Tag Archives: start-up

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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.


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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.