Starting a business is a bit like dieting, playing golf, or managing one’s health. Thousands of experts make lots of money telling you what you need to be successful. While the majority of the advice is excellent, most people fail in the execution, which is what I mean by the how in starting a business. In essence, it is essential to understand it is not what but how in starting a business. Below is a simple example.
I know everything there is to know about losing weight but still love to eat so the knowledge is useless. In contrast, my wife is the same weight as decades ago and can even forget to eat.
When starting a business we recommend:
- You focus on the how of the tools available to you and
- How you can best execute them to maximize your potential.
Be sure to understand that starting a business is a process. Embrace the process, don’t let it frustrate you. Recognize you will make mistakes and understand everything takes time. Research, testing, flexibility, and understanding alternatives will all help improve the process.
Everything in starting a business is linked. Remember, the chain is as strong as the weakest link. For example, many experts still recommend pricing strategies based on adding a profit to costs or simply charging as much as possible. The reality is far more complicated. I have a restaurant marketing consultant client, Hype by Brett, who bases her whole effort on helping restaurants with the following tag line:
Hype makes the slow days busy and the busy days busier.
The one area that requires the most detail when starting a business frequently receives the least consideration, forecasting. Most forecasts are static and put all the assumptions in a bowl and develop pages of financial analysis based on one set of assumptions. It is like making brownies where the different quantities of the ingredients have the greatest impact on the outcomes. For example, a little marijuana can greatly impact the brownies. I read plans every week that simply fail to consider how units, price, marketing, and total sales interact to create various outcomes.
Finally, do most startups really know what they’re doing? They start out with great ideas but in many cases exaggerate the true potential and need for the idea and underestimate the level of marketing needed. They also fail to consider their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, they fail to follow up via collaboration with experts in the areas of their key weaknesses. This issue is best explained by the phrase,
If you think a professional is expensive try hiring an amateur.
Bert Shlensky is president of www.startupconnection.net and his ability along with his team to help businesses with realistic planning, testing, adaptation, and execution are key to business startup success.