If you could give only 1 advice to yourself at the beginning of your startup, what would it be?
Sveta Bay
68 replies
Let me start!
Advice:
Start building your audience ASAP and #buildinpublic
Why?
By doing these, you get support, feedback, and even first customers. These are the core things for Indie and Solo entrepreneurs in the beginning!
Replies
Joshua Wöhle@joshuawohle
Advice:
Although you want to launch as early as you can to collect feedback on your execution, start tweaking your original idea only once you've hit the minimum stage where you think your product actually solves the problem you set out to solve well.
Why?
Too often the feedback from users on very early products comes from the fact they're not able to see exactly what you are trying to do just yet. In turn, you run the risk of misinterpreting the feedback as relating to the fundamental idea as opposed to your current execution of it.
A balance to strike of course, but I'm seeing this happen (and have made the mistake) more often nowadays
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@joshuawohle Ooh this is SUCH great advice. When you're in the weeds of building your product, you're on a mission. You probably haven't revealed that entire mission yet or what you're building or what your end game is. Someone coming in early and giving you feedback could be distracting from your vision.
Trust your gut, follow through, take feedback with a grain of salt. Great approach.
@joshuawohle Joshua, that's brilliant!
If the product is too abstract, the feedback will be also like that
Start where you are.
There will never be a perfect time of the day, month, or year to get started. If you keep waiting for "perfect conditions," they'll never come, and you'll keep putting it off.
Just start. And keep showing up.
Do not go into details when implementing. Do as simple as possible.
The result of the MVP is needed ASAP and the idea may change many times. Some technical tricks may not be useful at all.
@sergeipetrov absolutely agree!
The 1st version must be simple with a direct focus on one problem solution
Oh, great question.
Advice: Go where the research takes you. Don't try to fit your perception of a problem onto a market's actual problem.
Why? As founders our bias can over ride decisions on days it gets a little tough.
Before You Begin: Get in the right mindset.
Don't forget to keep your attention on your own business journey and avoid comparing your achievement to others.
Small chunks, fast iteration, don't commit and commit, push and merge soon😎
Having an idea is one thing, but having a legitimate business plan is another story.
Not knowing everything will feel NORMAL after a while. Because it IS normal.
Don't be afraid that you're being thrown in the deep end - you'll meet incredible people along the way that will teach you, support you & help you come out of everything stronger.
Passion will work for you on the days you lose motivation or when you're mental health is impacted. Passion will keep you going till you get your rhythm back. It's the secret to discipline and drive.
Your startup company needs a physical address and a web address. Whether it’s offices, retail space, or a manufacturing location, you need to buy or lease a property to operate your business.
@bob_ketterer great one! But it doesn't work for digital products 🤔
What's your startup?
If you’re not a marketing expert, you need to become one. You might have the best product or service in the world, but if nobody knows about it, then your startup can’t succeed.
@charliee1122 yeah absolutely. Good hired marketing specialist is a rare option. You either need to find a co-founder or deep dive into it by yourself!
All advice in this discussion is valuable. My advice to myself :) would be - set constraints on resources, especially time but also money. Track these resources carefully because you need both to get users. Hope this helps.
If you’re starting a small business in a local community, you can take advantage of some older and conventional methods.
Be okay with good enough. It can be so hard to ship something that doesn't feel perfect or anywhere near what you envision, but getting quick feedback is so much more valuable than going all in on getting something that may not be right.
Set up financial systems and reporting properly from day one and track it vigilantly week over week. As you scale this will be one of your strongest tools and discipline will save you significant time and headache in the future
follow your instincts
Have courage + be kind! No matter what you do needs a ton of courage to face all the odds + kindness to yourself and others in the process.
Advice:
Build something that few people love instead of something that many people like and don't run after people that will never love your product.
Why?
It's much easier to scale a product that is loved by its first 100 customers than something 1000s of people somewhat like.
Asking for payment early on (even if it's scary), helps a lot in separating the "lovers" from the "likers" :)
