A company's mission, vision and values set the direction of the company. These may sound like things that only large companies need (or have the time to do) but you will quickly find, without an overall North Star and guiding direction, you can get lost quickly. Especially in the constantly changing environment of a new venture, these are essential.
There are many factors that go into this determination: the nature of the industry, established players, competitive solutions, pricing models, market influences, nature of the disruption, and the list goes on. How do you understand when the market is ready for your product or service?
Until recently most public relations activity involved person-to-person contact between PR professionals and members of the media, such as journalists and television news reporters. However, several trends are developing that alter the tasks performed by PR people. In most cases these changes are the result of new Internet technologies that are quickly gaining widespread acceptance among Internet users and are becoming new media outlets in their own right.
As an entrepreneur, we think that the market needs our solution now and can’t understand why it is taking so long to get investors, win customers or attract employees. While this perspective can be exciting, it can also create misalignment of people, financial resources and expectations. Have you ever looked down the strip in Las Vegas and seen your hotel and decided it was not too far to walk? The backdrop of the strip creates an optical illusion. As you walk, you realize how far away it is. Had you known, you would have prepared differently.
People will ask an entrepreneur "what is your plan and too often that question is met with a dazed and confused look. What does it mean to have a plan? It comprises three components - strategic plan (which sets your strategy), financial plan (which sets your financial goals and performance) and operating plan ((that details how the company will align its efforts to achieve the financial plan and the overall objectives of the company. In a startup, it is not essential that you have these as three separate plans like a larger organization would. It is important that your plan includes element of your strategy and how that strategy is translated into financial results and your daily operations.
When you start a business, you spend a lot of time alone with your thoughts. Even if you’re not a solo operation, there may be very few people that you confide in or talk openly to. You probably have your inner circle. It may start with a circle of one—you—or maybe your small team. To get your business moving, you develop relationships with a select few people who are helping you get ahead. This might be a vendor such as a design firm or manufacturing company who helps you create your product or service. It might be a broker that helps you raise money. So you start to think that your vendors and investors have your best interests at heart. It’s good to be able to work with and confide in people that want to see our business be successful. Not always.
You've worked from inception to birth and now your company is evolving. You might be bringing on co-founders, senior level team members and employees. You want everyone to be aligned to and share in the success of the business, but how do you determine how much equity to give everyone? One of the most difficult decisions you will have to take as a founder is how to distribute equity among your co-founder(s) and earliest employees. Equity negotiations can be a cause of disagreements and stress and yet, are absolutely necessary.
Who has time for training? That's what many entrepreneurs think. But a little training can go a long way. Whether it is making employees more productive, or providing clarity or improving quality, training can help team members contribute more effectively. Properly run start-ups place a great deal of emphasis on recruiting and the interview process in order to build their talent base. Unfortunately, often the investment in people stops there.
Getting out in front of employee issues as a startup can help you avoid some challenging issues down the line. Many of these issues can be avoided by putting in place some standard policies and documentation that deal with many employee issues. Below is a list of the top employment law issues startups face and what to consider when faced with these matters.’
No one likes to think about taxes. But as a startup you must consider them when you are making decisions about how to set up and run your company. When starting a business, there are some key tax issues to consider.
Many businesses struggle not because they can't generate sales, but because they don't manage cash. There is nothing more important to the success of your business than your system for managing cash due from sales through your process of billing and collections. You can have lots of customers, but if you don't collect money from them, you will go out of business. For your business to get paid efficiently, you need to establish several things, including payment methods and payment terms, billing and collections.
The reason that companies have exit interviews is to gain valuable information which can prove to be useful in all aspects of the work environment, including aspects such as the work culture, day to day concerns, processes, issues around management style, workplace ethics and employee morale. This is an invaluable way to gain insights that you may not have been able to garner when an employee is still on the team.
Founders must be able to put every dime they can into growing their startups. One main way to accomplish this is by saving as much money as possible on expenses. When founders must put a great deal of money into equipment, office space, and employees, there’s less money left over to spend on marketing and networking. That being said, there are often benefits to being with others and today there is a wide range of options of where to work.
The Internet has changed competitive marketing analysis as we know it. While analyzing other organizations previously required some sneaking around akin to espionage, the growing importance of a web presence means that virtually everything you need to know about other companies in your industry can be found online.
While we always say when you are an entrepreneur there is no difference between your business life and your personal life, when you start your business you actually have to create some separation between the two. There are important financial, legal and tax reasons to separate your business and personal finances.
Advisory boards can be an invaluable source of insight. Think of an advisory board as a collection of mentors that can provide individual expertise, provide you a sounding board for ideas, give you advice, introduce you to valuable contacts, and tell you when you’re potentially making a mistake.
Stock Option Plans are an extremely popular method of attracting, motivating, and retaining employees, especially when the company is unable to pay high salaries. A Stock Option Plan gives the company the flexibility to award stock options to employees, officers, directors, advisors, and consultants, allowing these people to buy stock in the company when they exercise the option.
Incorporating or forming an LLC gives you the right to operate in the state of formation. You must apply for the right to operate in any other state. That process is known as foreign registration or foreign qualification. So if you form in Delaware or Nevada (or another state) but you transact business in another state, you will have to qualify your business in that state - what is often called a "foreign corporation." When we hear the word "foreign" most of us think of something outside the United States. However, in the world of U.S. corporations and LLCs, the word foreign has a different meaning. This means if a company is doing business outside of its state of formation, it must register to do so. It is usually straightforward, but nearly always requires filing documents and paying fees.
India is still the predominant resource for outsourcing technology development but many other countries play actively in providing this service.
One of the most important lessons I learned at my company was that it is a blessing to acknowledge when you come across something you don’t know, not a curse. When you first start, you think if you don’t know something or the company can’t do something, it is a flaw. It’s quite the contrary. It’s critical that you understand, recognize, acknowledge and embrace your flaws and the company’s shortcomings. This is counterintuitive. Entrepreneurs are driven, intelligent and confident. Not knowing something seems like a sign of weakness. It’s the opposite.
What does your brand stand for? When we are starting out, we have no brand. So setting down what you want your brand to stand for is a foundation to how you will be perceived by employees, customers, investors and all others that your company touches. I know you don't see how brand pays the bills, but setting out who you are in the eyes of your constituents can set the tone for the things that do pay the bills.
It is one thing to start a business but what does it take to run a business. Let’s assume that we entrepreneurs all come to the table with passion, grit and a good idea. So why does one business with an idea succeed and another with the same idea fail?
The legal structure or "type of company" you choose for your business is one of the most important decisions you will make in the startup process. Your choice of structure can greatly affect the way you run your business, impacting everything from liability and taxes, to control over the company. The key is to figure out which type of entity gives your business the most advantages when it comes to helping you to achieve your organizational and personal financial goals. The good news is that once you decide on the entity, there are services that can handle all the filings for a few hundred dollars.
The fundamentals of marketing are the same from one business to the next. It is the ability to use our entrepreneurial creativity to generate great and differentiated content and messages that sets us apart. In order to capture the greatest degree of prospect interest possible in your product or service, you’ve got to have something truly awesome to trade if you want consumers to interact with your brand. Even simple tasks such as getting consumers to join an email list have become difficult as consumers have become hypersensitive to being spammed.
While you shouldn’t evaluate the meaning of your life every day, you must put aside time to do it on a regular basis. Otherwise, you fall victim to the momentum of daily activities and obligations without asking yourself, “Am I happy?” For years, I didn’t do this.
