16 rules of engagement to rocket fuel your start-up’s growth

Here are 16 things that essential if you are going to see your young start-up flourish into a high growth mid-market tiger:







1. Don’t be alone
The experienced, objective and dispassionate adviser / chairman / non-executive director (mentor) can make for a powerful combination with the passionate yet inexperienced entrepreneur who is not always as objective as is required. It’s someone to talk to and vent your frustrations at – safely.

2. Hire a high calibre senior leadership team
You need one of these if you are serious about growth. Too many founders think they can do it virtually by themselves or employ junior managers and expect director level results. Recruit for greatness.

3. Challenge
It is no longer all down to you and if your leadership team is motivated by long term growth in the value of the company then it’s likely they now own part of it too. You have to respect their views and listen to their advice. Expect to be challenged. If you aren’t something is wrong – you have a weak team or you are overbearing. Both are equally dangerous.

4. Learn to lead not manage
This means you have to build a great leadership team and then let them get on with it. Your role as CEO & founder is to provide the direction and uphold the vision and focus – through the ups and downs. Pick the right people and they’ll build a great company for you. Too often, a promising young business is stifled because the founder cannot make the leap from being the nexus of all decisions to leading a team. More of what got you here is not what will get you to where you want to get to. You have to let go and delegate, not over manage.

5. Trust
I trusted my fellow directors 100% that they always had the best interests of Coffee Nation at heart. We had a simple vision and were always aligned. Of course, we didn’t always agree but that is healthy.

6. Style

Simple Tips to Attract Venture Capital

When it comes to technology ventures, software has been taking the lead in terms of the number of rounds cleared, however shifts in technology have made it practical for hardware companies to raise capital for their projects. The biggest reasons why software has taken the lead is because the iteration cycle is smaller and also the fact hardware tends to be more cumbersome.

Today however, investors are now branching into hardware startups because device development has become much easier than in the past. Rather than requiring specialized equipment which often filled entire labs, Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards now allow virtually anyone (including children) to hone their Electrical Engineering skills with only a standard computer and a curious mind.

Ultimately however this shift in hardware will be covered in a later article, but it is important to note that venture capitalists are now warming up a bit to hardware despite it being more complex than software.

The Benefit of Crowdfunding

While many venture capitalists and traditional financiers look down on crowdfunding as being a modern day gold rush where everyone is looking for a quick buck, crowdfunding can be a vital entrepreneurial tool if used properly. In particular a crowdfunding campaign can be used to test the waters and make sure your idea actually has a market. Additionally if you have a successful crwowdfunding campaign, you can take that to an investor to justify your request for funding.

Keep in mind that this method only works with hardware/product startups since crowdfunding isn’t really intended for service oriented companies.

What VC’s Look for in Entrepreneurs

One of the most important points taken from the venture capital panel at CES is that the average venture capital investment lasts longer than the typical marriage. This means that one of the biggest factors an investor considers when making a decision is how well the team members know each other. Ultimately investors will only consider working with teams who have already weathered major challenges since entrepreneurship is rarely a smooth path.

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Entrepreneurship - What do you need to know?

In today’s day and age, consumers possess a very calculated mind as it helps them see every company they come across in a clear, context manner with reference to cost factor, time taken for travel, quality, quantity, and many more .This is where a wise businessman must equip himself with fair knowledge and understanding of these needs and desires of the customers, and know how to canvass them using his innovative skills, in order to attract a large set of people towards his business. After all, why would they seek his company’s service when they can get a better service at a cheap rate in a neighbor company?

He must also be aware that people keep changing. If you are desperate about succeeding, you ought to think differently, that is the rule. Hence on knowing this well, he must operate in a more established manner as his only goal is to satiate his customers in general, making him standout from rest of his rivals.

Moreover, he must thrive hard to change their mentality in order to become his regular, loyal customers. But he never should take them for granted. Each customer is unique, such that their tastes and expectations tend to be different. He should consider this fact after doing a thorough research and form a more realistic approach rather than an artificial one. The following are the essential questions to ask yourself, if you are sincere about starting a business.

1) Are you going to take risk as a sole proprietor? What sort of customers are you planning to deal with? How will your business be different from that of your competitors? Do you have effective marketing techniques to run the same?

2) When the idea of a business startup popped into your head, was it because were you inspired by the victory of another startup? If it is so, you should be unduly cautious and brilliant enough to avoid imitations or falsifications of any kind that might lead to unnecessary conflicts.

3) You may start your business any time at any place; but a crucial point or situation may arise where you have to abandon it due to family issues, time constraints, and lack of money, investors, etc. Are you 100% sure, you are ready for this?

4) Let us suppose you have started running your business and is quite content with its progress coupled with auspicious and impressive profit  of which you are confident in getting .Suddenly, an unexpected, heavy loss occurs and ruins your business abruptly leaving you all scattered to tiny pieces. In this case, will you promptly quit or have the courage to start over again?

After asking these questions, you still are very much interested, the following are some of the important aspects that you should never fail to concentrate during the course time of running your business.

a) Enthusiasm for Entrepreneurship

10 Marketing Tips For Startups

Marketing is a full time job, and when you’ve got a newborn startup on your hands, strategic marketing is key. With the competition in the startup scene at an all time high, calculated marketing tricks can either make or break a new company. As a new startup, money for large scale marketing campaigns isn’t always in over abundance, so how does a company market big on a small budget? Believe it or not, you don’t have to break to bank to properly execute some effective marketing strategies. So for those of you in need of some creative guidance to get your marketing strategy off the ground, here are 10 marketing tips for startups.

1. Hire a Marketing Division

Before getting your marketing strategy off the ground, the first step is to build a strong and savvy team. Whether you have one dedicated employee focused solely on marketing, or a team of staff building and strategizing new marketing campaigns, having a marketing division is a must. If you ask a startup owner what his schedule is for the day, you’re most likely going to get a jam packed list of to-do’s. With so much on a startup founder’s mind, marketing is one important task that often gets overlooked. So, if you want to successfully market your startup, first be sure that you have a reliable team whose job description includes developing, and deploying daily marketing strategies.

2. Choose your Target Audience

Sometimes that great concept, or idea you have in your head just won’t fly with the masses. One of the most important steps to effective marketing, especially in the startup world, is to choose your target audience wisely. No offense, but you’re not Coca Cola. Unless you are an internationally recognized brand, a marketing strategy that attempts to appeal to the entirety of the general public is surely going to flop. 

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9 Things You Need To Know For Startup Investing

Startup investing can be rewarding both financially and personally. By investing in a startup you are contributing to job creation and capital formation. The influence of entrepreneurs has shaped the U.S. since before its founding and the contribution with such innovation its absolutely immeasurable.

Even though picking winners is not an easy game, making a home run by investing in startups means that the returns could yield between 5x to 100 times returns on the initial investment. However, it is crucial to conduct the appropriate due diligence on the business, market, competitive landscape and founding members to mitigate against risk.

At the company I co-founded for instance, RockThePost, an investment platform for startups, we help with the due diligence process by only showcasing highly vetted startups. Each entrepreneur and their high level officers have to pass through background checks in order to even be considered, in addition to pitching the business venture to our investment committee, which is comprised of four financial experts, and led by the former Chief Financial Officer of E*Trade Financial, Robert Simmons.

Below are some of the most important tips when considering making an investment in a startup company.

1) Invest in a domain you know. One of the best ways to reduce risk is to understand the market that startup operates in. This will provide you with a better sense when projecting the potential success of the venture. Make sure that the business has a scalable model so that it can grow to a level in which you will be able to get your money back as an investor.

2) Drill into the track record of the founders. The people behind the company are the most critical factor, especially for early stage companies. This is mainly due to the fact that products need to be iterated several times until they are able to find where they fit in the market. Just like Jim Collins’ book “From Good To Great”, it is all about having the right people sitting in the right seat. Eventually they will end up finding the right direction. Here you want to focus on their background story (previous companies, education, etc.) and what type of value they bring to the table.

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Buying a Business: Important Issues to Consider

Buying a business can be a very good opportunity to get into an industry without going through the startup process, which can be time consuming, costly,  and  comes with no guarantees.

That being said, a business that is for sale is like a used car. There are lots of companies out there but only a select few are worth purchasing. Due to this, it is very important for people to do their due diligence and investigate whether or not the business they are interested in has potential.

Evaluate Yourself

Owning a company is certainly not for everyone. It is up to individuals to make sure that they have considered all available options before making the ultimate decision to be their own boss. Therefore, it is important for a person to identify their weaknesses and strengths. It is always a great idea to jot these down on paper.

Aside from listing your professional achievements, strengths and skills, you should also note your personal characteristics. These play an important role in achieving success in the business world. This also allows you to compare your traits with the attitudes that make a good business owner. Some of these attitudes include the following:

•     Dedication

•     Perseverance

•     Leadership

•     Entrepreneurship

•     Confidence

•     Self-belief

A person who does not have these attitudes should try their best to develop them. If not, you may need to reconsider owning your own business.

Business Structure

As a potential buyer, you should consider the business structure prior to purchasing a company. This is because there are taxation considerations and protection issues that need to be shored up. Some of the possible business structures that can be adopted include the following:

•     Company

•     Trust

•     Partnership

•     Sole Trader

•     A combination of a trust and company structure

A potential buyer should always remember that each kind of structure described attracts ongoing compliance costs, setup costs, personal risk and tax rates. 

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7 Tips for Small Business Owners Looking to Jump Into Social Media

Because of my background working on social media marketing campaigns for numerous large businesses, small and independent business owners often ask me how they should dive into the social media world. Many of them have little or no experience with social media and some of them may use it but without purpose. Here are 7 general tips I give to them before they take the plunge into social media marketing.

1. Develop a social media marketing plan. Start with your objectives and map out a plan-of-action to meet these objectives. What are you planning to get out of social media marketing? Who and how will you reach your target audience? These are just some of the things you'll want to address in your plan. By organizing your thoughts and ideas, you'll have a roadmap and something to refer back to should you lose focus.

2. Start from the inside out. I always stress to clients that before you pull the trigger on social media you need to be sure that you are ready for it internally. Are you and your staff ready to handle any questions that come through the door? Do you have a crisis communication plan in place should something arise via social media? Do you have the bandwidth to actively keep up with this audience? Who will take ownership of retrieving and posting content?

3. All or nothing. Like a marriage or any relationship that you want to work, social media marketing is most effective when you're committed to it. You either give it your all or don't bother turning the switch on. You'll do more harm than good if you go into it half-heartedly.

4. Build your community.