Most of us could scrape together $100 pretty quickly. But, I don’t know anyone who thinks that’s the golden ticket to building a startup. If you have a strong enough business plan, however, this measely dosh can turn into a great startup fortune. Let’s unveil the tricks of the successful-startup-plan trade.
But first, a message from the guru.
Challenging Authority Since 1978
Chris Guillebeau is a rebel, a writer, a traveler and a fighter of the status quo. And he’s on a mission to help others who what to do the same. Perhaps, even help them take over the world.
He’s the author of The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future, and he wants us to know how $100 and an idea can revolutionize our life. He did it, and he’s teaching us how.
If you keep this advice in mind, then it doesn’t matter how much money you have.
Take Your Strengths and run with them
So you want to change careers, but you don’t know how. You’ve been in the hospitality business for years, but you can’t see your transferable business skills. You’re accounting job at the paper company just doesn’t seem like the inspirational career path you had imagined.
OK, so you’re stuck in a rut. Except, you’re actually not.
Chris suggests finding multiple uses for your skills so you can move them into other career areas. Writing down your strengths is always helpful. If you’ve been in hospitality, you likely have essential people and communication skills. Maybe PR is in your future. And, what about your number skills at your accounting job? That’s a great jumping off point for business starting.
When it comes to your startup, remember many of your skills and strengths are actually applicable to going it on your own. You should start looking into that two-week notice thing soon.
Simple is Sexy
Chris says to always keep your customer’s time and energy in mind. If your product, business, what have you is difficult to use, or hard to understand customers will be turned off.
When Chris created a product for travelers that turned out to be too technical, he saw his sales drop drastically. When he went back and streamlined it, making it simple to use, he earned $75,000 from happy customers.
Earn a living doing what you love
This is a no-brainer one, but doesn’t happen often enough. Chris suggests writing down the things you are passionate about and finding the one that could potentially give value and enjoyment to others. This is, of course, the essence of any great business.
Solve a problem with your product and the customers will follow
The best businesses are started after someone thought, “Man, there’s got to be a better way of doing this.” Finding a solution to the things people find difficult or struggle with is an essential part of a successful business.
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for those such things in your life and you may be on to a $1 million idea.
I would venture to say we all want to create fulfilling and meaningful lives for ourselves (and hopefully for others). Starting your own business is a pretty epic way of doing it (if done right, of course). If you want to know more about Chris’s top startup building tips, check them out here.
