Stanford GSB Lecturer and former founding Chairman and CEO of VERITAS Software Mark Leslie has spent four decades as a tech founder, advisor, board member and investor. What’s the most common company-ending mistake he sees startups make? They fail to determine whether their go-to-market strategy should be led by marketing or sales. He created a simple set of questions to help startups deploy their limited resources in the right direction and give them the best shot at a successful launch: Price: Is this a large or small economic decision for the buyer? Market Size: Is it easier for them to find you or for you to find them? Level of Complexity: Can a customer self-serve to use or is education required? Fit and Finish: After all is designed, done and shipped, is there still much more for the consumer to do? Customer: Am I predominately selling directly to people or companies? Relationship: Do I measure successful customer relationships by transactions or longevity? Touch: How much agency do you have in developing your relationship with your customer? Can your efforts compound or are the mostly one-off?
To achieve your goal, you have to make a mental commitment that will be completely devoted to your business. In fact, you should ask yourself that how big of a business you are planning to have. The bigger the business, the more years you’ll need to track onto year one. One of the best pieces of advice that you can ever get in the whole process of building a business is related to the word bond. With this, it means that if you are making any commitment then no matter what happens you have to deliver the same on time. Poor decisions related to business can put your status as an entrepreneur at risk. Extra info can be seen on Marketing strategies.
Do not wait until you launch your business to get customers or consumers, because they are the central element that determines the success or failure of your initiative. Make as much networking as possible! Gather contacts! Offer samples with your product / service! It’s never too early to start marketing for your business. The main motivation for writing your business plan before you start is to save time and money later during the business development. In addition, the business plan helps you to clarify your business concept and gives you a general map based on which you will invest in growing your business. There is no need to make a detailed and fluffy business plan, focus on those essential elements of the plan that will help you throughout your business development. More information and tips on writing a business plan can be found in the How to write a business plan section.
You are the designer of your life. If there are parts of your life that do not fit well, you can make adjustments. Think of your life and career as clay on a potter’s wheel and you as the potter. Get a picture in your mind of what the masterpiece looks like and keep shaping toward that picture. – Bonnie Hagemann, Executive Development Associates Source: https://theentrepreneurresearch.com/.