The Wo(man)-on-a-Mission Route

Scenario

·         Have an idea: ü

·         You or your partner possesses a unique skill set: X

·         Have relevant industry experience: X

·         Have relevant industry contacts: X

·         Have capital: ü

Strategy

Only having an idea, and capital to invest sounds more like a recipe for disaster. Being fixated on an idea, and relying solely on capital is one of the causes behind business failures. If you are passionate about your idea then you may want to test it first. Invite at least 25 potential users to critically comment on the idea. Take their feedback, and see if the idea survives.

The next step is to partner with someone who can help you build a prototype (click here to see how to build a prototype), and do pilot testing! As delivering any type of product or service needs a skilled person, even if the product is food one needs a chef to prepare.

Take feedback from potential users during pilot testing to further refine the product or service. Now work out who will be your supplier or third party contractor, who will be your customer particularly when it’s a B2B product then If you decide to go in the B2B market you better know in advance any potential customer who will be willing to avail your services or purchase your product. If you don’t know such a corporate customer personally, then you must ask others in your network to help you connect with one.

Having prior relationships with suppliers, vendors, or third-party contractors is helpful. If you do not know one, then use your network to find one, and approach through referrals. Randomly contacting any stakeholder will have credibility issues.

Use your capital only when extremely necessary. But before that work out how much you can afford to lose in case if the idea doesn’t flourish. Contrary to general perception, entrepreneurs globally are not gamblers, they very carefully calculate the risks, and try to minimize them as much as possible. Keep your cash safe for rainy days, and leverage the resources in your network to build your business.

Once you are connected with all the stakeholders and can deliver a product or service to a target audience in your network (click here to know how to identify your target audience), focus on one customer at a time! Remember your goal is to gain experience in the market, customer behavior, and behavior of other stakeholders.

Important thing is to satisfy customers, the quality of service is more important than quantity. Every happy customer brings more customers through word of mouth, which is considered the most effective marketing technique by business experts. Now gradually build your customer base while reinvesting profits. Generate sales, and try to achieve break-even as quickly as possible.

Hire people to help you only when you think you can't meet customer demand on your own! (click here to learn about hiring strategies)