Dr David Bozward

Tag: start-up

  • Six reasons why Environmental Sustainability is The Core of a Startup’s Business Model

    Six reasons why Environmental Sustainability is The Core of a Startup’s Business Model

    Introduction

    In recent years, the concept of environmental sustainability has gained significant attention and importance across various sectors. As the global community faces pressing environmental challenges, integrating sustainability into business models has become imperative, especially for new startup businesses with a view to longevity. This blog explores the significance of environmental sustainability as the core foundation for a startup’s business model and discusses the benefits it offers to the business, the environment, and society as a whole.

    1. Meeting Consumer Expectations

    Today’s consumers are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues and are actively seeking products and services that align with their values. By incorporating sustainability into their business models, startups can tap into this growing market segment and gain a competitive advantage. A business that prioritizes environmental sustainability can attract environmentally conscious consumers who are willing to support and promote eco-friendly initiatives. This not only helps the startup gain customer loyalty but also opens up opportunities for expanding their customer base.

    1. Cost Reduction and Efficiency

    Environmental sustainability and operational efficiency often go hand in hand. By implementing sustainable practices, startups can optimize their resource usage, reduce waste, and cut down on unnecessary expenses. For instance, adopting energy-efficient technologies, implementing recycling programs, and minimizing water consumption can lead to substantial cost savings in the long run. By being mindful of resource consumption and waste management, startups can create leaner and more efficient operations, ultimately improving their bottom line.

    1. Innovation and Competitive Advantage

    Integrating environmental sustainability into a startup’s business model fosters innovation and creativity. Startups that prioritize sustainability are more likely to explore alternative and eco-friendly solutions in their product development and operational processes. This drive for innovation can lead to the development of groundbreaking technologies, products, and services that offer unique value propositions. By staying ahead of the curve and embracing sustainable practices, startups can differentiate themselves from competitors and establish a strong market presence.

    1. Attracting and Retaining Talent

    Environmental sustainability is a value shared by many individuals, particularly the younger generation entering the workforce. Startup businesses that incorporate sustainability into their core values and business model are more likely to attract top talent. Talented and passionate individuals are increasingly seeking job opportunities that align with their personal values, including environmental responsibility. By creating a sustainable work environment and demonstrating a commitment to environmental stewardship, startups can attract skilled employees who are motivated to contribute to the company’s success.

    1. Building Long-Term Resilience

    Environmental sustainability is not only about short-term gains; it also provides long-term benefits by ensuring the resilience and viability of a startup business. By embracing sustainable practices, startups can reduce their exposure to environmental risks and regulatory uncertainties. As governments and international bodies tighten environmental regulations, businesses that fail to adapt may face penalties or reputational damage. On the other hand, startups that proactively integrate sustainability into their business models are better prepared to navigate changing regulations and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

    1. Strengthening Stakeholder Relationships

    Environmental sustainability is not just a matter of corporate social responsibility; it is also about building strong relationships with stakeholders. Startups that prioritize sustainability can engage with customers, suppliers, investors, and communities in a more meaningful way. By communicating their commitment to environmental sustainability, startups can foster trust, strengthen partnerships, and attract socially responsible investors. Moreover, by actively engaging with the local community and supporting environmental initiatives, startups can establish themselves as responsible corporate citizens.

    Conclusion

    Incorporating these six benefits of environmental sustainability as the core foundation of a startup’s business model is a strategic decision with far-reaching considerations. By aligning with consumer expectations, startups can attract a growing market segment and gain a competitive edge. The integration of sustainability leads to cost reduction, increased operational efficiency, and fosters innovation, setting startups apart from their competitors. Furthermore, a sustainability-focused approach helps attract top talent, build long-term resilience

  • Essential Software Tools for a Startup Business

    Essential Software Tools for a Startup Business

    Over the last year I have either started mentoring or joined the advisory board of several technology startups. These are technology led businesses with a team of both techies and non-technics. For every startup its important to set the tools early on as it influences the culture of the business and also the pace of the business growth. Selecting the wrong tool delays development as everyone has to learn it or even stops the business as no one wants to use this tool.

    There is no one tools I recommend and it depends on the team members and then the project attributes, such as the size of team, selected coding platform, use of third party plugins and also the length of the creative cycles. So below you will find at least two options for each core tool. The tools selected below all start off with a freemium model which is ideal for startups.

    Another factor in selecting the tools below was they should work on multiple devices (mobile, tablet and PC) and also with multiple people (sharing, editing and also distribution).

    Startup Documents

    Criteria: Need to share, edit and collaborate on documents. Multiple people should be able to view documents at any time.

    Evernote

    I have been a fan of Evernote since it was first launched. I use it in several ways:

    • Research – I use the Web Clip extension to save web pages which then allow me to develop a collection of articles very quickly and then index them against tags and within notebooks. For early stage startups understanding what competitors are doing and how certain technology works is important. This can then be shared with everyone on the team, ensuring a similar knowledge base.
    • I have multiple notebooks that I use for all sorts of things including my task management, goal setting, lists of all kinds, photos and random notes.

    Google Apps/Docs

    Its taken me some time to get happy with Google Docs and still don’t put documents I want to be secure on it, but as an editor which multiple people can use to generate a shared vision its the best tool out there.

    • Collaborative Documents – The document editor is better than MS Word and has a better spell checker, it also loads faster.
    • Save As function, especially to PDF and Website is worth using as it allows you to email and share document very quickly.
    • Google Forms is the best way to create surveys. Since I found this I have stopped using Survey Monkey which has got too expensive.

    Startup Internal Comms & Project Management

    Criteria: A place where everyone can state what they are doing and when, any issues are discussed and logged.

    Skype

    This is a must have tool for collaborative teams.

    • Team Chat – To have a open chat box which everyone can contribute, add files and also URL links is extremely powerful. This always on and open team collaborative culture is extremely important to generating momentum for the business.
    • Team Calls – Every team has to go through the storming/norming phases and chatting on Skype for hours on getting the vision/mission/strategy right is the only way. Most of my team members use Skype of their mobile/tablet for this, so they can walk around the house, trying different rooms during each stage of the meeting.

    Trello

    This provides a digital kanban board for project management, allows the team to contribute and on one page see the entire set of tasks.

    • Great way to show projects, tasks and business mapping on one page which everyone can buy into.
    • The graphical interface provide a simple way to get the team to contribute and set/agree their tasks

    Startup Cloud Storage

    Criteria: Always on and backed up to the cloud. Low cost.

    Dropbox

    Keeps my working files available to me wherever I am, synched across multiple devices.

    • For one startup all their large images are shared through dropbox with all documents shared through Google Docs.
    • I also backup google docs and websites  to Dropbox
    • For another startup they use this for their business plans and external funding applications

    Backupify

    This is a cloud-to-cloud backup provider which enables you to draw down these resources and also edit and repurpose.

    • So backing up what’s on Flickr, Twitter, Delicious, Zoho, Google Apps/Docs, WordPress, Basecamp, Gmail, Facebook, Google Calendar…

    Startup Code Management

    Criteria: Version control for multiple developers

    Github

    This is the default repository for any startup source code plus task lists for developers.

    • It offers as standard distributed revision control and source code management functionality you need.
    • The Wiki and bug tracking features are important once development has started. A wiki can help track the outcomes of those conversations you have about “Should we do it this way or that”. As you know you one of these will be wrong and you will need to reserve this decision.

    Windows Azure

    This feature rich version allows expansion and future proofing.
    You can get this free on the “www.microsoft.com/bizspark/” programme

    • As with a lot of Mircosoft products they are very well designed, (sometimes too over engineered), so choose the options carefully to start with and then open up additional features later on when needed. This way you can grow into the product and not be over “controlled” by the tool.

    Startup Social Media

    Criteria: Simple tools to tell the world of your progress during development. Management of multiple channels during launch.

    Hootsuite

    This is my default social media management tool, as it has Instagram, Youtube and others.

    • Management of multiple streams
    • The fact you can see all tweets from a particular Search and interact with these is very powerful

    Buffer App

    A simple and elegant way of scheduling tweets and posts.

    • Easy to get started and set a scheduled tweet or facebook feed
    • The sharing and timing when these posts go out is very powerful

    There is lots of research on how startups work and the process. The vast majority of it states that time, finance and commitment is limited within the team. Therefore a simple limited set of tools is more powerful than having a expanded and more complete solution. The startup process to MVP and Alpha testing is a non perfect process and therefore over engineering the need for support tools just over complicates the project and therefore inserts delays.

  • Your startup journey – Hatchery to Investment Ready

    Your startup journey – Hatchery to Investment Ready

    There is a wealth of support out their for students and graduates who are starting a business. Its important to use the system to your advantage, so below we set out the path you should take in moving you business through the start-ups stages.

    Hatchery

    This typically aimed at entrepreneurial students who will utilise a designated and specially designed space to conceive, launch, and “hatch” their own independent businesses. Normally there will be a series of adhoc events, networking and awareness raising activities which are supported by business counselling and academic advising. Examples:

    Key Things to look for?

    • Networking opportunities
    • Access to early stage businesses
    • Development of enterprising skills

    Start-up Course

    A set of events or a week long course which gets you to work on and around your business. These force you to think about the key aspects of the business model, marketing, sales, operations, finance, legal and financial aspect of your business. The programme should help set the plan for the business. These are normally free (you will have to fill in some forms) to attend and offered through universities and support agencies. Key Things to look for?

    • A intensive programme covering topics above
    • Mentoring with a local mentor
    • Follow through support
    • Business Start-up Success rate (should be greater than 50% after one year)

    Examples:

    Business Incubator

    A physical space which is dedicated to start-ups and early stage businesses. Businesses apply with a feasible business plan which supports the funding of the place and support over a period of time. A portfolio of support is provided through a adhoc series of engagements with external “interested” parties, such as mentor, legal advice and funders. Normally providing the physical elements to start a business including hot desking, serviced offices and internet. Key Things to look for?

    • Number of events
    • Types of business
    • Size of business, you want those of the same size or a little bigger which shows they can help this size of business
    • Wifi Access and Speed
    • Spaces for quick meeting, chats and brainstorming

    Examples:

    Accelerator

    These are normally national or regional scheme which take normally trading businesses which have further potential and up skills, network and re-organised the business to be able to take advantage of that potential. They have a mixture of fixed programmes and adhoc support which accumadates the business, at its stage and sector. Key Things to look for?

    • Number of current businesses
    • Number of staff and their networks
    • Location to other clusters of start-ups you need
    • Mentorship programme,
    • Alumni : Number and size of the businesses

    Examples

    Seed Investment Programme

    These open investment programmes offer early-stage investment to entrepreneurs who are looking to develop new ventures. The programmes provide funding and support to help entrepreneurs nurture, develop and test their ideas. They normally last 10 to 13 weeks programme of skills development, networking and investment injection. The majority of these provide each entrant up to £15,000 to £20k of investment capital. Key Things to look for?

    • Support for similar or complementary business sectors
    • Make sure the investors know something about your industry
    • Check their success rate based on increased business valuation
    • How many in the portfolio and how many successful exits from portfolio
    • Do you ready need the money
    • Have you considered other sources of funding

    Investment Ready Advancement

    Research has shown that it can take up to 18 months on average for enterprises to become “investment ready”. The majority of businesses which are within an investment route need more than 20k and therefore they need to become investment ready before taking on 500k plus. Therefore this stage is about getting the company ready for significant investment. Key Things to look for?

    • Are able to share control of your business
    • Have you analysed the right type of investor for your business
    • Have you a clear idea of what stage your business has reached

    Examples:

  • 6 Stages of the Startup

    6 Stages of the Startup

    When we work with start-ups its important to provide an assessment on their journey within the startup lifecycle. Understanding where a startup is in their lifecycle allows us to assess their progress, providing mentoring to the founders and also provide a vision. The startup lifecycle is made of 6 stages of development, where each stage is made up of levels of substages, allowing for more granular assessment which helps pinpoint the main drivers of progress at each stage.

    1) Discovery (or Pre-Seed)

    Goal: This phase is all about discovering and validating whether you are solving a meaningful problem and whether anybody would “hypothetically” be interested in their solution.
    Milestones: Founding team is formed, many customer interviews are conducted, value proposition is found, minimally viable products are created, team joins an accelerator or incubator, Friends and Family financing round, first mentors & advisors come on board.
    Management Team : Founder(s)
    Funding Requirements : £500 – £5,000 (always depends on the business type and technology requirements)
    Business Development Milestones : Validated Problem and potential solution
    Typical Funding Resources : Cash
    Average Valuation : Nil (Typical Technology Start-up)
    Time: 3-6 months (average for all types)

     

    2) Seed

    Goal: Development of a minimum viable product which can be shown to potential customers, sponsors and customers.
    Milestones: Founding team is formed, many customer interviews are conducted, value proposition is found, minimally viable products are created, team joins an accelerator or incubator, Friends and Family financing round, first mentors & advisors come on board.
    Management Team : (Core team) Founders, co-Founders, Mentor,
    Business Development Milestones : Letters of intent or some preliminary relationships
    Funding Requirements : (Seed Capital) £10,000 – £50,000
    Typical Funding Sources : Friends and Family financing round, first mentors & advisors come on board
    Average Valuation : £10,000 – £100,000
    Time: 5-12 months (average for all types)

    3) Validation

    Goal: The Startup is looking to get early validation that people are interested in purchasing their product through orders or pre-orders with deposits.
    Milestones : refinement of core features, initial user growth, metrics and analytics implementation, start-up funding, first key hires, pivots (if necessary), first paying customers, product market fit.
    Management Team : (Entrepreneurial Lieutenants) At least one real manager, Founders, Mentors and Advisors
    Funding Requirements : (Startup Capital) £100,000 – £300,000
    Typical Funding Resources : Business Angels, Grants,
    Business Development Milestones : Paying Customers
    Average Valuation : £1m
    Time: 9 months – 1 year

    4) Established / Efficiency

    Goal: The company refines the business model and improves the efficiency of their customer acquisition process. The business should be able to efficiently acquire customers in order to avoid scaling with in-effective processes.
    Milestones: value proposition refined, user experienced overhauled, conversion funnel optimized, viral growth achieved, repeatable sales process and/or scalable customer acquisition channels found.
    Management Team : (Risk takers) At least three real managers, Founders, Mentors and Advisors
    Funding Requirements : (Venture Capital) £300,000 – £500,000
    Typical Funding Resources : Venture Capital
    Business Development Milestones : Profitable customers, Strategic Partners
    Average Valuation : £3m
    Time: 1 – 3 years

    5) Scale

    Goal: Startups step on the marketing drive and drives global growth very aggressively.
    Milestones: massive customer acquisition, back-end scalability improvements, experienced executive team formed, process implementation, establishment of departments.
    Management Team : Executive Board, Management Board, External Advisors
    Funding Requirements : £1.2m – £5m
    Typical Funding Resources : (Bridge Funding)
    Business Development Milestones : Historical results against plan, Focused Business Plan, Strong Processes and Controls,
    Average Valuation : £3-15m
    Time: 3-5 years (average for all types)

     

    6) Sustain

    Goal: Develop a portfolio of customers and products, either based on one technology or a set.
    Milestones: diversification of customers and revenue streams, agile product teams, public and investor relations
    Management Team : Executive Board, Management Board, External Advisors, Product Teams
    Funding Requirements : (IPO) Large A Round
    Typical Funding Resources : IPO
    Business Development Milestones : Multiple Revenue Streams,
    Average Valuation : £10-30m

  • The Three Stages of Entrepreneurship

    The Three Stages of Entrepreneurship

    The process can be easily split into three stages: Thinking, Doing and Growing.

    Thinking about Starting

    The start-up phase is thinking, making plans, developing the right motivation to start and develop the aptitude to be an entrepreneur. For some people this is the hardest part and they struggle to choose an idea, develop the idea past just that and get other involved in making the idea reality. The majority of entrepreneurs never had the luxury to have to sit down and brainstorm ideas, then using innovation techniques decide on the best idea and then market research which one of the shortlist to take forward to a business. I still believe in the ‘gut instinct’ method, if you don’t have the guts to make the decision you want to take forward, then you don’t have the guts to make it work, so stay and get yourself a job in someone else’s business.

    Doing a Startup

    The doing phase is the hardest, it’s the one all the famous entrepreneurs don’t talk about, it’s the part where you spend 18 hours a day, 7 days a week making this business inch forward to some form of success. In this stage you need to start to build relationships with your staff, your bank, your suppliers and your customers. This relationship has to develop a trust and a strong bond which allow everyone to understand who they are and what value they provide into the business model. If someone doesn’t understand this then they will become the weakest link in your business.

    Growing a Startup

    The final stage is growth, personal growth, business growth, network growth and sales growth. This stage is normally post 36 months and it’s the point where the business model and relationships with suppliers is well established. The bank actually like and trust you. The most important part of this stage is to figure out ‘what type of entrepreneur you are?’ and what you can and cannot do, what you want and do not want to do. The things you don’t want to do, hire someone better that you. The thing you want to do and no good at, then develop some skills, in fact you will need to develop skills anyway. Knowing yourself will ensure your business has a solid foundation.  In this stage you need to develop stronger bonds with your local community as you require more employees, more space and more flexible and understanding relationships with those around you.

  • What business should I start?

    This is the million dollar question, and so hard to explain to people.

    I always talk about passion and how if you have passion then you will be more successful. It’s more than this, if you do not believe in what you are doing and have the ability to drive yourself 12 hours a day to strive for success then success will not be able to find you. Passion for the product, the service and your customers is a real source of energy, drive and determination which is an enormous help.

    However some people have a passion for making money, being financial stable and independent. These people would have the passion to sell tea spoons, or sand or just about anything. For these people I tell them:

    Its about Basic Needs

    Maslow is famous for setting out people’s needs. He stated that people need the following in the following order:

    Physiological(food, water, health, sleep), Safety and Security(employment, finances, resources, family, property), Love and Belonging (friendship, family, sexual intimacy), Esteem (confidence, achievement, respect) and Self Actualisation (creativity, problem solving, acceptance of facts).

    If you walk down the high street, every shop is based on one of these needs. The most successful ones are those which basic needs, food, water, health. The more basic the need, the greater the market size, the more people wait it and the better chances you have of selling more and being more successful. There are lots of examples: Bottled Water, Coffee Shops, Hotels, Fast Food….

    Take a look at you spend and what products you buy, how can you better or improve on the products you buy?

    Its about trends

    People are living longer. This means there will be larger population, resources will be have to be shared and will cost more (supply and demand). The price of land, minerals, financial resources and even the virtual world will increase. More of these people will be old(er), more will have an illness, more will need help, more will be in the process of dying. There is money to be made out of each and every stage of life.

    People have more money. The rich will always be rich and the poor will always be poor. Be definition you cannot have one without the other. Greed drives one to master the other. Those with money will and always have wanted to live in individual place, have different social clubs and have people to help them enjoy and spend their money.

    There will always be people moving around the globe, people will move for work, holidays and migration as they have for thousands of years. Every day China and India get richer and this massive population will wait to travel, have the experience of seeing the Pyramids, Eiffel Tower and Sydney Harbour.

    The economies of the world will change to develop new sources of energy which ensures the growth. Do you think China and India have done all this hard work only to run out of energy? With new energy sources come new opportunities to manage, measure and profit from it.

    The internet will get bigger, faster. Moores law will continue to ensure we can double processing power every 18 months. Applications will be created which will allow the most amazing integrations of library information, personal environmental data and social interaction. Please remember the words of Darth Vader “All your technology is insignificant to the power of the force.” The force being peoples habits. After all we still live in houses created hundreds of years ago.

    In short there are so many opportunities that you just need to look for the one that fits your skills, appetite for risk and aptitude.

  • Cool for Cats, Sales is for Entrepreneurs

    As an engineering graduate, sales is ‘that stuff’ which other people do. When I became an entrepreneur the hard facts that everyone has to sell hit me, even though I had developed a product which was sold and downloaded on-line, how come?

    We built a successful business with 160 customers in 60 countries without even employing a single sales person. Our company moto was ‘If you found a pump, pump it’ which meant if you saw a task which needed doing then you owned it. As a young dynamic entrepreneurial business everyone wanted to find as many pumps as they could, for experience, to ensure they were a key part of the business and also to ensure the business became a success. Our company of around 20 people continuously out preformed the sales of larger international players, how come?

    Our products were downloadable mobile games. If we produced a press release over 500 websites would pick this up, if we had a new game, people would email to ask where they could get it, if we missed out supporting a handset people they would offer to test the game for us. Everyone thought we were cool (for cats). I even got mobbed on the Sun Java Stand at an exhibition, how cool is that (ok, I am a geek).

    So did sales came easy?

    No we had to learn fast, we had multiple levels of customers; operators, handset manufactures, newspapers, magazines, on-line portals, aggregators and end users. We had 60 countries to deal with in terms of: numerous currencies, customs and languages which all complicated the sales process.

    The key, as with all sales, is turning an online product into a personal relationship which we could manage. This meant developing a complete sales cycle and customer experience solution which our customers could buy into and our competitors could only aspire too. We had to understand each client, their needs and requirements. We had to get out of our office and meet these people and make sure they liked us, our products and the complete experience we provided. The end result being they wanted to continue to do business with us every single month: repeat business.  In short we had to become an international sales force, learning on the job, we had to sell.

    So if I can do it, I’m sure you can.


  • Bootstrapping

    It seems that most people expect others to finance their business. The fact being, that if you are not prepared to put your money in then why should others. Most people then give up on their ideas as they believe other don’t see the value in the business. This is not true.

    The most important person who should believe in your business is a customer who is parting with their cash. This person is the top of the business value chain and is your champion, they are the customer and always always right. So find this person to help start your business.

    You owe this person everything, because without them you have nothing. Even if you were able to get all the money in the world to start your business, yet had not a single paying customer then you still don’t have a business. I just have to say dot com.

    Therefore, bootstrapping is the process of starting a business based on customers paying you for products and services. The profit from this sale (money) is put back into the business to fund the next round of customers. Each time you sell something you make a profit and the business builds it value. This is the way the majority of businesses start and grow. Therefore it should be a major part of your business plan, growth strategy and business launch.

    When I tell people this they come back with:

    So what if I need to buy some major equipment? Lease it and ensure the profit is still there based on the sales and cash flow.

    So what if I need to have some offices? You can only afford offices once your cash flow provides the capacity to do so. So either hot desk or find a more cost effective solution.

    So what if I need to hire 50 people and a large factory to make the product? You will have to outsource the production and pay for the completed products.

    Bootstrapping allows you to own your business from the very start which means you will always be in the most powerful position when it comes to dealing with new shareholders, banks, suppliers, customers and staff.