Keys to Starting a Business

Key Considerations for Starting your own Business

Who? Our Speaker at my Meetup for 21 July 11 was Russ Hartley – a life-long entrepreneur. He talked about some of the key considerations in starting a company. He should know; he’s started several over the past 30 years. In one as CEO, he doubled sales for 4 consecutive years. He has another 30 years working with start-up &early-stage companies. Peter/Meetup Organizer

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

1. Should you be an Entrepreneur?
a) Do you have the passion for your product that you can pass on to others?
b) Do you have the persistence to stick it out when things aren’t going well, (ie, not happening as fast as you’d like?)
c) Do you have the drive to learn: 1) about similar products, new ideas and related fields where you don’t have professional expertise and 2) how to be both a manager & leader?
d) Can you adequately and honestly assess your own strengths & weaknesses and find the talent to offset your weaknesses? (Don’t be discouraged by not knowing everything – no entrepreneur can do it all; multiple talents and skills make for better products & services.) And make sure you communicate clearly what you are trying to do. People don’t always hear exactly the same thing. Tell them & show them in different ways.

2. What should I do next?
Once you have your concept for a product/ service, start discussing, demonstrating your idea to others. Refine your Elevator Speech & mini-Pitch. You’ll get their feedback and you may find they are so impressed, they want them to be on your team. If you don’t find everyone you need this way, determine the skills you need, then recruit. Let your present team give you feedback on what they think of potential team members.

3. Talk to sufficient “potential” Customers,
about your concept, to find out exactly what they want, so you can “tailor” your products or services to them and they’ll be more likely to buy. Remember, your product/service has to fulfill a consumer need – and be unique from its competitors – to be successful.

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