1. Start with the imperfect version, but start now
"If you are not embarrassed by your launch version, you launched too late!" Beginners fall into the trap of perfectionism all the time.
The truth is: the sooner you get in front of your potential customers, the quicker you realise what needs to be improved.
Stop with the nonsense, LAUNCH NOW.
Get the ball rolling and polish it up along the way.
2. Sales solves everything
In business nothing matters but sales. Your ability to make sales is what will make or break your business.
Sales means money coming in and there is a demand for what you got to offer.
"Unless you master sales, you don't have a business, you have a hobby!"
Your website may not be perfect, your packaging may be not great, but none of this matters unless you convince someone to give you their money.
3. Hire Fast, Fire even faster
Don't try to be personal friends with everyone you hire. Relationships you have with your friends have a completely different dynamic than you have with your employees.
Treat everyone with respect, be there if they need help.
But this is a business.
Your aggreement is that you pay the salary on time and in exchange you expect they deliver the agreed on work upon time.
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Hire fast
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Test them fast and see if they fit your companies culture
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Keep or fire if they don't
When you are looking to build great things, you don't need to get caught up in your feelings:
"There is a big difference between running a business and running a charity!"
4. Focus on 1 thing only
Ask yourself: What does my business do? Then focus on doing that to the best of your ability.
This means figuring out:
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How to improve the quality of your product
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How to reduce the time it takes to produce or serve a customer
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What can you automate or at least outsource
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How can I get in front of more people who need what I sell
That is your job from the smallest street salesman to the highest ranking CEO.
They are all trying to figure out how to do these four things.
Do not get distracted by shiny objects!
You are not in that business. You are in your business. So act like it.
5. Set bigger goals
Set your goal to:
- be financially free
- never have to worry about money ever again
Thrive for money and knowledge.
"It takes between 7 and 10 years to reach a big goal!"
Setting goals strategically and building a framework on how to get there in time is the difference between those who wish to have success and those who plan for it.
6. Nobody cares about the business as much as you do
In time you hire a bunch of people, but nobody has the skin in the game for this business to succeed.
For you it is personal.For them it is just business.
You can not expect the people that work for you to have the same vision and burning desire to expand the way you do.
This applies to people to position themselves as experts who are meant to help you grow your business.
Nobody knows your business the way you do.
Every time you sit at a table discussing your business, there will always be an asymmetrical distribution of knowledge and vision.
7. Talk to lawyers and tell them your long term plan
A call with a laywer will cost you a few hundred bugs, maybe a thousand. But this call might save you a lot of time and pain in the long term.
Fortunately for you, business from a legal perspective has been pretty much standardized.
There are templates for every possible contract out there.
The thing is you don't know which ones to have your people sign and what kind of impact they have in the long run.
A decent attorney will get you set up in no time.
This is increadibly important especially if you want to sell the company at some point.
8. Get a good accountant
Legal will take care of the paperwork. The accountant will take care of the money.
Accountants will give your business more fuel for it to grow.
Accountants will make you are in good standing with the sate.
A good accountant pays for themselves tenfold!
9. Have money set aside for opportunities or rainy days
You should always have at least a 6 month runway! As a founder, you are the last one to get paid in times of trouble.
Make sure you have saved up something for yourself.
10. Use leverage as much as possible
Use the concept of leverage and using multipliers.
Multipliers are there to scale your business.
Multipliers are:
- People
- Machines
- Websites (Online-Shop)
- Ideas (Viral Video)
11. You’re in the buy low, sell high business, figure out your numbers
Every business is in the buy low, sell high business.
- Products (simple)
- Software or services (complex)
How much are you paying to get your product or service out the door to your customer?
How much are you charging for it?
What is the difference?
Can you buy it cheaper than you do right now? How?
Can you charge more for it? How?
Business is a number's game! Figure out your numbers!
12. Who is your customer and what do they want
Know your customer and what they want. The more you learn about them, the better you will be at putting together your product and selling it to them.
ASSUMING you know what the customer wants is a mistake.
"Never assume, you'll make an ass of you & me!"
13. Figure out where the puck is going and get there first
How is the average person using the internet? Video is a much better consumption experience for the user.)
"Taking risks leads to progress!"
14. Building a brand requires building a community
Building a brand is NOT:
- have a few colors
- have a logo
- have a few keywords
"A brand is the sum of all experiences and emotions people have with your company!"
Take pride in the quality of people who subscribe to your channel. These are visionaries who see what you are trying to build and how you are systematically changing the way education is done.
15. Stay humble, put your head down and keep working
"There is no phase in which you step aside and the business runs itself!" There is no such thing as a passive business.
The 4h work week is a lie.
It will be a grind, but it will be a pleasent one for working, for yourself and for your future.
You chose to do this. Nobody made you. You could have gotten a job at a company, but you said: No, I want to do this other thing.
Every morning you wake up and you feel blessed. You get to do what you do for a living. Your future is under your control.