You did it! You’ve just hit the lottery! No, you may not have won the Powerball, but you’ve got this thing in your head; this glorious thing called an idea and you are ready to change the world with a click of a button, the stroke of a pen, or words that will move people all over the planet to act.
“So long school, goodbye job! I’m leaving on a freight train and I don’t know when I’ll be back again! Well… you could invite me back to give a speech… or… I might come back when I inevitably buy this place… but other than that, sayonara!”
It is a euphoric moment that every new entrepreneur or creative experiences, and it is what I call the “come to startup moment”, when you pledge to leave it all behind and start that new life you’ve always wanted.
And you have good reason to be optimistic. You more than likely have a golden egg that’s just waiting to be hatched, but after you come down off a natural high and your wings slowly drift you back to Earth, you come to realize that an idea alone is nothing but… an idea. And I will be the first to tell you that ideas alone do not put gas in the car and food on the table, you must have a plan to make that idea a reality.
So What’s Your Plan? “The plan? Well that’s easy, my plan is to do x, followed by y, and maybe a little of z.” That sounds great for an elevator pitch, but you need to have a more thorough strategy in mind, and it’s even better if you jot it down on paper. Here are three tips (some that I did, some that I wish I did) that should help you crack that golden egg:
1. Executable – Make sure that you evaluate your overall business strategy and marketing plan to include things that you are actually able to do. It may make sense to structure your plan on things you can presently do, and not things you are going to learn how to do. For instance, you have an idea for a web-based enterprise. If you are not a developer, don’t make a plan to learn to write code within a certain time frame. The Internet is a very competitive venue, and you need a certain level of proficiency to compete at a high level. Address issues like this in your plan and put in place mitigants to counteract any shortcomings you have.
My marketing plan was aggressive, and I found out early there was not enough time in the day or enough resources available to do everything initially desired. For instance, I didn’t have time to learn the coding skills necessary for my complex project, but I found a great company to prototype the idea while I searched for a technical lead. I also thought marketing and outreach efforts would be a breeze, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case and soon after enlisted friends to help me out. If you want to be more aggressive, there are ways to add more talent and resources, which we will discuss later.
2. Realistic – I was thoroughly convinced that after the first month I would have over 10,000 active users on the site. If anyone would have told me otherwise, I would have had some choice words for them. My point is, we sometimes get caught up in all of the success stories out there (I know I did), but in reality not everyone’s startup catches hold right away. That doesn’t mean you’re not a rockstar and you don’t have a great idea, all that means is that you haven’t found the right audience yet.
At my startup, I would always say our main competition was the calendar. With the limited resources that a bootstrapped company has, not one day can be lost to unproductivity or complacency. We live by the mantra “Win the day, and let tomorrow worry about itself”.
3. Flexible – Here’s a secret; if you are spending countless hours writing a thirty or fifty page business plan, stop it right now. The company you think you’re starting probably isn’t going to be the one you end up with, and that’s a good thing, because the further along in the process you go, you are constantly gathering input from friends, colleagues and potential users that will make your idea stronger. Have ideas on paper, but the formal, academic business planning exercise is a waste of your time and no one will ever read it.
If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Zuckerberg didn’t take FaceMash public. He pivoted to Facebook and continues to refine his idea daily. I was an early adopter to “thefacebook.com”, and I can tell you that it barely has the same function it had when I first joined. You have to stay nimble, but be cautious because pivots are costly, and if you have a loyal, albeit small following, they could be peeved off if you change too much.
Who Are You Working With? You don’t have to have a fully developed team as soon as you get your idea, but I’m sure you can find studies somewhere that prove ideas get off the ground faster and stronger with teams. Your teammates aren’t just there to split work with you, your teammates are there to be active participants in not only carrying out the vision for the idea, but also shaping and molding the trajectory of what the company will become.
There are plenty of ways for you to find people to put on your team, and one of them, if I may shamelessly plug in my organization, is LaunchTable. LaunchTable lets you share your idea in an open forum and get feedback from the community. You get a chance to review this feedback and have the option to invite the best responders to join you in a “launch table”, which is a private, dedicated workroom with Live or Later chat and file sharing for you and your newfound team.
The main takeaway is that there is a long road ahead, and you should be ready for bumps and bruises along the way. Keep that same sense of euphoric optimism through the tough times, and you’ll do just fine.
About the Author: Ian Jones is the founder and CEO of LaunchTable.com, a global community think tank where individuals build teams and collaborate on ideas for initiatives, projects, and businesses.
Hi Everyone,
I hope you enjoyed reading the article, and thank you Melinda for featuring it. I’d appreciate it if you would check out my startup, LaunchTable.com.
I will be posting Part 2 to the Bootstrap Baptism series Thursday, January 3. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Thanks!
Ian
Thanks for the great info again. This new upstart will keep reading!
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