Diary of a virgin entrepreneur

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Diary of a virgin entrepreneur – age 40 ¾

by Barney Austen on March 16th, 2010
22 Comments

I first ventured out of the world of secure PAYE employment about 2 years ago. Some of that time was spend consulting and more recently working product development.

I kept some notes that I thought I’d share with some of the lessons that I’ve learnt along the way.

So in no particular order, here we go;

Business cards and your website are NOT the most important things to sort out on day 1.

Find out if you have a market for your idea or product as quickly as possible.

Use on-line surveys (http://surveymonkey.com as an example – it’s free)

Talk to potential customers

Talk to and observe your competition.

Don’t ask your family. They will lie and tell you it’s a great idea even if it’s not!

It takes some time, but boy does it save you hard cash and heart break down the road!

Business plans are great when you need to get your hands on cash or demonstrate your strategy. If you don’t need either of these things initially, create a short one – <5 pages. Keep it updated, your plans will change as you develop.

Create a business development plan. Where are you now? Where do you want to get to? How are you going to get there? Do a SWOT to help you along. Write this as succinctly as possible. If you are over 2 pages, it’s too many! Take your time doing this – it’s worth its weight in gold. It’s your map!

Limited or sole trader. Go for the latter as long as you can. There is less hassle from an accounts perspective along with the overhead of directoral/company secretary obligations to the company registrations office and tax authorities.

Marketing is the number one activity you can perform for your business. Social media sites along with more traditional routes do work. Have a plan though. Bit like business development one, keep it sub 2-3 pages!

If you are not launching yourself as a consultant and are doing something like building a product, please try and hold onto your day job for as long as possible. You will not make revenue quickly from your idea. It will take longer than you expect. It’s nice to be able to afford to buy food!

Get HELP as soon as you possibly can. Talk to other business owners about their experiences. Talk to government agencies like the enterprise boards who can give you advice. Talk to as many people as you can to get the questions you need answered.. well, answered. Oh and pay out as little as possible while you’re doing it. A cup of coffee goes a long way!

Have faith in yourself and prepare yourself for “knocks”, there will be many.

Get out there and do it. It’s truly liberating. Master of your own destiny and all that!

These are some considerations for first time business owners/entrepreneurs. Can you think of others?

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This post is part of the SugarTone: Sweet Business Blogging Contest.

Category: Start-ups, Sugartone

Tags: business, business development, business innovation, business plan, business planning, Business startup, small business owners, starting your business

The Author: Barney Austen

Budding entrepeneur working on software product solutions for business. My background is mainly operational and senior management roles in mobile telecoms and software houses. Areas of expertise include professional services, out-sourcing, team management and general operations management. I've made the conscious decision to create my own company having spent the last 20 years learning in the corporate world. In my contributions to this forum, I will share some insights and learnings that I've picked up along the way and hopefully they will be useful to some or all! http://www.myprojecttracker.com

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http://richardmclaughlin.biz/ McLaughlin

It’s funny to see people that make their business stationary and business cards in their first days of business. I suppose IF you sell business stationary and business cards then they are the #1 thing to do, but otherwise they are not.
In addition to the business plan I like having a one page proposal. A 1PP is like your elevator pitch, but on paper. Have the benefits you supply to a customer ready to show and we all know that no one will read more than one page unless they are already hooked.
In the marketing section, keep in mind that a testimonial from a happy client is worth more than the things that you say. Work with your first customer to get a testimonial. If they write a weak one, call up and fill in the blanks with your words, asking if the customer would agree with your statements (Mr. Customer, where you said “he was good” would you be willing to say that .. ). Make sure you send the full copy to the customer and get the customer to agree to your using it.
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

For someone OUT of PAYE for over 6 years, I can concur with all you wrote in your post. I would feel anyone starting out fresh is a daunting prospect (to put it mildly) and the Business Cards and Website might be the only piece of sanity to hold on to as we dip our toes into the hot waters of business. The practical things are much easier to tackle, but of course it’s important not to get bogged down with them.
For some, everything else seems less of a torture than picking up that phone and making the first sales call…
Thanks for sharing your virginal experiences, Barney
http://www.channelship.ie/blog facundo

I disagree. I would have biz cards from day one, but probably with no title (just in case it changes real soon). And I would also have a website from day 1. Nobody knows you, nobody heard from you, somebody must be encouraged by your cards or website, to give you that “coffee” opportunity after a cold call. Oh, and I would say cold call as early as possible to lose fear and see if your ideas make sense while trembling on the phone!
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Barney, “If you are not launching yourself as a consultant and are doing something like building a product, please try and hold onto your day job for as long as possible” this is good advice, however I would add one stipulation, in that it is easy to fall between a rock and hard place. Your biz will need your full attentions sooner rather than later and it is likely that this will require sacrifice (financial & otherwise) for a period of time. So plan your transition and expect that it may hurt at least initially.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Super points. Thanks for adding them (and reading!). I like the 1PP – makes sure you can do the pitch with confidence. The use of testimonials is another excellent one. Cheers,
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Facundo. The statement around the Business cards and website is based on the timing. i..e I got those done before doing anything else – including deciding my final product. For commercial launch or for generating interest, you do need them. But the first day in the office – it is highly unlikely you will be talking to anyone as you try and decide the “what”. Thanks for reading and commenting
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for commenting Elaine. You are right – the first sales call is really difficult… as is the second.. especially if the first is a knock-back. You have to be prepared for those knock -backs and move on. A hint a friend of mine gave me… (with some easy maths). If you sell X for EUR200, and you need 100 sales calls to get 1 sale. Create an excel or list with the 100 people you are going to contact in it. As you call each, write EUR2 beside them. this in effect means you have created 2 EURO of revenue even if they are not the one in the 100 who will eventually buy it. It’s a bit of an odd psychology – but it does work!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Agree 100%. At some point you have to cut free of the old job. For a consultant based company – this is almost immediate. For a product based – I know i should have done “other things” for longer to keep the cash coming in. I stopped about 6 months early. Thanks for commenting.
http://alidavies.com/ Ali Davies

Congratulations on losing your virginity, of the Entrepreneurial type of course, and welcome to the club. It’s a great place to be. You make great points which will be thought provoking for those thinking of, or just about, to lose their own entrepreneur virginity. I think it is very powerful to share personal experience as it makes it very real for others. Good luck to you Barney.
Anonymous

excellent all of this is true .And untill we do what you say nothing will work .well done
Anonymous

Hi Barney,

Great post and I couln’t agree more with your points and you’re dead-on with the best thing a business person can do is focus on Marketing. Learn everything about it, the different routes, the costs, the effectiveness and then come up with a clear Marketing Plan. Right after that’s been sorted, learn everything there is to know about the process of Sellling and be prepared to answer all the difficult questions.

Irial
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks Ali . I like reading personal experience stuff as well – makes it real as you say. Have to say, there are lots of lessons in everyone’s posts today!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for the comment!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Thanks for the comment Irial. Having been through the mill, it now amazes me when the first thing I hear is basically “things are bad, we have no money for marketing” – aaargh. It needs to be the opposite! “Things are bad, we need to up our spend on marketing!!”
http://www.wchingya.com wchingya

“Don’t ask your family. They will lie and tell you it’s a great idea even if it’s not!” — I do have mix feelings with this. There are some truth as they may not see the picture as clearly as we do, but if not because of my family support, the process of handing in that resignation letter won’t ever be that convincing. So this may differ from one family to another, I agree.

Overall, very well planned out. Although may not be the same experience/sequence for everyone, but the main points are all there. We do need to have a clear plan before any hasty decisions. I waited for another 6 whole months before quitting my day job. A website is what I had, progress is the faith boost that eventually made me a freelancer. Wish your experience continue to be an inspiration for all to make entrepreneurship a reality. Thanks so much for sharing this, Barney.

@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi. I take your point on the family side and actually agree. Without their support, it makes it almost impossible to go our on your own. Where I was coming from was the fact that they not be the most honest critics of your concept because they are afraid to hurt your feelings. Having said that, sometimes it’s nice to have that view presented – especially when you are feeling low! Thanks for the comment.
Anonymous

Barney, You are becoming a Blogging shark! Your posts are just getting better and better. The interesting fact here is I would have completely disagreed with 90% of what you said until I started my own business and made the mistakes of focusing solely on business cards and a website. One does adapt very quickly when out on their own in the wild though.
Anonymous

Wish I’d had your post this time last year!
Pingback: Things That You Think Are Important But Aren’t | RevaHealth.com
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Flattery will get you everywhere Greg – thank-you! Your point is well made – we overlook the major in terms of the minor items alot of the time. To be honest, I think this is heavily tied into the fact that we don’t know where to start – another reason to get help!
Anonymous

Barney,

This is a terrific and highly approachable guide to what to do in the early days.

I’d add a couple of suggestions:
1. Know why you want to run this particular business. Chasing money is a bad business premise.
2. Pay attention to your beliefs about success and money. I’ve seen too many newbies crash and burn because they were fearful that they would seem greedy or lacking in compassion for charging market value for products or services.
3. Identify how you sabotage yourself. We all have bad habits and we get anxious when we’re not certain about a course of action.
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Elli. I’ve only just seen these additions now (oops!). Thanks for sharing them – worthy additions to the list.

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Tweak Your Biz » Growth » Diary of a virgin entrepreneur – age 40 ¾