10 questions you need to answer before you start a business.
September 14 - still a work in progress...
- Why do you want to start the business?
- What will your moral standards be?
- Why is your product or service better than your competition?
- Are you willing/able to stick with the business through hard times?
- Are you a disciplined person? do you have high energy? are you optimistic by nature?
- Can you sell - or are you willing to learn how to sell?
- Are you flexible? risk tolerant? humble? confident?
- Do you understand basic principles of accounting? do you have a board, mentor, advisor? have you engaged an attorney?
- Can you manage people? relationships?
- Is your family on-board
- Have your ideas, plans, procedures, status, etc. been vetted/protected by an attorney?
- In the mind of your customer, what are the three most important attributes of your product or service?
Exercises:
- Answer the typical social-setting question: What do you do?
- Create a brochure. Note: You may or may not ever use the brochure. It will become content for your website. You will use it to test your value proposition in front of prospects.
- Identify the five most common selling objections and answer them.
- Take a personality test - are you emotionally prepared for business ownership?
An entrepreneur should assess his skills in these key areas:
Leadership & Management (they are not the same)
Writing
Selling & Marketing (likewise; not the same)
Stress Management
Risk aversion
Cleverness
Keep in mind that nature will array her forces against you. There will be problems, delays, doubts and pushback for every encouragement, support, subsidy and piece of luck you receive. On balance you will need to be clever, resourceful, lucky and persistent to succeed. The odds may never be in your favor, but so long as you are nimble and not too highly leveraged you can pivot to opportunities you discover. Preparation meeting opportunity = luck.
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