Business networking for your startup

December 5, 2011 Leave a comment

Networking is extremely important for entrepreneurs. Most of the startupreneurs are restricted in time and resources, therefore a good network can help them access suppliers, markets, information and guidance necessary for their startup’s development. I understood the importance of networking while working as an intrapreneur at the beginning of my career and since then have been able to build a robust professional network that I leverage and get support from now as an entrepreneur.

Start your networking with people you know. Among them, look for key characteristics like competency, dependability, and helpfulness that can be useful in your entrepreneurial venture. Focus more on proactive networking and reach out to people. This will also help you in tapping into other people’s networks. Over time your network will grow through reactive networking of others in the ecosystem. Typically your start-up network should have people from your suppliers, customers, service providers, industry ecosystem including your competitors, financial services, government officials and policy makers, colleagues and key contacts from your past workplaces, key connects from your alumni groups, industry specific experts and professionals, among others. However, your focus should not be on building a very large network, but on the intensity of the network. You can build the intensity by selecting the right people and communicating with them regularly to keep the network alive.

While communicating with your network, remember to project your ideas as professionally as possible, be prompt in returning calls and replying to e-mails, refrain from talking bad about people, do not reveal and talk about your flaws, and don’t whine. Keep details of your network contacts handy and periodically update the key information. Remember that its not only ‘who you know’ but what really counts is ‘what they know about you’ for building and managing an effective network.

Some best practices of effective networking are,

  • Establish a relationship with people much before you need them. People who have known you for a while will be more inclined to help you.
  • Understand what you can do for others as this will help you set your expectations right while asking for help from your network.
  • Attend conferences, trade shows, social events, lectures, etc and meet people. Making the first impression is the key here. So do not talk too much, ask smart questions and let them talk. Never forget to carry your business cards and pass it while you are introducing yourself.
  • Unless you are rock sure of your points, do not contradict others.
  • Read stuff beyond your direct professional subject and expand your information horizon. This will help you connect with a wider audience while engaging them in intelligent conversations.

The final tip: Grow it. Nourish it. Reap it.

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5 key tips for engaging a startup mentor

December 5, 2011 Leave a comment

A business mentor has more entrepreneurial and domain expertise than you and can help in improving productivity, streamlining marketing initiatives, build better business relationships and in retaining key human capital for your Startup. Read ‘Importance of Business Mentoring’ to understand the relevance of a mentor.

Finding the ‘right’ mentor is not always easy and requires some research and hard work to get the best fit for the founders and the Startup. Here are five tips on finding and choosing a mentor for your Startup.

  1. Ask around for recommendations from your past & present colleagues, contractors, accountant, lawyer, and among your professional friends. The startups that I have mentored have all come through such recommendations.
  2. Mentors have a variety of expertise. To get the best out of them, you need to brainstorm the areas of guidance you need a mentor for. It can be from business structuring to helping with financial planning, or product strategies and marketing plans, to overall growth and development of your Startup.
  3. Once you have zeroed in on few choices, you need to thoroughly discuss the areas of engagement to gauge their views and see if they match your work principles. Before you meet a potential mentor either physically or virtually, prepare a set of questions and topics that you will discuss during the meeting. Don’t hesitate in asking for feedback on your business idea and status.
  4. An effective mentor helps you develop your own capacities and resources to undertake management challenges. It’s important that you and your mentor clearly understand the roles and therefore be vocal about what you want right from the beginning. This will ensure harmonious relationship with the mentor and you will achieve focused results.
  5. Robust relationships are built on trust and honesty. Big names may not always be the best fit for you. You do have to make a judicious decision while choosing your Startup mentor. And so finally believe in your instinctswhen you finally have to make the mentor choice.

All the best for your search!

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5 key bootstrapping strategies

December 5, 2011 Leave a comment

I have been a bootstrapper from day one since I got bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. I learnt important key lessons from my first Startup that I applied in the next to optimize the chances of its success. Based on my learning, am sharing the following strategies for bootstrapped startups,

  1. Network hard and get connected, but work the ways on your own. Look for business mentors, hire experts, and the rest ‘Do It Yourself’. Remember that all other kinds of help and support costs money that you don’t have. It’s fine that you are a rocket scientist, a specialist, but you can train yourself to do marketing, sales pitch, finance, websites, and other work that will help your Startup grow.
  2. Rent for office space is one of the biggest expenses for any Startup. Till you start making money from your business, try to work from a home office. Rent that garage the Bill Gates way. Work virtually. Spend the rock bottom minimum money to keep your Startup running. Look for innovative ways through which you can cut down your costs, be it setting up fees or the operational costs.
  3. You don’t need to start taking huge CXO salaries the moment your Startup starts making money. Take out survival money and re-invest the rest of profits back in your Startup. Before you get into the bootstrapping mode, plan your survival finances for 12 months, instead of the mythical 6 months break even period. Believe me, in most of the cases you are not going to see any real money coming to your Startup in its first year.
  4. You will have to constantly find ways to market your Startup creatively. Use social media to its fullest. Don’t go for the glittering marketing expenses, which are huge and will eat up your initial money that may not bring results to keep you and your confidence afloat for a long time. Either find interns from graduate schools around who can do marketing for you through twitter, Facebook, e-mail, LinkedIn etc. or just do it yourself.
  5. They key to any bootstrapped Startup is perseverance. If you don’t have patience and want to strike the jackpot from the word go then either you have to be the luckiest person around or you are living in a utopian world. For the real people, steady persistence with focused course of action leads to desirable results and success.

So keep a tight lid on your costs, trust your gut feeling, and march forward with all the passion in your dream. The growth may be slower with bootstrapping, but it’s all yours. All the very best in your endeavors!

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