Written by: Betssy Brijit Thomson
Methods to start a business
Notice the issue and create a solution (based on the willingness of customers). Don't blow your budget, and also avoid wasting too much time. Use the design thinking process, define: create a viewpoint based on the demands of the user. Ideate: develop ideas and creative solutions, create a prototype to represent your ideas; Test your ideas and empathize to understand your audience. Brainstorm and ask the following questions:
Do you have a problem to solve?
Validate your concept and problem.
How big is your concept?
Does it benefit you?
Find your founder-market fit: uniquely qualified for starting a business, which helps a lot to express your business idea and launch it successfully into markets.
The team
The team is more crucial to investors than your startup idea. What makes, a successful startup team? Hustler, hacker, and artist. The chief technology officer (CTO) is a hacker: who builds the product. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), hustler: who is in control of the business model, which includes selling to customers, raising funding from investors, and managing both internal and external relationships (e.g., employees and investors). Artist: customer center, who must keep in mind customer needs. Designing the product with the hacker that people love is made easier by putting a great focus on the user interface and user experience.
Tip: Select a trustworthy co-founder and draft a co-founder agreement.
Investment schedule (hire a good startup lawyer)
It benefits the startup as a co-founder doesn't own so-and-so, but rather invests in equity over time. Equity invested over time typically lasts for 4 years. Convinces employees to stay with the company, and also prevents an early co-founder resignation with a significant equity stake.
Business model
lean startup method to create an idea, test it, and analyze the data to draw conclusions and pivot.
Pivot: a change of direction (either in product or business model)
Interview experiment (20-50, 20 potential customers)
Experiments are utilized to gather more data and identify customer problems; they are also referred to as minimal viable products (MVP). An effective approach is to keep your inquiries current or past. Discuss the facts; avoid hypothetical inquiries (in which customers will say what we want to hear, which gives misleading data). Analyzing the risky hypothesis you're testing in the interview to validate your hypothesis, so the majority of your inquiries should be on the customers' existing problem and ask specific queries to gain a deeper understanding and learn the level of the customers' dissatisfaction. Inquire about the alternatives they have made and what the product lacked that made it unusable.
Solution interview
For your product idea, look for specific feedback and avoid going into pitching mode. Pay attention before you speak to prevent creating the wrong product, learn a lot from clients.
Tip: Record the interview in order to review it later in case you missed anything.
Scripting the interview helps to review. Consider who you are interviewing and how to reach them. Interview your consumers in the area
Pitching your startup
As a successful entrepreneur, you must pitch: To investors in order to raise money; to potential employees and co-founders for the startup; to customers to purchase goods, and to partners to collaborate with. 3 pitches, an elevator pitch (30–45 seconds of an interview of your business model), a display pitch (2-5 minutes of core elements of your business model), and an investor pitch (15–20 minutes to elaborate). Focusing on show pitch, Core elements
The problem
Your solution
Business Model
The team
the problem, start by outlining the "why," then consider The Circle of Success: What, Why, and How. What: The result every business is aware of. How: Several businesses are aware of the process. Why: Very few organizations are aware of their purpose. The solution, displaying advantages over features (DEMO gives assurance of compatibility), The market, analyzing how quickly the market is expanding, identifying your competitors, and demonstrating how you are 10 times better than them are all important steps in the vast market that investors might invest in. Business model, LTV, lifetime value per customer, and CAC, customer acquisition costs (how much does it cost you to get 1 customer?). The team and details about the team are to be given to the investors
Who are you?
What are your past accomplishments?
Where did you go to school?
How long have you been working together as a team?
Tip: creating a pitch deck will be helpful