(Update: March ’22)
Ten years back, I started building my first company.
I remember how hard it was to build this first business and how things were different in the digital world: other times, various tools, different journeys.
This post is a gathering of selected advice I missed.
I hope they are helpful for you to thrive faster as a business founder.
The founder’s journey
It will be a long trip, and there will be ups and downs. Be ready.
There are two unlimited resources in the business: « never the right moment » people & folks that will never launch anything but have a firm idea about your idea.
Just move on.
Before launching
You’re currently building in the shadow.
That means you can try and experiment with many things before anyone knows about your project. Doesn’t it feel comfortable to keep away for some time from competition & being judged or challenged?
Enjoy being this peaceful period before the storm.
The brand
It takes more time to build a brand image than it takes to kill it forever. Protect the brand.
Sure, growth hacks are lovely. But think twice before deploying them: can they harm the brand?
Building a business = short-term actions, building a brand = long-term vision + actions.
Guess which one wins in the end?
Experiment
Various customers, different countries, mixed behaviors.
Find your tricks for each & mix them with your voice.
Be compelling—each and every time.
Conversion
Optimizing the sales funnel is a neverending process that starts now.
Go with several ideas to check out & test them one by one till you find what fits and work.
Then double down on what works.
Fine-tuning
Views < Traffic.
Traffic < Engagement.
Engagement = where the growth lies.
Start a discussion
To 6 billion people, there’s nothing more exciting than a good conversation. And a conversation is precisely where the business starts.
If you’re in for the win: make interactions & discussions happen. Comment, feedback, email, mention in a tweet… Be conversational.
It might not lead to an immediate ROI, but different goals can be reached in the long term: a supportive community, 1000 true fans, brand advocates.
All of them matter for a sustainable business.
Copywriting
Editing content with Google in mind (think SEO) is a game-changer, nothing new here.
But you won’t sell anything to Google.
Write for humans first.
SEO
If you start writing in your area, chances are SEO will take a long time to do for you.
Be patient or go with paid ads, engagement on social media, or better:
The three of them.
Social Media
Social listening > Social marketing.
Listen more. Argue less. Find the sweet spots.
Reach out to those who really need your offer. Not the mass.
Legal
While you can learn many things on the Web for free nowadays, chances are you’ll never be a lawyer. So please leave it to a specialist when it comes to T&Cs.
You don’t want to kill your business because a competitor found a flaw in your legal area.
Market
A mainstream market is hard and expensive to reach, which will never change.
On the opposite side, niches are sexy: people are involved, committed to their fav topic, which makes them more likely to spend their hard-earned cash on your offer.
When you find your niche, keep in mind that there are niches within your niche.
It’s easier to rule a small kingdom than conquer the whole world.
Find your niche fans and engage.
Design
Simple is always better. Avoid the fancy. At least at first.
You can always add features later.
Or not.
Launching
Build your community first.
Nowadays, there are many examples where creators made cash immediately after launching their first product because they had previously built and fed a community of hardcore believers and engaged fans.
Seed and feed the addiction.
Community
People spend less time on TV and more time than ever on social media. It means it’s easy to find them, know them and talk to them.
People watch content, videos, pictures, articles. People want to be entertained and be empowered.
Find what fits best for your craft and bring value.
Entertain, teach, help first and expect no immediate reward.
Build a list (emails) as soon as you can. Top priority. Emails are and will remain a vital asset: no algorithm that can hurt your reach here, no closing platform after years of investing in it.
Sell them trust before you sell anything else.
Paid ads
Spicing up with paid ads is never a bad idea.
Just find where your ads would earn the best $$/efficiency ratio.
« Paid » is not a bad word.
Tools
If a subscription to a web service allows you to save time & hassle for 15$/€ a month, go for it.
There are enough things to deal with building a business. Time is precious.
You got no time or energy to lose in non-relevant processes.
Mindset
Keep your brain safe, especially if you’re on the emotional side of life.
It’s a long haul, an actual marathon with many sprints in between.
There will be bad days; there will be good days.
If it’s a bad day, you’ll feel it from scratch in the morning, go out and do something else.
And remember that your offer won’t fit everyone.
And that’s ok.
Selling
Remember, there are only two reasons people buy a good or service: they want to achieve a goal or a dream or want to kill a pain that’s hurting them.
There are no other reasons.
Focus on one of them to get heard.
Communication
You can’t grow anything if you don’t communicate about it/yourself.
And personal branding is going all the rage nowadays.
Never miss an opportunity to show off, even if you don’t feel legitimate.
This is not about showing fancy things.
It’s about people knowing you got your say in this noisy world.
THE Idea
Many founders are afraid to share « their » idea.
The truth is: ideas are free. No one owns them. And if ever someone had the same idea, that would be ok as well.
They would probably build it, grow it and keep it alive in a very different way.
Execution > Ideas.
Every time.
On a daily
There is something way more efficient than overthinking: it’s called « execution.»
Bonus: execution also kills fears and offers answers & feedback from your market.
And that’s all you need to refine, fine-tune your offer and win.
Build in Public
Hiding when people want to hear about you makes no sense.
Share your wins, your difficulties, your following milestones.
The market has answers you need to hear.
GDPR
Privacy is not a fancy word. Nor respect.
Respect people like they could be your customers tomorrow.
Fit GDPR and respect their privacy as you’d expect for yourself.
Thanks for reading me! I hope those ideas found you well and helped your journey.
What about you?
Are you building in public? Did you have the opportunity to launch your own business?
If yes, what advice would you prioritize as a founder?