My Execution Plan: Learn With Me!

[vxzyx]

Hello. I have already started doing research and I would like to post how I get my business started, or tried to start and how I failed. Everyday is learning for me, and this is ultimately what I would want to do in 3 years of my life. So please put input and stick around for advice and recommendation from more successful entrepreneurs here on this site.

Some thoughts:
- I do want to start a business, but I don't know what kind of business I should go into. I also don't know the process of discovering what business I will thrive in.
- I also have little to no funds, so I will see how I can raise funds in order to start my business.
- I know I have to do this, because I'm going to keep going at this until I succeed with my goals.

 

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[StayPositive]

Hey man!

I'm also about to start a business. Currently doing idea extraction.

Let's learn together!

Good luck!

 

[vxzyx]

Hey man!

I'm also about to start a business. Currently doing idea extraction.

Let's learn together!

Good luck!

Hey man yeah thanks! And good luck to you too. If you want we can talk about idea extraction. Not your ideas just the basic framework. If you're up for it.

 

[StayPositive]

Yeah, of course I am!

I'm at the beginning right now, still learning the process from scratch. Last week I did my first little step into real world of idea extracting, though

Now, I'm preparing my mini scripts for phone calls.

How about you?

 

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[vxzyx]

Yeah, of course I am!

I'm at the beginning right now, still learning the process from scratch. Last week I did my first little step into real world of idea extracting, though

Now, I'm preparing my mini scripts for phone calls.

How about you?

Right now I'm trying to find an idea (a need that exists) that I can revolve a business around. But I'm not so sure what it is I'm going to start a business about. Can I ask how you came to your business idea (not the actual business idea)?

 

[StayPositive]

Up to now, I don’t have a proven business idea. Not yet. I have started the process of getting it, though.

As far as I know, the beauty of idea extraction is that you don’t have to figure your idea out by yourself. All you need is to ask your potential customers what their biggest pain is.

My process:
1. Research and pick your niche. I have some criteria in here.
2. Get to know your niche and those people.
3. Ask them about their pains and problems.
4. …

And that’s what I’m developing now. I guess the third point will be the most challenging and time-consuming one.

I know I will make a lot of mistakes but I hope it will be fun J

What is your methodology of work?

 

[vxzyx]

My process is simple and it still needs some work.

1. List the things I'm good at or research what kind of business you can thrive in.
2. Research the people (teens, adults, elderly, veterans, moms, and etc).
3. Research which age group will the business target.
4. Build a product in which it targets the selected target group directly. (needs collaboration with business partners)
5. Launch the business.

This is the most basic idea I have about a typical business. But I may switch steps around depending on the situations my research presents to me.

 

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[StayPositive]

Thanks for sharing out.

I personally prefer B2B since I think it’s easier to get paid from companies than from individual customers. Also I use a few criteria while researching my niche (for example market size) to make sure the potential is big enough.

 

[vxzyx]

When you say B2B which companies which one are you talking about for an example? B2B is business to business?

 

[StayPositive]

Exactly, it means Business to Business.

A few weeks ago I was considering the possibility of creating a product for individual customers (B2C), but changed my mind eventually and now I focus my research entirely on B2B. I have analyzed 44 niches, for example, accountants, architects, car rental, insurance agents, security firms, restaurants. They are in business to make money so I guess it’s easier to convince them to pay for a product that solves their problem...and lets them work less or make more money.

 

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[vxzyx]

Have you ever thought of crowd funding with those ideas? Or going to the bank to take a loan?

 

[StayPositive]

No, I have not. I have some savings to invest in business. I would also like to try to do presale a little bit.

 

[alexanderkjones]

Hey Guys, stumbled across some of your threads and it looks like you'll be good partners at least for a mastermind group. I just wanted to comment on your capital strategies because I noticed @vxzyx was asking in the startup thread.

Find the fastest way to cash through Validating Your Hypothesis. You've got an idea, talk to potential customers and see if they will pay for it. B2B services are the easiest approach for and it looks like @StayPositive is headed in that direction. I highly recommend it. I've written a couple threads on idea extraction and building software products for businesses. If it's helpful you can see them here and here. There should be some material to get you started on the presell strategy in my replies. I've worked with people to write pitch decks and you truly can sell an idea don't waste money building a product first.

My biggest advice to first time entrepreneurs is to mitigate as much risk as possible. Don't spend money developing something until you know someone will buy it and it's worth your time. This really comes down to knowing your client, understanding their problem, and understanding how expensive their problem is. If you're solving a $2,000/month problem for a business you can charge $200/month for a software solution. It's a no brainer. Here's a separate post on evaluating niche markets, just scroll down to my reply here.

Lastly, if you're interested in starting a mastermind group check out www.eventualmillionaire.com . Jamey Tardy has a great tool set and worksheets for creating masterminds showing you how to format it and make the best use of everyone's time. Hope this is all helpful and feel free to give me a shout if you have questions or need support.

Oh and Google "Rich Dad Poor Dad OPM". OPM stands for Other People's Money, Use it don't use yours. It took me a while to understand this but once you do it unlocks all kinds of doors. Watch the threads of the most successful people here, most are using other people's money to make their dreams into reality.

 

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[StayPositive]

Hi @alexanderkjones !

Looks like you are familiar with The Foundation rules. Are you currently running any software business?

 

[alexanderkjones]

Hey @StayPositive I am currently running a software startup in the government sector and I'm also a strategic partner for a software company developing a Software as a Service platform for entrepreneurs.

I'm very familiar with The Foundation, the material is great to a point but I'm not a proponent of the course. There's not enough support, you've got Dane, Andy and a couple interns supporting 600 people, that's not right and I've heard a lot of grumblings from their clients. We've taken the same business development principles to help local entrepreneurs one on one to succeed here in Maine where we need more economic success stories. So far we have two very promising students in niche markets like beverage distribution and believe it or not the funeral industry. The one on one makes all the difference.

I think Dane just sent out an update on why only 34 out of 600 of his students actually made a sale during the course before he opens up for the next class. His reasoning was that people weren't psychologically ready but honestly he doesn't have the support staff to service more than 50 people really well.

If I've learned anything from my own experience and working with other entrepreneurs it's that you can only really know and serve one market at a time. You got to really focus on them, know their struggle intimately, and if you can do that you can be an entrepreneur the rest is mechanics.

 

[vxzyx]

hello alexanderkjones I have two questions:
1. Do you know about the term lean startup? And what can you tell me about it. I just recently got the book, but I would like to basically know what it is.
2. Do you have a skype?

 

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[alexanderkjones]

@vxzyx :

1) Lean startup speaks a lot about what I'm describing, I'm very familiar with it. Basically, you talk take an idea and figure out testing strategies for your hypothesis several times along the way to make sure that it's still a good idea. If it's not you can change it. Their key term is "Fail Fast Fail Cheap". It's a great foundation but it often assumes you have an idea which personally I don't prescribe to. I tell people to find a market they want to serve first then find out what they need and make it for them.

2) I do have Skype, I'm not on often but I'd be more than happy to chat if you have a time in mind. Just shoot me a private message with the details.

 

[FastMig]

Did you guys find valid idea yet?
I am thinking about starting a similar process of digging.