10 steps to success in new ventures

8/9/2019 10 Steps to Success in New Ventures

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Lets set the scene - you are an entrepreneur who has inventeda great idea, or perhaps you are a manager in a largerorganisation who is about to launch the business into newproduct territory.

In either event, youre planning to start a new venture orcompany.

Actually, statistics will tell us that unfortunatey most newbusinesses fail but dont give up yet because I am about to

offer you ten pure gems a set of rules to help you avoid theten biggest reasons why new ventures struggle.

I do not claim to have invented these rules; they are commonsense really, but they come from talking to real people who

been there and done it. Adopt them quickly into your new venture to give it the bestchance of success.

Along the way, you will find that there are other problems to solve not covered hereas your business grows and develops, but these are the first ten to think about andmany of these apply to any business.

This is often the first place that manyventures fail. How often have you sat ina product meeting where the speaker hassimply described a list of things that theproduct will do its features andfunctionality.

While this information is really important,and customers will need this, your productidea needs to be VERY clear about why itshould appeal to a prospective customer.You need to apply the so what? test.

For example Our new patented activePA system has a frequency range of 100Hzto 10kHz, is rated at 1000 watts RMS andweighs only 10lbs per speaker

OK SO WHAT?

Ten Steps to Success in New Ventures

b y Mat t h e w Simm o n s

Introduction

Instead, how about Many travelingprofessional musicians need high qualityPA equipment that they are familiar withand trust.

"Equipment at venues is of variable quality which means that musicians tend totake their own gear which up to now hasbeen based on bulky, heavy, traditionatechnology or they make do and sufferthe potential consequences to theirreputation.

"Our new, patented active pa system hashigh power and superb clarity, performingat least as good as Brand X (the bench-mark competitor).

"BUT weighing in at only 10lbs per speakermeans that the whole system can be car-ried in a small bag in the back of a salooncar rather than a van.

Step One - Get the product positioning right


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You need to gain credibility in the marketand, with the big players such as largeretailers, you only get one shot. Fail withthat one shot and you may take years toget another chance. Be narrow in focusinitially and gain success there first.

Step Three Never fear failure

Its really easy to procrastinate theresnot enough data you need to fine-tunethe plan (if you have one see 8) youconcentrate on the easy things like the

product itself.

In other words you are spending your hoursin your comfort zone when you need toDO some thing.

You need to take action, makethe tough decisions, step outof the comfort zone and getthe idea moving. This is theclassic behaviour of manyentrepreneurs they do things they make things happen -

they make mistakes and learnby them.

You will only really find outhow good your idea is going

to be if you start getting some tractionwith it amongst your target market; andthis initial feedback will be 24 carat solidgold in terms of perfecting your productand eventually in creating a sustainablesales platform. Your response to anyissues that do get thrown up will alsodefine you as a supplier that can betrusted.

Step Four - Dont give up too soon

There will be setbacks. Get used to itbut develop a persistence to enable youto succeed.

You have justdefined how yourproduct solves realpain felt in yourtarget market.

Take time to getthis right test iton friends in thebusiness a properproduct positioningstatement isimportant because

these ideas willdrive everythingyou do to marketand sell yourproduct.

Step Two Dont defineyour offer too broadly

This one is a real killer. Thecorrect product positioning iscrucial and what happens isthat your idea is either not

defined in a sufficientlyappealing way (see Rule 3), orits defined to broadly, or both.

Your idea does not need toappeal to everyone it needs to be veryspecific so that potential customers knowexactly what you do. It saves wastingtime with prospects who will simply neverbuy your idea or product and it puts offthose who would if they really understoodwhat you can offer THEM.

Its really important that your business isknown for something, which means thatpeople also understand what sort ofbusiness opportunities are not part of youroffering.

A broad canvas is also a big mistake indefining your target routes to market.

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Narrow your

offering - be

the expert inyour field.



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Many clients I have worked with citepersistence as the reason that they endedup doing business with some of their bettercustomers.

Remember that no is rarely a no, notever in sales and business developmentespecially if you have done your targetingcorrectly and arent trying to sell to the

wrong client. Timing is crucial and a nousually means no, not now even if itsnot articulated that way.

Step Five Build a team and a strongone

If the product was your original idea, youare the creator/inventor and you needhelp. And you will need to step out ofthe comfort zone and get the right peoplein for the next job in hand.

You will need a couple of specialists totake 2 key jobs away from you and youwill need to get used to the idea.You willneed a commercial specialist to tacklebusiness development (plus any initialmarketing) and you will need someone torun the administrative andfinance side of the business.

This is a really crucial part ofthe development of thefledgling venture and thereare a couple of ways to go

about it. But you need to buildthat team.

If you are lucky and have anexisting base of contacts whocan produce these people one way oranother, this will get you permanent teammembers, or you can bring in hired gunsin the form of interims.

Permanent is risky because there will beall the attendant issues with salaries NI,PAYE and notice periods. Interims areresults driven, usually over qualified forthe job and are very accustomed topicking up new challenges at the drop ofa hat. Interims need only paying whenan invoice appears. Dont rule out eitheroption and you may be able to go with amix of the two.

Also bear in mind that many interims andfreelancers are happy to work part time

to a budget you set, and you probablywon't need say an FD full time for a whileanyway.

But whatever route you take, you needto build a team for a very good reason experience tells us that really creativepeople do notnormally have the

skills or desire toattend to theminutiae of runninga business. Youneed someone tobring in orders foryour product andsomeone to turnthem into cash.

Step Six Donttry and do it allyour se l f , ge t

professionals

There are going tobe some things thatyou will need to do yourself simplybecause there will be too much to do.

But it is a false economy to doyour own accounts, marketing,design, legal work, HR theseare crucial areas of thebusiness that need specialistresource.

It will cost you money, but willcost you less than the damageyou could potentially cause bydoing it yourself badly. Askyourself if you are really that

good a website designer, just because youcan program a bit of html.

Factor these in to the plan (you do havea plan dont you? See Rule 8) and fund itproperly.

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Dont' try

and do it all

yourself!


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and, if you arent good at it, get someonewho is, or at least get something -ANYTHING - down on PAPER.

You need to put down a roadmap toproduct launch times, dates, versionsetc.

You need to identify where the revenuewill come from ie routes to market.

You will need to plan how you will reachthose prospects ie a marketing plan. And

finally you need to put numbers down forcosts and sales income on a monthlybasis. You may need a specialist to dothis for you, but the plan is non-negotiable.

Step Nine Make it a working Plan

The plan is done once a yearand we never look at it again- right? Wrong!

Many people write a beautifu

and detailed plan and then putit in the bottom drawer andforget about it. Its much morefun making exciting new

developments to your product range than to monitor progress on your plan.

But its crucial that the plan is a workingdocument that you review every monthwith the team members. Sole traders,review the plan yourself or create a virtuaboard through your business network. Youneed to focus on what happened to take

you off track, and to take correctiveaction to bring you back to plan.

Its crucial at so many levels with aproper monitored plan your cashrequirements become obvious (see Rule10). And in business development andmarketing, its crucial that you are drivenby the timing plan to keep the sales funnefilled with potential clients.

Step Seven Make anychanges quickly

If you go down thep e r m a n e n trecruitment route,assess very quicklywhether or not theteam is working.

If everyone is onthe same page

then break out thebubbles, becauseyouve done well.

This team will beyour interface with the outside world, yourprospective customers in other wordsyour future success orotherwise. This team willrepresent your business andyou have to be absolutely clearthat they are going to presentthemselves professionally,

because by doing so they arethe image of your business.

Remember Gordon Gekko in themovie Wall St - you need to be just asruthless (well nearly!); do not hire if youhave the slightest misgivings about e.g apotential Finance Director. Its better togo back to the drawing-board, or get aninterim, than to recruit the wrong guy inthe first place.

And if you realize youve made a mistake

then like Gordon Gekko - cut your lossesquickly. You cannot afford to make costlymistakes so be aware of employment law get specialist advice first.

Step Eight What no Plan?

Its an often repeated that, if you fail toplan, you plan to fail. This may be tritebut it is true. You need to plan everything

"Plan the

work - work

to the Plan!

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10 steps to success in new ventures

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