Quote: (05-06-2015 09:48 PM)bad guy Wrote:
I'm planning to build a business around a tech product I've been working on and my small efforts at marketing it has kicked my ass completely. I can't even imagine how challenging its going to be to manage the business and people if/when it does grow into a real business. What would you consider the top 3 or 5 things to learn and get good at? Any learning resources you recommend or this is something one only learns by doing? I've downloaded the Lean Startup and am starting into it though I don't think it gets into this type of learning.
[quote] (05-06-2015 12:42 AM)loki Wrote:
(05-05-2015, 03:36 PM)Ice Wrote: I have a very technical background and am self taught as well as holding multiple (now expired) certifications. However I have found learning to effectively manage people and manage a business to be 100x harder than learning how to design and deploy mid-scale (up to 20000 node) networks.
Hmm top points that I think are relevant, thats a hard questions to answer but lets take a shot and keep in mind this is my opinion only.
1. Do not be afraid of making mistakes, they happen and when they do its critical you learn from them or you will be destined to repeat them again. Always remember in life you keep repeating the lesson until the lesson is learned. Its also actually worse to make no decision over a sub standard one in business.
2. Get a good mentor
3. Network like your life depends on it, because your business life well does.
4. Read read read some more, then when you are done read even more. In fact never stop stuffing your head with new information because this is a very powerful weapon as well as valuable asset (knowledge). In this context it should be related to what you are doing, want to do , plan to do and think might come in handy. Yes its time consuming but it pays massively in the long run. So many people today are just lazy or think they can look shit up on wikipedia and its correct. You need to make a substantial investment in your on going education through out life if you are going to be successful in my humble or not so humble opinion.
5. Be prepared to make sacrifices, like going out on Friday nights or making yourself work weekends until the machine is running itself. This is a real art (creating a machine that's runs itself) and i will explain more in a bit. If you are not interested in making sacrifices, investing both capitol and time as well as many other required ingredients then being in business is not for you. It takes dedication, balls, brains,obsession, passion, belief, funding, backing, a solid ideas, well thought out plans and a few other things to make it work like a bit of luck and good timing.
6. Keep investing your profits , endlessly, and pay yourself only what you need to live the life you need ( not want, at least for the first 10 yrs). You need to learn to make your money work for you instead of you working for your money.
Back to the making the machine run itself, this ones a tough one and it took me over a decade to work it out. There is a difference between being in business for yourself and owning a company. Being in business yourself is basically a job that you control because its your show. You can pick and choose how where and when you work as well as what you charge ( whatever the market will bear). However its still a job because you have to be there doing it to make money. Even if you have some staff its still a job.
Owning a real business/company, is like owning a machine that runs all the time no matter if you are there or not. Sure you still have to tend it like a garden so far as if you look after your garden it will flourish as will your business... like cutting away the dead wood (bad staff), nurturing it with fertilizer (cash, talent) and making sure its its got enough water (leads and customers). Over time once you get settled in you will place key people in these roles as you employees to tend to your garden the way you want it kept.
Hope this helps and I wish you all the best pf luck in your endeavors.