Comments on: Top 5 mistakes people make when they start a business http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/ Everything to do with thickening your wallet Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:44:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: admin http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/comment-page-1/#comment-11548 admin Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:34:38 +0000 http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/#comment-11548 To address both Riscario and Silicon Prairie's points indirectly, venture capitalist ideally look for the following before investing in a business: 1. Someone who knows the product/service backwards and forwards (the tech person) 2. Someone who can sell it (the sales person) 3. Someone who knows how to build a business (the business master). I have rarely seen a salesperson without the other two build a sustainable business as I have yet to see a tech person build a good business without a sales person and a business master and how does a business master ply its skills without a product or sales revenue? Sales brings in money but you need a product to sell before you can sell and you need someone who knows what to do with the money that sales brings in and you need tech to continue to refine the product so all three are interdependent on one another. If you are a salesperson then the first person you hire is the business master. Salespeople hate the paperwork involved in administration and operations. The hardest to find is always the business master in my experience. It really requires the right combination of life and business experience meets someone young enough to work hard at building a business. To address both Riscario and Silicon Prairie’s points indirectly, venture capitalist ideally look for the following before investing in a business:

1. Someone who knows the product/service backwards and forwards (the tech person)
2. Someone who can sell it (the sales person)
3. Someone who knows how to build a business (the business master).

I have rarely seen a salesperson without the other two build a sustainable business as I have yet to see a tech person build a good business without a sales person and a business master and how does a business master ply its skills without a product or sales revenue?

Sales brings in money but you need a product to sell before you can sell and you need someone who knows what to do with the money that sales brings in and you need tech to continue to refine the product so all three are interdependent on one another.

If you are a salesperson then the first person you hire is the business master. Salespeople hate the paperwork involved in administration and operations.

The hardest to find is always the business master in my experience. It really requires the right combination of life and business experience meets someone young enough to work hard at building a business.

]]> By: Rachel @ Master Your Card http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/comment-page-1/#comment-11545 Rachel @ Master Your Card Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:45:10 +0000 http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/#comment-11545 This is a great article and wish I had read it when I first started my business. The problem I had was that I did not set myself a budget and wasted a lot of money listening to other people and spending money on things which were not necessary such as advertising at the wrong market etc. However, had I not learnt these lessons the hard way I may not have learnt it as quickly. This is a great article and wish I had read it when I first started my business. The problem I had was that I did not set myself a budget and wasted a lot of money listening to other people and spending money on things which were not necessary such as advertising at the wrong market etc. However, had I not learnt these lessons the hard way I may not have learnt it as quickly.

]]> By: Silicon Prairie http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/comment-page-1/#comment-11539 Silicon Prairie Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:56:56 +0000 http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/#comment-11539 I guess it depends on your approach and preferences - based on your comments here and on the other post in this series it sounds like marketability is very important to you, whereas I would rather make sure I'm selling the right thing (for me and for the customers) first. Either approach - selling something and trying to make it as good as you promised, or finding the right thing to sell and trying to get it to sell as well as it should - can work depending on the situation, so I still wouldn't say that nothing but sales matters... Then again, the original post might just be talking about retail start-ups where more sales don't directly increase the amount of work you have to do. I know I've put in a lot less effort than I should in sales and marketing, but then again one of the reasons is that my existing customers (people who know that I'm selling something good) are keeping me too busy :) I guess it depends on your approach and preferences – based on your comments here and on the other post in this series it sounds like marketability is very important to you, whereas I would rather make sure I’m selling the right thing (for me and for the customers) first. Either approach – selling something and trying to make it as good as you promised, or finding the right thing to sell and trying to get it to sell as well as it should – can work depending on the situation, so I still wouldn’t say that nothing but sales matters… Then again, the original post might just be talking about retail start-ups where more sales don’t directly increase the amount of work you have to do.

I know I’ve put in a lot less effort than I should in sales and marketing, but then again one of the reasons is that my existing customers (people who know that I’m selling something good) are keeping me too busy :)

]]> By: Riscario Insider http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/comment-page-1/#comment-11514 Riscario Insider Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:35:34 +0000 http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/#comment-11514 Interesting ideas, Heather. Combining #2 and #4, there are small businesses without a website or proper email addresses. You look puny if your email address is yourname@hotmail.com or yourname@gmail.com. Silicon Prairie: In "How To Be A Rainmaker", Jeffrey Fox describes these steps 1. Sell it 2. Make it 3. Ship it 4. Bill it Timothy Ferriss sold the idea of "The Four-Hour Workweek" before writing the book. This turned out better than an earlier initiative in which he wrote something that didn't sell. Selling does seem to be the highest priority and that requires a salesperson. Interesting ideas, Heather. Combining #2 and #4, there are small businesses without a website or proper email addresses. You look puny if your email address is yourname@hotmail.com or yourname@gmail.com.

Silicon Prairie: In “How To Be A Rainmaker”, Jeffrey Fox describes these steps
1. Sell it
2. Make it
3. Ship it
4. Bill it

Timothy Ferriss sold the idea of “The Four-Hour Workweek” before writing the book. This turned out better than an earlier initiative in which he wrote something that didn’t sell.

Selling does seem to be the highest priority and that requires a salesperson.

]]> By: Silicon Prairie http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/comment-page-1/#comment-11492 Silicon Prairie Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:04:36 +0000 http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/06/12/top-5-mistakes-people-make-when-they-start-a-business/#comment-11492 Technology can be a great investment if you choose wisely - I recently bought the largest LCD I could fit on my desk and attached it to my laptop; normally I wouldn't do something like that but it makes a big difference in my efficiency. The idea that your first hire has to be in sales seems a bit unusual though... I haven't heard that before. If you take the example of an E-myth type businesses, someone who's building a business around a specific skill and hiring a sales person is just turning it into a job with uneven income! There may be specific parts of the business you like doing but (initial) hiring seems like a way to remove yourself from the daily activities of the business. Whether you start out with help for administrative tasks or by training someone to do the core work of the business, I don't think hiring someone to sell is the automatic first choice. I know that's what I'll be doing more once I get a little help. Technology can be a great investment if you choose wisely – I recently bought the largest LCD I could fit on my desk and attached it to my laptop; normally I wouldn’t do something like that but it makes a big difference in my efficiency.

The idea that your first hire has to be in sales seems a bit unusual though… I haven’t heard that before. If you take the example of an E-myth type businesses, someone who’s building a business around a specific skill and hiring a sales person is just turning it into a job with uneven income! There may be specific parts of the business you like doing but (initial) hiring seems like a way to remove yourself from the daily activities of the business. Whether you start out with help for administrative tasks or by training someone to do the core work of the business, I don’t think hiring someone to sell is the automatic first choice. I know that’s what I’ll be doing more once I get a little help.

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