Starting a business is a big deal—a big, exciting deal that comes with an endless to-do list and a steep learning curve. And as a new entrepreneur, it’s easy to get caught up in the process, overwhelmed by the details, and lose focus of the big picture. You can make a whole business out of setting up your business, but too much detailed planning can seriously get in the way of really getting started!
The biggest favor that you can do yourself is to focus your time and energy on getting through these three critical stages, and learning as you go.
1. Get Your Product Out There
It’s tempting to fuss and fret until your offering is just right—a perfect package of your talent, vision, and potential. Guess what? It’ll never happen. Or at least not at the start. And here’s why: your product or service won’t be perfect until you get some honest feedback from the marketplace.You need feedback from real customers and actual sales data to validate your assumptions. So, just get it out there! There’s no point in perfecting something people don’t want, or a feature they won’t use. Until you’re in the marketplace, you’re flying blind.
→ The Lesson: It won’t be perfect, but that’s OK!
2. Get Someone to Buy It
You may be crystal clear on why your goods are much better than the competition. But knowing that fact yourself and getting someone else to realize it are two completely different things. People will only pay for your product or service if they believe it’s worth it, which means that you need to demonstrate the value you offer in a compelling way. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and understand their pains. How does your offering help them? And what’s the best way to show them that? Fleshing out your key messages and how to communicate them in a clear and relevant way to your clients will be crucial to your success.→ The Lesson: It must be valuable and it’s up to you to prove it!
3. Figure Out How to Improve It
This is the most important stage of all. It’s all about using what you’ve learned to make your offering even stronger. Being a successful entrepreneur means being comfortable with refinement and reinvention. There’s no room for pride, and there’s no point in trying to have all the answers.So open yourself up to feedback. Solicit input and ideas. It’s important to be committed to the idea and not the details. Receive good suggestions with enthusiasm, not reluctance. In a fluid and fast-moving marketplace, learning to be adaptable will be your best tool for survival.
→ The Lesson: Your work is never done, but that’s what makes it FUN!
These stages may take one week or one year, but not until you’ve done all of these steps are you truly “in business.” So,what’s the hold up? We can’t wait to see what you’ve got!
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