7 Factor for Start-Up Success

I’m not going to lose my shot

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That song from “Hamilton”- with its refrain carried through a variety of songs- resonates in my soul.  I’ve always tried to get my ventures- and my clients ventures- to become the success of which we all dream.

Whether we are solopreneurs, budding entrepreneurs, or well-funded enterprises, we all want to be (instant) successes. We want folks to buy our products, purchase our services, or peruse our blog (even if it means we crash the site).

Regardless if our idea is perfect or we have the most insightful blog, there is no guarantee that people will flock to us. Because they need to know who we are and where we are. And, that is the problem we all have.   So, rarely have any of us garnered that instant stardom.

So we work to achieve visibility, to reach the “tipping point” for our success. We have to  reach the threshold that guarantees we keep growing because of our existing popularity. (It also assumes we are providing consumers what they want. A lot.)

After all, making our web site and bringing it live only means we’ve dropped a pebble in the ocean. There’s no guarantee- or even a promise- that those ever expanding waves will reach anyone. Or, if they do, that it will trigger an interest to find out who/what/why we are.

Decades ago, before the internet, we started several companies. And, I’ll use two of them as examples to give some ideas for promotion – even though they don’t rely on the internet for their market introduction.

The first example is our engineering design entity. We had a hell of a time getting clients to hire us. Being the youngest one of the founders, I let the others hit up potential clients. Now, if any of us had been working in the fields of our parents, we could have relied on our parents to make introductions, to spread the word about our new venture. But, alas and alack, that was not in the cards.

So, for months all we could do was check out which companies looked like they needed help and try to get them to hire us. We also went to a slew of technical meetings to make our firm known. We knew that getting the local (or even national papers) to write about us wasn’t going to get us the interactions we wanted. So, in our case, we worked on the technical journals and the business publications.  (More consumer-oriented ventures could have benefited from local and national newspaper mentions.)

Until eventually, we got our first client. And, since the work we did was confidential, we had to think up some pretty creative ways to get the story of what we were doing to appear in our target publications. Which got us our second client.

Then, something happened that we hadn’t considered. Folks from our first two clients abandoned ship- they went to work for other firms. Which helped get us in the door to even more firms…

So, after 6 months of starvation and 12 months of privation, we were on our way.
Before we talk about the second firm, let’s go over what can be learned from our early experiences.

When you are starting a new venture, the easiest way to get publicity is to work with (on?) our friends and family. If our friends and family are not in high tech (and we are), this approach won’t yield the results we want. But, you can bet that our friends and family can tell a slew (at least a score or so) of folks about our blog. And, if those folks tell others, it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to discern that a critical number of folks (who may or may not be our prime targets) now know about us. That’s a start.

Networking with potential clients/customers is also an important step in getting our name out. Nowadays, we can do that with social media, as well. Eventually, we can find folks who want to know what we do- really. Then, it’s our job to get them interested in trying out what we do- and then to actually turn over their cash to us to buy what we offer.

Our name (our brand) is the next key point to consider. Whether it’s a blog (I used “Cerebrations” for my blog- which means “thoughts and ideas”) that sets us apart or a corporate entity (our recent venture chose “Adjuvancy”- most people want to know what it means, which gives us the chance to convince them of our utility to their needs) that gets us some notoriety.

Then, to keep our name visible, we release news items (PR). To really ensure our release gets published, we need to consider coupling these press releases with a business launch  or a similar event to “convince” the powers-that-be to highlight our information. (Nowadays, there even are syndication sites we can use- such as PR Newswire, amont other choices.)

Let’s move on to our second example company, our dialysate provider. After we began selling our product (the clinical trial was over), we partnered with a fairly large firm to market our product through their distribution system. To be honest, we were somewhat worried about this company. Our product was completely different than anything out there and this particular firm hadn’t introduced a new product in nearly a decade.

But, partner we did. And, we learned valuable lessons. Like, with a radical new product like ours, the method of introduction also needs to be radically different. Instead of searching for established firms to buy our product, we needed to find those dialysis providers that were willing to be on the cutting edge, that were willing to examine new offerings, and were desperate to provide the best experience for their patients.

After the six month “engagement” with the partner, we disengaged. We didn’t blow up any bridges, but we made it clear that their success rate was about the same as ours during those six months. And, they had six dedicated salespersons. We just had me- and my fantastic COO. But, now we knew “who” (not the salesperson, but the mental and physical attributes) we needed to hire to expand our market position. So, at the very least, this partnership proved its worth to us.

And, while we hired and deployed our salesperson, I went around the world, meeting with the top folks in the field. It helped that I knew most of them from previous developments with which I was associated. But, I have also found that most of these folks are just as desperate to find the newest, the best, the coolest ideas – at least as much as I was dying to bring the concept to market. After all, these folks stay in their positions as “top dog” by finding those things that will help keep them in the limelight.

7 Factor for Start-Up Success

We also spent money on advertising. Not all the time. We advertised when there were major trade-shows- or when we truly had some new “stuff” to share with the world. And, as I’ve written before, we used “kitschy” ways to get attention.

  • We used a stork carrying two babies when we brought two new production facilities on line. “Announcing” our new additions.
  • We used plays on words (we were providing a salt-water solution that was radically different- and better- for patients on dialysis. So, instead of offering new products as our competitors did, we stressed that we were providing “solutions”, which kept the fact that our firm provided prepared dialysate, which required no mixing or fuss at the clinics).
  • We made popcorn at each trade show, which aroma brought customers to our booths. Where we dispensed custom-made wine bottles filled with premium popcorn kernels (and special labels) to continue the metaphor. (“Things are popping up all over at Bicarbolyte”.)

We still don’t always have that instant pudding mix that can yield overnight success. But, knowing how to tweak the system, how to compose that ‘special sauce’ to help introduce new products and services- and achieve that tipping point, is the most critical consideration.

We can use that expertise to help your start-up, too.

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9 thoughts on “I’m not going to lose my shot”

  1. As I work to grow my blog, it’s encouraging and helpful to read others’ experiences. Many people just say, “it didn’t happen overnight”..but they don’t articulate exactly what they were doing doing all that time. I appreciate your examples and specifics of your experience. Thanks for sharing!
    Susan recently posted..Miss Cay’s Red Velvet Cake

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