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April 20, 2004: From Zero to Infinity
Last week I had
the great honor of moderating an entrepreneurial panel at my alma
mater, DePaul University. The title of the event was, “Do You Have
What it Takes? Growing Your Business to the Next Level.”
Our distinguished
panel included Steve Golden, from
Coolsavings fame, and now in the midst of a new venture,
Mindsprinting; Kirsten D’Aurelio, a reformed actress who started
Voicescape, a company that helps business people learn how to
better project their voices; Caroline Lubber, VP of Operations
for Vosges Haut-Chocolat, an entrepreneurial Chicago chocolate
company; and David Marco, founder of
EWSolutions, a systems integrator.
All four of these
individuals had great comments and observations from the world of
entrepreneurship. In fact, I found their observations and
experiences to be a very good primer for any and all entrepreneurs.
The key takeaway
from the evening had to be, “get off your duff and do it…but be
smart about it.”
While most of the
wannabe entrepreneurs (who want venture capital cash) are focused on
“how do I grow a business to $100 million in sales?” a more
percipient question may be to ask, “How do I get the first sale?
How do I get
dollar one?”
Another way of
putting this might be to say, “Going from zero to infinity.”
Not that growing a
company from something to a larger something is easy (it
isn’t), it is simply that more difficult to go from sitting on your
sofa dreaming about starting a business, to booking a single,
solitary dollar in revenue.
After all, the
difference between zero and one is infinite. Getting off the sofa
and starting your dream can be a daunting task. What do you do
first?
The Art of
Shameless Self Promotion
A good place to
start may be with the Bill Snow patented “art of shameless self
promotion.” I love people who are unafraid to promote themselves.
David Marco mentioned that before he started his business, he got
busy with writing articles and columns and books. He created a name
for himself, and positioned himself as a very knowledge source of
information. In David’s fearless approach, he presented himself as
THE expert in his field. He didn’t wait for someone else to say he
was an expert.
Getting out there
a building a name for yourself isn’t’ that difficult. It just takes
dedication and follow up. It takes getting off your duff and
talking with people. Write articles, volunteer at events, become
vocal and knowledgeable about a subject. Set a goal of being THE
expert in your field, call yourself an expert.
And most
importantly, be an expert.
And don’t worry
about the anonymous jealous types who like to take swipes at the
doers in Chicago. As my sage business advisor told me many years
ago, “No matter what you do, you’re going to tick off someone.
Don’t worry about it.”
Do what you love
Kirsten D’Aurelio
talked about doing something she loved. Kirsten was a frustrated
actress, tired of dealing with a business that, even though she
loved it, was completely stacked against her. For every part that
is up for audition, there are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of
actors competing for that one spot. It is a very difficult way to
make a living.
Instead of beating
her head against a wall, Kirsten decided to start a company that
would utilize her training as an actor. Even though she lacked
business experience, she plunged headfirst into the business world.
When asked how she gained her first client, she said she felt
passion for the project shined through. In other words, enthusiasm
can trump knowledge. You don’t have to be a business expert (but
you better learn quickly); quite often all you need is believe and
excitement in your product.
What are you
waiting for?
One person from
the audience wanted to know who each of the panelists started their
businesses. But as she asked this question, she prefaced it with
the tired story of “in this bad economy…how did you do it…”
Naturally, I took
umbrage with this person. I told her that entrepreneurs don’t wait
for someone to tell them, “It is now OK to start that business.”
Damn the torpedoes, damn the May Report, damn the collective bad
news gazette (the NY Times, CNN, Time, et al.), if you have a dream,
if you have the energy and follow through, don’t wait for someone to
tell you it is OK to follow your dream.
The economy is
never as bad as we’re told it is, nor is it ever as good as we’d
like to believe. Entrepreneurs can make their own economies. The
economy follows entrepreneurial activity, not the other way around.
How have you
funded the company?
The entrepreneurs
on the panel started their companies in different ways. Steve
Golden used friends and family money. Kirsten D’Aurelio worked from
her apartment and signed up paying customers before she looked for
offices. Vosges Haut-Chocolat was started in the kitchen of the
founder. And David Marco, as discussed earlier, went on his path of
shameless self promotion.
In other words, no
one waited for someone else to say, “It’s ok now. The economy is
strong enough for you. You can start you little business.”
The real
entrepreneurs simply go out and do it…and do it smartly.
Don’t fall in love
with every idea
Remember, just
because you’ve thought of an idea, doesn’t mean it is unique. Odds
are, a hundred other people have thought about the same idea.
Instead of focusing on the “uniqueness” of your idea, focus on your
execution.
For example,
following the event, I was approached by 3 different people, at
three different times, all with the exact same idea. Each person
introduced herself as a “real estate person,” and they had the great
idea to connect with local venture capitalists in order to help the
VC’s portfolio companies find real estate.
I told the first
woman, “good luck, I’ve heard that story a million times.” She was
a bit surprised, as she thought she had discovered a woefully
untapped market for commission. She was certain no one else was
hitting up the VCs for this service. I told her that every Tom,
Dick, and Harry wants to connect with VCs because the layperson’s
view is that VCs are bottomless pits of money who need more
friends. VCs are difficult to connect with for a simple reason:
They are busy and they don’t want to be pestered. In other words,
you are the same thing as a telemarketer.
Shortly after this
exchange, a second woman introduced herself as a “real estate
person” who wanted to connect with VCs. Believe it or not, about 5
minutes after setting the second woman straight, a third woman
introduced herself with the exact same story.
As someone who
doesn’t like to repeat himself, and fearing continued inundation of
the oxymoronic “real estate person with a unique idea,” I quickly
hit upon a truly novel idea: I left.
The Wrap up
The crux of this
column is inertia. Going from nothing to anything is a difficult
task. In the entrepreneurial world, going from a stand still to 1
mile per hour will take more energy than accelerating from 60 mph to
Mach 1. It is made even more difficult if you don’t plan for this
first step. Get out there, turn your name into a brand name, find
something you’re passionate about, don’t wait for others to tell you
it’s OK to start your dream, be creative and smart when looking for
funding, and don’t fall in love with the first idea you find.
If you follow
these guidelines, entrepreneurship can be easy. If you don’t follow
these guidelines, entrepreneurship can still be easy…easy to screw
up.
Has your company been profiled by Bill Snow? Send
an email to introduce your company:
bill@billsnow.com
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