Are you ready to take the leap and start your own business?
We were, and we did a few years ago, and we’ve learned some things along the way.
We figured out that slight shifts in our thinking and the questions that we asked ourselves removed some bottlenecks and allowed us to progress faster.
Hopefully, they save you some time, too.
Do you want to create a solution and look for a problem? Most people take this approach and use their existing knowledge, skills, and experience to create something that they want to create and then start looking for someone who wants it. Unfortunately, there might not be anyone who wants it or has a problem that it solves.
We did it this way and wouldn’t recommend it.
You can change your product/service as you get feedback and make it work but it is not the most direct route. You will likely waste time and money figuring out if there is a problem out there to apply your solution to.
It is cleaner to start with who you want to serve, determine what problems they already have (bonus points if they are willing to pay to have them solved), and build a solution.
This is one of the biggest mistakes that new business owners make.
What you choose to call your product/service will determine how people perceive it. If you call it something that they have heard before, then they will compare it to every other one that they know about. Once they have something to compare it to, the only thing that you’ll be able to change (in their mind) is the price.
Unless it is your business model, don’t get into a race to the bottom on price.
I don’t think that enough entrepreneurs ask this question early enough.
The only two ways that businesses cease to exist are when the owners decide to shut it down and when they run out of money. The sooner you calculate your operating costs, the sooner you will know how much money you need to bring in to have a positive cash flow.
Don’t worry about getting rich. Worry about staying cash flow positive.