KEY LESSONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS STARTING A BUSINESS
Having been involved in hundreds of startups as an entrepreneur, lawyer, venture capital investor, angel investor, and Board member, I have learned a number of real-world lessons. In this article, I share 17 of the most important ones, along with references to other helpful articles that can offer you a more in-depth discussion of each topic.
1. Come Up With a Great Name for Your Business.
Finding the right name for your startup can have a significant impact on your success. The wrong name could result in insurmountable legal and business hurdles. Here are some quick tips for naming your startup:
* Avoid hard-to-spell names.
Do not pick a name that could be limiting as your business grows.
Conduct a thorough Internet search on a proposed name.
Get a “.com” domain name (as opposed to “.net” or another variant).
* Conduct a thorough Trademark Search.
Make sure you and employees will be happy saying the name.
Come up with five names you like, then test market the name with prospective employees, partners, investors as well as potential customers.
2. Understand That Raising Funds Is Difficult.
Raising funds for your startup will likely be more difficult and more time consuming than you imagine. It takes a great deal of effort to convince angel investors or venture capitalists to invest in your company. So you need to anticipate the time delays involved. Nevertheless keep trying and exploring avenues e.g Government grants, loans, partnership etc. are channels use to support a business.
3. Focus on Building a Great Product—But Don’t Take Forever to Launch.
Your product or service has to be at least good and of reputable standard, if not great, to start out with. It has to be differentiated in some meaningful and important way from your competitors’ offerings. All else follows from this principle. Do not dawdle on getting your product out to the market, as early customer feedback is one of the best ways to help improve it. But you do want a minimally viable product to begin with.
4. Become a Strong Salesperson.
If your business is to become successful, you must become a great salesperson. You are going to have to “sell” your business not only to customers but also to prospective investors and even to potential employees.
You must practice. You must refine your pitch. You must get feedback. You must be extroverted. You need to show confidence. You must be positive. You must be trustworthy. You must follow-up. You must ask for the sale. You must listen.
5. Build a Great Website for Your Company.
You should devote time and effort in building a great business website. Prospective investors, customers, and partners are going to check out your site and you want to impress them with a professional product. Here are some tips for building a great company website:
*Check out competitor sites.
*Start by sketching out a template for your site.
*Come up with five or six sites you can point out to your Web developer to convey what you like.
*Be sure the site is search engine optimized (and thus more likely to show up early on search results).
*Have high-quality content.
*Make sure your site is mobile optimized.
*Make sure the site is easy to load.
*Create an optimized user experience.
*Keep it clean and simple; clutter will drive visitors away.
*Make sure you have a Terms of Use Agreement and Privacy Policy.
*Make the navigation bars prominent.
*Obtain and use a memorable “.com” domain name.
Reference
Richard Harroch, Contributor
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