I’ve been an entrepreneur for almost 20 years.
Throughout my business journey, I made thousands (or millions) of mistakes.
I also succeeded in some points, that’s why I’m still alive, running three different companies simultaneously, and writing this article.
I learned a lot, but I also lost a lot of money, energy, time, dreams. Writing this article, I hope you, at least, save some of these obstacles.
People usually say it’s crucial to have mistakes so that you can learn from them. It’s partially true, but I always prefer not to make mistakes. It’s less painful and, sometimes, you earn some money.
If I were to create a business today, here I share 12 essential points I would pay attention to create a company with a much higher probability of success. At least from the beginning.
I hope they’ll be useful to you.
Just think you will only lose 5 minutes by reading it. When you have nothing to lose and a lot to win, risk disappears, and it’s an excellent decision to give it a try.
As always, I will go direct to the point. Pragmatism is vital in life. Time’s a luxury today, and I don’t want to waste yours.
So, let’s dive in!
1. IT SHOULD BE BASED ON YOU
You should be able to make all the process, from the beginning until the end: creativity, production, sales, customer care, and so forth.
It sounds hard, but no depending on anyone, will be a strength to your business. You just need you and your commitment to yourself to make things work.
- You won’t depend on anybody.
- You won’t wait for anybody.
- You won’t need to convince anybody.
- You will feel that incredible sensation that everything depends on you.
You’re assuming all responsibilities, but you believe in you and your idea, don’t you?
2. EASY TO OUTSOURCE SERVICES
There will be a moment, maybe even from the beginning, in which you will need suppliers.
Your business should easily find those suppliers, and they should be everything but time-consuming at all for you.
You should ask for a service, and they should provide it to you in an easy way (and quickly!).
3. BASED ON PRODUCT
Don’t bet on business based on services.
Services are:
- Complicated.
- Debatable.
- Difficult to explain.
- Time-consuming.
Look for a good product and try to sell it!
4. NON PERSONALIZED PRODUCT
If that product is not able to be personalized, better still.
You just design a product and sell it.
If someone likes it, he will buy it. If not, he won’t.
Easy for both parties.
5. VERY LOW INITIAL INVESTMENT
Don’t start asking for credit, loans, or capital.
Just think in the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and see if you can sell it.
Something that you can design and develop without costs and that it consumes as little time as possible.
Take it as an experiment. If it works, great. If not, you will have saved a lot of time and money.
6. EASY TO GROW
If your product works, you should be able to grow efficiently. Always think in compound interest. This is not only applicable to money. You can apply that concept to any area in your life.
- Products that can generate money while you’re sleeping are highly recommended.
- Products that can be easily modified and be transformed into a different product are fantastic.
- Business models in which just hiring a person can increase your incomes 100 times are worth it.
7. BASED ON SUBSCRIPTIONS
Always look for business models in which you can generate recurring incomes.
Business models based on projects are very hard. They won’t give you stability. There will be months with high incomes and other ones with 0 gains.
We need stability in life to live in peace, think, define strategies, organize, make predictions…
8. IMMEDIATE PAYMENT
Your business should have instant payments.
Be careful with delayed payments. They will consume your time and your money. You’ll have to ask for credits because your clients are not paying you when they should.
That’s what I call “having a lot of money in the street”. You don’t want it in there. Your money should be with you since the beginning, when you’ve sold your product.
9. NO FIXED COSTS
Try to run away from them.
Forget about offices, employees, cars, warehouses…
Make it as easy as possible. You and yourself. Try to maintain that situation as long as possible.
Focus on suppliers to make your business grow.
10. THINK GLOBALLY
Don’t think in your neighborhood, your city, or even your country.
Think about the whole world.
It has never been easier to sell to the world.
If you have an almost 8 billion market out there, why won’t you go for it?
11. NO MOBILITY PROBLEMS
You must be able to develop your business anywhere and whenever you want to.
I thought this before the coronavirus situation. Now, I think it should be something indispensable.
12. CUSTOMER CARE EASY TO DO
You should easily attend to your customers.
Look for a low level of incidences and easy to solve.
Look for FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) business models in which clients don’t consume your time.