A big reason for starting this site was to show people that
a business owner isn’t some special kind of person that has all the knowledge
and tools at their disposal. Anyone can start a business, but not everyone can
keep a business going if they aren’t committed to it and pushing themselves to
work harder and learn more. While doing some research for an article I came
across this great video by Jason Nazar CEO and Founder of DocStoc. Now the
video doesn’t impart some great new answers that no one else has ever stated
before, but what it does do is present the same ideas from a different angle. He has a great “Joe Everyman” quality to him
which felt allowed viewers to be reached in a way that doesn’t as if he talking
down to them or trying to pitch a product. What you get is a great lecture in
which he covers 21 rules that he learned on his journey.
The video runs an hour and thirty minutes so I took it upon
myself to give you the condensed notes version for those that don’t have that
time to spare. I do strongly recommend setting aside some time later on to
watch this video posted below or on my recommended videos section. So here are
the 21 Golden Rules of Entrepreneurship by Jason Nazar
I’ll See it When I
Believe It
You have to envision what you want and you have to keep
picturing it right down to the last detail. You hold on to that mental image
until you believe it actually exists. You have to manifest it into reality
Perpetual Sense of
Urgency
You feel you have something really important in your life
that you must do. That you are meant for
greatness and every second you don’t act is time wasted in the clock that is
you life. You don’t want to be wishing you had more time to do what you wanted
in life.
The Only Variable
You Can Control is Your Work Ethic
There can be several different outcomes and the only thing
you truly have control over is the amount of work you have put in to try and
direct those outcomes. Your hard shows in the end results of what ever you are
working on. You should make mental contracts with people because they will
force to complete these agreements in fear of looking like a failure.
The 5 Step Sales
Processes
1) Gain Interest:
People love talking about themselves and their interests. If
you are able to find those interests it will be easier to persuade them.
2) Establish
Credibility:
Your professional and educational background are obviously
what people will want to know first but it will be your honesty and sincerity
that will give your credibility as a person.
3) Establish A Need:
Listen to what a person
has to say, ask them what it is that they want and then just reiterate it back
to them. The trick isn’t to understand what they need but to make them feel you
do. As they feel they have someone who really understands them, they become
more open to suggestion. What you have to do is offer them a solution that can
best match those needs. If you don’t have anything to match those needs it’s
best to not force it.
4) Offer A Solution:
As they feel they have someone who really understands them,
they become more open to suggestion. What you have to do is offer them a
solution that can best match those needs. If you don’t have anything to match
those needs it’s best to not force it.
5) Have A System For
An Easy Transaction:
Have a system ready that lets you get started right away
All Effort Is Equal
The same effort it takes to do other tasks is the same
effort that can be used to start a billion dollar business. You may need
different skill sets or paths but the output of effort is the same.
You Don’t Have to
have a Product to Sell a Product
Amazing entrepreneurs can describe a product that doesn’t
exist and people will want it. You don’t need the physical product to sell the
idea but you better go make it after you do.
Ten Questions to
Consider When Starting A Business
1) What is your
product and service?
Explain it to someone like they are a 5th grader
so they can tell someone else and it will make sense.
2) What is its unique
value proposition?
What makes it better?
3) What is the market
opportunity?
1- What
problem do you solve?
2-How
large is the market?
3-How
fast is the market growing?
4-Who
is your competition?
4) How do you make
money?
What is the revenue model?
5) Who is the
management team?
How are they uniquely qualified?
6) What is the strategy?
1-What is the long term
goal?
2-What
are the 3, 6, 9, & 12 month milestones?
7) How do you sale or
market you product/service?
8) How much capital
do you need/intend to raise?
What is the primary start up cost?
9) What are the
projected financials for the company?
What is the projected income statement?
10) What is the preliminary
valuation of the company?
How much would you sell a percentage of your company for?
Court Mentors
Take two hours of your week and ask people you would like to
be like to be your mentor. They will take you under their wings and guide you
in the right direction. Plus they will a personal investment in you to see that
you do not let them and yourself down. Their knowledge and resources are vital
to you starting your own company.
Most Important
Question to Start: What is Your Why?
What is driving you? What is your passion? If you don’t have
a big “why” if it’s not the thing that is driving you and pushing you forward,
you will always use the “what” and the “how” as an excuse not to do it.
Great Entrepreneurs
Sell Ether
You have the ability to sell a dream in such specific detail
and color that it feels tangible. People will believe in you because they can
see that it is what is driving you and that you will accomplish it. It is what
will help people get equity or accept deferred payments in the start. You must
in fuse it with certainty that others will believe in you.
Ideas Don’t matter/
Execution Does
The most driven individuals can take a horrible idea and
make it a successful one just as the laziest individuals can take a brilliant
idea and fail. The idea is only as great as your execution to present it to
people and getting it done.
Speed and Momentum:
The Power of Now
This is key! You are running against the wind, if you go slowly
the wind will stop you. Most business do not succeed because they never get
started in the first place. You have to have a sense of urgency
The Entrepreneurs
Dilemma
Stay attached to the problem you are trying to solve but be
flexible in the solution to solve the problem.
Make Your Product
Different and Better
Look at existing business that are doing well and making
money. Ask yourself how you improve upon that business that is already
successful. Then you have to ask
yourself, what would be your competitive advantage? What would make you stand
apart from that other company?
Keep it Lean
Put something out there with bugs and all and see how people
respond to it. By putting it out there you will actually see if there is a
market for you product and service and their feedback help guide you in the
right direction. If you spend too much time on it until you believe it is
ready, you run the risk of offering something that no one cares for and all you
have accomplished is wasting your time.
How Can You Start in
Two Weeks & with a $1,000?
You have to think about how you would immediately start this
company if you had to launch in two weeks and with only $1,000. You also need
to think how you can immediately start charging to make so revenue and paying
back investors. You need to get it in the hands of real users to get actual
feedback.
First Sell Yourself
This is vital when you are trying to raise money to start.
Angel investors are not investing in your business, they are investing in you.
They are making a bet on you believing that you can do it. You are always
selling yourself first and what you are going to accomplish.
Be Sincere and
Exceed Expectations
You have to set expectations and then over deliver. A way to
build credibility is to tell that you are going to do in a certain period of
time; you then achieve it faster and with better results then what you told
them. Getting them to see what you are working towards and the results you are
yielding is a big meaningful achievement. So you have to achieve your goal
faster and with better results and then you do it over and over again
1 0 Lessons Startups Can Learn From Superheroes
1) Superheroes never give up:
Like Batman, you have to
keep pressing on the very last breath. Challenges are overcome by wholeheartedly
committing to unrelenting persistence.
2) Superheroes always get the job done
There are
no excuses if you don’t save the girl from the burning house. There are just
results, not reason, you either save the
day or you don’t. Grey area is for Kafka not comic heroes.
3) Superheroes are the best at what they do
Flash
is the fastest and we all know it. If you are the back end developer, you are
the best developer in the work
and everyone on your team knows it. Let great talent excel in areas where
their superpowers are most needed.
4) Superheroes are crystal clear on their
purpose
Captain
Marvel maybe a cheese ball, but he knows what he stands for. Startups die when
they are not clear on
their mission.
5) Superheroes are not flawless
Superheroes
have flaws, every member of your team will also. The goal is not perfection; it’s
the pursuit of perfection.
6) Superheroes don’t seek the
glory but they will get it anyway
Don’t
do it because you want the attention. If you do it right you will get it
anyway.
7) Superheroes help others
Superheroes
help others by solving problems. Start ups should be obsessed NOT with themselves, but with how they are going to help
other people and solve their issues.
8) Superheroes can do it by themselves but
are more powerful in teams.
You
always have to have each other’s back. It’s you vs. the world and bringing together
your own team of superheroes, mutual
respect, loyalty, and camaraderie of that team is vital.
9) Superheroes true strength comes from
their character
No
matter how super you think you are, your strength comes from your character not
your talent. Be courageous, be
respectful, be honorable, and be selfless.
10) Superheroes accomplish huge feats
The
same effort it takes to start a lemonade stand or college club is the same
effort it takes to change the world. Your
goal is not to build a product or get traffic…your goal is to accomplish the most amazing feat possible. Make
the product, save the world.
The One Most
Important Thing
Most of the stuff to do makes no difference in starting up a
company. The most successful people wake up every morning and ask themselves
one question every day. If I get the most important thing done today, this week,
or month it is……..…then they spend 80% of the time doing that thing.
Certainty! You’ll
See it When You Believe it
If you can envision it and infuse it with your own certainty
and belief in self, it will become a reality.
