then make it happen.
8. Don’t get caught in the ‘comparison trap’.
Spend your time making progress rather than comparing and contrasting. There will be plenty of time for metrics when you’re done.
9. Surround yourself with supportive people who understand your vision.
Ignore the naysayers.
10.Be a doer.
Launch. Succeed a little. Fail and learn.
11. Remember what it is you really want to see in the world.
Then go do that.
Image by Herbalizer.
What Does It Take To Be In The 1%?
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy
”99% of ”brands” are about as inspiring, interesting, and enlightening as a cup of lukewarm tea. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be.”
-Umair Haque
So the good news then is that it’s not that hard to be the 1%!
I asked Umair what he thought it took to be in the 1 %. He said;
”It takes thinking hard about creating authentic, enduring, ’meaningful value’ and doing stuff that matters.”
Creating meaningful value goes beyond focusing on the material transaction. It’s about building ‘intangible worth’ into everything you do because that’s what people care about now. Not, ”why do I need this thing?” but, ”is this something I care about?” or, “does this make a difference to me enough to deserve my time, attention or money?”
Meaningful value is Seth helping people to solve problems every day on his blog for over a decade. Innocent delivering joy alongside drinks. Lululemon creating a community and connections for yoga lovers. Chris showing people how they can live the life they want.
This is what the 1% looks like.
How could you be in the 1% for your readers, clients and customers?
Image by Eric Magnuson.