Minding your Business

Our Speaker for Thurs 20 October 11 was Danny Wong, HP Exec Mgr, retired CEO & SCORE Counselor. He talked about “Minding your new Business” when starting and the “lessons learned” from being a CEO and from the companies he’s counseled.

Are you Ready/Qualified? to be a Entrepreneur?
1) Do you have knowledge in the area of the product or service you want to create?
2) Do you have experience running a business?
3) Do you have experience of dealing with customers in this industry?
4) Do you have a “unique” product that is significantly different than anything else offered?
5) Can you manage the “stress” of handling all the details of starting a business?
6) Do you have the “financial resources” to be able to survive until the company starts bringing in sufficient money?
7) Does your loved ones support your effort and realize it will take a lot of your time?
If most of your questions are “yes”, go for it !!! If not, consider that you may need to strengthen that area.

What does it take to run a business?
1) Sufficiently Disciplined to do whatever it takes to succeed, when it has to be done
2) Taking Responsibility for the success of the company
3) Having the Passion (of something you really care about) that you have a great idea that the world needs
4) Naturally enthusiastic and have a High Energy level that will enable you to put in the long hours required
5) A good Planner that sets your goals & steps needed. Staying focused on sticking to your plan to achieve the results you want
6) Optimistic & Confident that you will succeed, but are sensible & realistic about the challenges.
7) Gather sufficient info to make a Quick Decision to respond in a timely manner
8) Develop an ability to deal with Ambiguity as there are always many unknowns. Make your best assumptions, implement, monitor – to get the results you want.
9) Enjoy a Competitive situation as your products compete with other products.
10) Monitoring Customer needs & Business Operation, so that you can change rapidly, when the situation calls for it.

Common Mistakes – Starting a Business
1) not doing enough Research to accurately know what your Customers want.
2) Not accurately predicting the Market Size.
3) Under-valuing the strengths, threat of the Competition
4) Under-Estimating the time & money it will take to get a good return.
5) Overly Optimistic about how easy it will be to bring product to market. Not having alternatives if Plan A or B doesn’t work
6) Not Communicating the full potential of the product to customers, possible partners, key employees & investors.

STEPS on the Road to Success
#1. identify your Target Customer
#2. determine if your product “meets their needs”
#3. determine if there is “sufficient potential customers” for your product now and in the future
#4. write/update your Biz Plan for development, market launch & early life
#5. assess your Readiness to handle operations (ie, sales, order processing, production)
#6. Get ready for Product Launch by providing the resources needed (ie, people, monetary, infra-structure)
#7. After beginning product launch, Monitor & Measure results (compared to expected). Take corrective action for results below expectations.

For more info, contact Danny.Wong@svSCORE.org Counselor or to setup a free Counseling session. For help with your Executive Summary or Pitch, contact Peter/CXO Wiz4biz Organizer & 5 Star Startup Services

Comments: What do you think? Is there anything we left out?