Kevin Cullis: How to Start a Business Mac Version

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When it comes to startup entrepreneurs, one of the key factors of getting started is the key word: Focus. What should they focus on to get them going?

Have you heard of the comment, “What you focus on is what you get!” It’s true. The same thing goes for seeing a glass half empty or half full. If all you see is obstacles and not your vision of accomplishing something it is demotivating. But even if you focus on the positive, what do you focus on?

I once was working a job at a small retail company and the Regional Director was visiting and “motivating” us by stating, “Focus, focus, focus!” But of course, most of the people took that and ran “fast” with what they saw, but each in their own direction with activities that, while helpful to the business, were actually NOT the right priorities for the business. Her leadership skills were fear based and while they were “detailed,” her motivation did not embrace what the priority of the organization’s goals were. It was a scattered view of “getting it all done and fast,” it intentionally “blurred” everyone’s focus costing the company time, money and resources.

So, as any startup entrepreneur, here’s a short list of what to focus on:

• Product – putting in all of the features necessary and getting the product out the door.
• Competition – seeing what your competition is doing and not letting them out of your sight and ensuring you’re better than they are.
• Ideal Customer – what are your customer’s needs and wants.

So, what do you think a startup should focus on?

Here’s the wrong answers:

• Product – focusing solely on your product and building the most complete and perfect Swiss Army knife for your ideal customer takes time and resources, and maybe no one will want it. Therefore, you’ve wasted your resources and reduces your profit potential.
• Competition – if you focus on what your competition is doing even THEY can miss the boat of what a customer wants and needs. If they’re heading down the wrong path, they just get there sooner than you do. Don’t chase your competition’s bunny trial which may lead to a dead end.

These are the correct answers in the correct order of priority:

1. Focus on  your ideal customer’s needs and wants, it is here that you spend your time and effort so that they are willing to give you their money for your solutions.
2. Product – when you focus on your ideal customer and their needs and wants your product becomes the result of that time and effort.
3. Competition – while focusing on your customer’s needs and wants you’ll then focus on your product and services, but you need to keep your competition in your peripheral vision, not completely out of sight, but still in view and not your main focus.

A focused priority will keep you moving ahead in the right direction.

Related articles

• 3 Tips for Startups to Survive (smallbizbee.com)
• Some Startups Forget to Validate a Business Model (businessinsider.com)
• Master Class: Looking for Focus? Ask Your Customers! (guidewiregroup.com)

You know, setting expectations with customers is your first order of business as a startup entrepreneur. But often, things get out of whack that are either in or out of your control. From the customer’s standpoint, many don’t care and may leave. Others may understand, but only if you show that you’re human and willing to make amends.

Here is at the blog site Open Forum an article How to Apologize to Customers and Have Them Love You More offers great advice to help mend fences with a customer.

Most important for any startup entrepreneur: To learn what went wrong and where and remember it and figure out how to prevent it in the future. Prevention of a problem is FAR cheaper than fixing one.

Related articles

• Most Startups Still Treat Customers Like Outsiders (businessinsider.com)
• From #SXSW: How a little love can go a long way when responding to customers (smartblogs.com)

If you are in business for yourself you will invariably come across customers and vendors like this video shows. Vendor/Client relationships go hand in hand with businesses. How do you or would you handle customers like these?

One of the keys to negotiation is how much time you have invested with each customer. Too often the “bottom half” of customers only look at prices of products and services and not the value. You have to determine at the get go whether you intend to be the “lowest price” company and forever lowering your price to get customers. But another way is to move in the other direction providing greater and greater value to  your customer to keep them coming back to you.

Your thoughts?