- We have built and launched exactly 30 tech products for our clients in the past 5 years. 15 have shut down. 7 are new (< 1 year). 8 are still alive and breathing, but not kicking. 2 are blockbusters (>$50 million valuations). Here are 10 things that I realized was different with those 2 projects
- I want to open a shopify store with a goal of $500CAD/ month. what are some tips on how i can get started?
- Will I be negatively affected if I close my Chase Business Banking account?
- Help with my Window Cleaning LLC
- Is it a bad idea to use Chinese suppliers right now in light of the coronavirus? sorry if this a dumb question/tangentially related just wondering if/how you all are handling this
- Friend asked to invest in a company but he is refusing to teach me anything about their business
- Acquisitions!
- What are the best programming languages to learn as entrepreneur?
- How would you use $1,000 to start an agency? (Web development/SEO/content)
- Looking for feedback on my Landing Page and Reddit Ad
- Vending machine or small shop owners, where do you buy your snacks and drinks from at a discounted rate?
- Has anyone worked with private label manufacturers? If so how did you pick the one that you started working with?
- Questions for someone who does graphic T-Shirts
- Wantrepreneur here looking for some inspiration
- My apparel company journey - part 2 - customer service and creative emails
- If i am introducing a whole new food product in my small city, how can i study the customer demand? If they never heard of it how can be there any demand?
- Need some advice on moving forward with my contracting business.
- Using Square online store for a cbd startup?
- Foundergiant "Startup Stories"
- Starting a hybrid job board/hiring software platform - but how do I solve the chicken and the egg issue?
- Are there any ways to easily earn a few hundred dollars online?
- Do you think there is a market for a corporate mental welfare consultancy?
- Acquiring clients while dealing with an anxiety disorder?
- 18yo looking for some ways to make money! (online or not no preference)
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST I wrote the below post after we launched our 30th product, just to try to make a note to self on whether any early signs gave away how successful the 2 products would go on to become. I then shared it with my team internally first, and since they loved it felt would make sense to share to a wider audience. 1) Both the startups had 2 founders with varying skillsets In both cases, there was 1 founder who led product - and was our primary point of contact. We had very limited interaction with the other founder - who was primarily out there leading sales/marketing/fundraising. This ensured that there were not too many hands in a single basket and helped in clear decision making 2) The founders had known each other for more than 10 years Not exactly surprising is it? But in both the cases the founders had known each other for more than 10 years - and in one case it was 28 years! In most of the other startup products that we helped launch, I have noticed a lot of founder disputes that lead to tension or founders parting ways at the first disagreement. Founder fights are a lot more common than I had initially thought, and especially for a pre-product-market fit/pre-revenue startup, a nasty founder fight would mean curtains for the company. I assume the fact that the founders know each other so well made them look through the indifferences and egos. Also given that the founders were so close, they would want to fight through it more for the other, rather than just themselves. 3) The founders' ideas were in industries that they had prior expertise in In both the cases, we were working with slightly older first-time founders (> 30 years) who had been through the grind of the corporate routine for many years, laboured through the ranks, established their credibility in their space and identified the gaps in the market before venturing out. Having been a relatively young founder myself - and struggling for 2 years before finding my true calling - every time I spoke with the founders of these companies, I was amazed by the clarity of thought they had on their core idea. That was probably the only time I regretted starting too early. 4) The beta version of both the products was built within 2 months from the time of UI/UX finalization These were the 2 projects that took us the shortest time from UI/UX finalization to beta launch (~2 months), which is ideally how the first version of the launch should be. We have seen many a time with our other clients, founders keep adding newer unvalidated feature requests that would bloat up both the product and the timelines. There is nothing like getting a product out in the market and seeing the first revenue when the fire in one's belly is burning the brightest (which is in the first 6 months). And the first taste of revenue and validation helps fuel that fire. There have been a couple of cases with clients where the product cycles were long drawn out - by which time the founders were demotivated, exhausted and the products died a slow painful death even before the launch 5) The sales cycle for both the products were more than twice our average sales cycle Where these two sets of founders did spend time on though was evaluating and finalizing their tech vendors. Which is ideally how the way it should be. A lot of times clients try to dismiss the tech vendors as adding no intellectual value - and to just listen to their orders. Many a time, the evaluation process focuses on asking tech vendors to show a website or feature - and ask if we have built it before. This is wrong on so many levels - it means that a similar product is already out there in the market and it also means you are not looking at innovation or originality from your tech vendor - but just looking to build what's already been built by them. While this helps in shortening the sales cycle, it surely does not help in building a truly innovative product. But with these two startups, while there was an initial level of screening basis our portfolio, every discussion post that till contract closure focused on how we could add value. They asked us (and I am sure the other vendors too) a lot of questions outside just what we built - and evaluated our design thinking, product development approach, knowledge of the industry/sector, feedback on the idea and ways to perfect it. While this lengthened the sales cycle, by the time we were ready to start, we knew each others' teams really well too - which surely helped. 6) The value of both the projects was less than our median project value In spite of all the above - the project value for both the projects' was in the bottom 50% of the 30 products built. Which meant how laser-focused they were on what they wanted. There were a core set of features that they wanted to be perfectly working before the beta launch - and were focused on cutting off all the flab from the product. 7) Both the startups had five full-time technology hires within 6 months of the beta launch While from a business point of view, we would love for our clients to continue having us as vendors forever, looking at it from the other side - it does not make sense at all. Having worked with multiple founders' I feel if one is building a technology focused-product, having an outsourced development team can only get you so far. Founders' would have to hire their own in house team to quickly scale and be more nimble. Both these startups' realized that and were quick to get a small technology team inhouse in place from their revenues/seed funds very soon post the beta launch 8) Both the startups were in the B2C space and generated their first revenue within a day of launch These two were the only clients of ours' that started generating revenue from the first day of the launch. And had pretty solid business models right from the beginning. It also says a lot about their planning and marketing - that they were able to launch with a splash 9) Neither of the startups' founders was too worried about the technology stack used, the patents or the infrastructure setup. The founders' stuck to their core of sales/marketing/product and let us take the call when it came to technology. A lot of times with other clients - a lot of importance was given to the tech stack, infrastructure, patents etc. - which though important in the long run, is surely not important in the pre-product market fit stage. This helped us be more nimble and move quickly since they trusted us. 10) Neither of the startups' founders was too worried about getting their "idea" stolen and built by us This is another thing that was refreshing about them. A lot of times founders' do not completely open up or be honest to us about their ideas, in fear of us building the same. One thing I have realized is that irrespective of how amazing the idea is, the only thing that matters is its execution. Execution is severely underrated. No way would we or any technology vendor think of taking whatever we built for you to the market. We have got enough on our plates already. And even these founders' realized it. They realized that the only way they could build a really good product was if they transferred all their knowledge about the idea to us. We had to put ourselves in their shoes to ensure the product vision came across, and for that, the founders' had to be as open and transparent as possible. And open and transparent they were. Disclaimer: The above may be posted on other platforms/subreddits too, which may generate few leads - but the original post was not written with that intention. I am the founder of a product development agency that primarily works with other founders to bring their ideas to life. More on what we do here. We also have another agency that works on small development tasks on existing products. More about it here DM if you want to know what those 2 blockbuster products are. Cannot post the names publicly. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 01:51 PM PST As a busy college student with limited part time employment, I am entertaining the idea of opening a shopify store with a goal of $500CAD/month in extra income. I am more than aware of the fact that using e-commerce platforms/business models (FBA, affiliate marketing, shopify, etc) are not profitable and scaleable long term. i'm also aware of the fact that they are beyond saturated. But my goal is to simply make an extra $500CAD ontop of what i earn working part time. do any of you guys have tips on how i can get started? [link] [comments]  |
| Will I be negatively affected if I close my Chase Business Banking account? Posted: 25 Jan 2020 12:59 PM PST Long story short - I opened a Chase business account 4 months ago, and have come to the realization that I no longer want to run the business (shopify store) that it's tied to, and the business account is costing me $15 a month because I'm under the $1500 account balance. If I close the account, will it affect my credit score? Any input welcome - thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Help with my Window Cleaning LLC Posted: 25 Jan 2020 12:49 PM PST Howdy r/Entrepreneur My name is Daniel, and I have started a Window Washing LLC in the small town I live in. There is a large city neighboring where I live too. I have already registered my business by state and federal, chosen a contract to use, and looked and my work insurance options. Washing windows is as no problem for me, I even specialize in High rise work. The real help I need is how to drum up business. I've contacted some local marketing people to see if they're services would help me. I really need to know how to get contracts with local businesses and get residential clients too. -Daniel [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 12:40 PM PST |
| Friend asked to invest in a company but he is refusing to teach me anything about their business Posted: 25 Jan 2020 04:41 AM PST My friend approached me to invest in the company which he is starting with a highly experienced guy who is the manufacturing head of a major corp. They need money but he is telling me that none of them will mentor me about anything because if they will mentor me about their business then there role will have no meaning and I will learn all the trade which in his opinion will allow me to start my own company. I don't have any business experience but his attitude is making me question our friendship even. He knows I don't have any clue about their industry and teaching me the basics of it won't hurt them yet his attitude came out of as a guy who will be extremely jealous to see me succeed in this business. His attitude is highly selfish so let me know if it's ok to not mentor your friend or business partner in the very business you want him/her to invest in. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 12:02 PM PST Today I was a guest on "The Acquisition Entrepreneur" where Alex Afandi and I discussed our process into our first acquisition. We had some great laughs from stories but we shared some valuable information. Comfort breeds weakness, but DISCIPLINE equals freedom. Come check it out! The Acquisition Entrepreneur on iTunes. [link] [comments]  |
| What are the best programming languages to learn as entrepreneur? Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:06 AM PST I don't care about the need in the market because I'm not planning to apply to a job. Just want to be able to sit down for a couple of months in my room like a caveman and program a web saas, shopify app, or at least know what my developers are doing in a case that I decide to hire people to code for me. [link] [comments]  |
| How would you use $1,000 to start an agency? (Web development/SEO/content) Posted: 24 Jan 2020 04:49 PM PST Hi guys. Hope everyone has a good weekend. If someone has $1,000 to start an agency, how would they best allocate those funds? What would you put into advertising/other marketing channels/your own website/etc? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for feedback on my Landing Page and Reddit Ad Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:34 AM PST Hi Guys! I am feeling a little down right now. This would be the 2nd time I am trying this and so far haven't received any inquiries after running the ad for a week on Reddit. Would really appreciate your feedback on the Landing Page and the Reddit Ad The last time I tried the same service but with Facebook ads and spent over $200 in Ads but it did not lead to any inquiries either. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:28 AM PST I am interested in buying a vending machine and creating a few routes, but want to know the available overhead I can make per snack before investing. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:05 AM PST I am in the process of creating a clothing company with original ideas and not just slapping my logo onto a readymade hoodie. The issue that I have is that I have no experience making tech packs so I need the company to create tech packs and prototypes. How do I find a private label manufacturer that will be able to keep costs down and provide me with quality products? Do private label manufacturers give out samples of their work? [link] [comments]  |
| Questions for someone who does graphic T-Shirts Posted: 25 Jan 2020 08:56 AM PST So, I'm a serial entrepreneur, but most of my businesses have been in the advanced 3D computer software space. However, I had a creative brainstorm that's a tangent of that and created a couple of T-Shirt designs that I want to produce and possibly license. So far I have the design and am having a small run produced. I have filed for a LoC copyright on the design and registered a trademark (the design, if successful, would be prone to copycat'ing). I plan to sell my first run online myself (I'm pretty qualified with setting up ecommerce myself) with some minimal online marketing and also shop them around to some brick and mortar stores in my region (it's a regional tourism design) and see how it goes. I am also open to the idea of licensing the design to others to produce because they'll have better production economies of scale and processes than I will. My questions would be mostly around the business model. I think I have a pretty decent landed price point (< $9ea for Gildan or Jerzees standard sizes, printed) for the quantities I'm starting at. What margin, retail price point and quantities should I be offering retail stores that I an shopping them to? What are normal policies when stocking a tourism/branded graphic Tee at a mall-type or tourist trap retail store? Do they expect stock balance privileges if it doesn't sell through? If I go with the license option (the design is appropriate for sweatshirts, and possibly even other items like coffee mugs, etc), how is licensing usually done? Exclusive? What rates or royalties are typical? I know the answers are as wide as the sea, but imagine for a moment it's a unique and reasonably popular design that does stand out from the usual regional tourism graphic tees. Any data points or insights appreciated. Bonus: Anyone from Colorado who likes 80s gothic rock, PM me. I'd be happy to show you the design and get you one or more at my cost when I have the first batch. [link] [comments]  |
| Wantrepreneur here looking for some inspiration Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:57 AM PST So, I've always had this idea in the back of my head that I wanted to start my own business, but I didn't think about it seriously until a little under a year ago (when I started working full-time, basically). The goal is to start a business on the side which, in 5 years time, can generate 50k/year in profits and can be run from home. I'm guessing, based on what I've read, that this isn't too much of a stretch, but isn't exactly easy either. So, what are some businesses that can be run entirely from a computer on the evenings and weekends? If you have any ideas let me know. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| My apparel company journey - part 2 - customer service and creative emails Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:42 AM PST My Apparel Company Journey - Part 2 - Customer Service and a Little Email Creativity Hey all, me again. I posted a few days ago deciding I wanted to document my apparel company's journey from prelaunch and onwards. Here is the original post if you wanna see it So one of my main uncomforts from the past few days was the email list - I had spent close to $400 gathering a prelaunch email list so I didnt launch to crickets when the time was right. Worst case scenario, I could make a lookalike audience on FB from those 1100 subscribers and market to them AND get some website traffic + actions to help season my pixel a little bit. I was worried that sending too many emails would annoy people, but I said f*ck it, what do I have to lose. The first 2 emails announcing preorders were open did meh - some opens, some clicks, 1 sale. Yesterday, I decided to get a little creative with my email. I made a silly subject line "wow V. casual" (my brand tone is funny - think chubbies, dr. squatch etc.). In that email, I listed off 6 reasons why this piece of clothing is so incredibly amazing (also had some funny copy in there - but the reasons were actual selling points). For example, one of the reasons was: Want a new dog? GO FOR IT. These undies probably won't help in acquiring said dog, but we'll be damned if they're not the best dog-walking undies around. Bonus points if you walk your dog with JUST these on. Power move. I'm subscribed to a few email lists of the brands I like and I got inspo for this email from Chubbies. Anyways, ended up getting around 4 preorders with an average value of $50 USD. Not bad! So from here on out, I'm gonna be getting creative with my email campaigns. I guess people like funny content, and it's a good way to talk about your product without coming across as too sale-sy. Another interesting thing that happened was related to customer service. When I started the Instagram page back in November, I managed to grow it a little bit. There was this one follower that was particularly enthusiastic - always DMing asking when we'd release the product, commenting on everything, giving suggestions etc. Awesome! So he was loyal from the start. He ended up ordering yesterday, but forgot to put in a coupon code. He messaged us telling us he forgot and it was his fault so he doesn't expect us to send the 10% back. We refunded him the 10% anyways because he's been so loyal, and he ended up buying another pair. In my previous business, I always found customer service to be extremely powerful. That's one of the reasons I love brands like Allbirds so much - quick replies, no B.S. and extremely customer friendly. So that's what's happened since my last post. Orders are coming in, albeit slowly, and FB ads are starting to gain some traction. I'll be back in a few days with some updates! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:00 AM PST |
| Need some advice on moving forward with my contracting business. Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:22 AM PST As stated above, if recently started a contracting business with me as the only employee. I was foolish and put many of my business purchases (tools, fasteners) on my personal cc tonget started up. Is it wise to apply for a personal loan to pay off my cc? Which will be more cost efficient in the long run and reduce overall cost? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Using Square online store for a cbd startup? Posted: 24 Jan 2020 10:33 PM PST I am in the early stages of starting a cbd related company and need to decide on what kind of online store platform to use. I'm leaning towards going with Square because they don't have a monthly fee and it seems like they have other tools that I think would be useful in growing the business. If anyone could share some knowledge or other suggestions I'd appreciate it. [link] [comments]  |
| Foundergiant "Startup Stories" Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:30 AM PST I decided to add a new feature called "Startup Stories" to my cofounder-finding platform Foundergiant A few stories per week will be published on the site. I'm open to letting startup owners choose what they want to talk about so there are no set questions but it obviously needs to be relevant to your startup. The only criteria is that the product must be available to consumers and cannot be a well established business (so let's say less than 3 years old). It also can't be an obvious "advert" for your startup. You are free to point out how your product solves certain problems and what advantages it has over some of your competition but it has to be an enjoyable and informative read. As for the topics, it can be about how you have started your startup, a specific problem that you had to solve that other startups can learn from. It can also be in interview format. What you gain from this: DM me here if you are interested or contact me via the Contact form on Foundergiant. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2020 04:42 AM PST To give an overview, the platform is for entry level jobs where we look beyond experience and qualifications, offering a profile for candidates that shows their values, interests and personality - we then match this to employers and rate them accordingly for employers. It makes money from employers paying a subscription to post unlimited job and match with unlimited candidates. However, how do I solve the issue of needing jobs to get it going at the same time. I feel like if there are only 1 or 2 jobs candidates will be annoyed when they finish their profile and only have 2 jobs available. Any advice? [link] [comments]  |
| Are there any ways to easily earn a few hundred dollars online? Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:16 AM PST I have looked on countless sites for this information and all of them say to go to survey sites like Swagbucks, SurveyJunkie, etc. and when I do go onto those sites they ask for way too much personal information. Is there any way to earn money online easily without the site being too intrusive on personal data? [link] [comments]  |
| Do you think there is a market for a corporate mental welfare consultancy? Posted: 25 Jan 2020 03:09 AM PST I've been thinking about this a while. I am a qualified coach and team facilitator. But I'm wondering if I could create some corporate packages around mental health and welfare, such as reviewing policies, offering coaching, maybe a certain set of workshops/ seminars. It's just an initial idea and may be awful but just wondering if anyone has come across this before? [link] [comments]  |
| Acquiring clients while dealing with an anxiety disorder? Posted: 24 Jan 2020 05:14 PM PST Thanks for taking the time to look at my post. I run a one person web design business, and I've been able to bring on three clients this year. The only way I've been successful in finding clients is by finding businesses on Facebook that could use my services and reaching out to them. This seems like the right thing to do, but every time I start looking for clients, and thinking about who could benefit from working with me, I get an overwhelming rush of anxiety. The rejection when they don't need my services doesn't bother me that much but reaching out initially is where I struggle. It's difficult to type up the first sentence, it's difficult to open the response that they send back and it's difficult to carry a conversation if they are interested. I can't afford a psychologist and I've tried several medications but they make me feel flat and unmotivated. Is a business partner the solution for this? Or can someone recommend some techniques/readings that might help me? I'm passionate about business and really want to pursue this but my anxiety is honestly getting in my way so much. I really want to succeed, and I don't want to feel like this to do so. Thanks a lot for reading guys. [link] [comments]  |
| 18yo looking for some ways to make money! (online or not no preference) Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:26 AM PST Hey! Im in college studying for a CS degree. And I would like to learn some way to start making some money! I dont have any chance to have a part time job for some personal/tranpost reasons. it can be online or not, i just want to make some money! [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Entrepreneur. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment