10 startup lessons learned
by Startacus Admin
Marketing a startup is a nightmare
Yes this is a massive reality and one I tackle every day. By repeating steps 3-5 and learning from successful young entrepreneurs who I meet I am hoping to make that big marketing break through! What I have learned is that you have to try so hard and use every medium you can afford (social media, SEO etc). I’ll let you know how it goes…
Have a backup fund/ add an extra 15% to your initial startup cost estimates.
As you may have guessed from point 3 I am not afraid to ask for free help and I am also being incredibly tight with my budget, do I really need that £150 freestanding marketing banner…nope. It becomes a game of where do I HAVE to spend that money! Despite this I’m still expecting to have to add on funds to the startup cost to make the launch more comfortable so with that in mind I would suggest: saving that bit more, not taking that holiday, entering that competition, squeezing a bit more out of that investor…!
Stand your ground
Nobody will fight for your idea apart from you, if I’d backed down when people were negative towards me about my business I’d have got nowhere. Although 99% of people will want to help you some people will not…it’s human nature I guess.
Don’t get disheartened and just stand your ground and believe in your idea!
In the end you just have to go for it!
As one of my business advisors said to me the other day “all that’s left now is just to go for it and see what happens”, so after all the talk, emails, guesswork, analytics, design and hard hard work all that is left is to just jump in!
One last point…
Have fun!
I was reminded of this by a Twitter conversation the other day with another founder, we were comparing notes on being tired/working hard etc when he said “You forgot to mention insanely fun”, he’s right and I don’t want to forget again! Being a founder is insanely fun so remember that when you’re stressed and nobody will return your emails- it IS fun!"
Gemma Pirnie is the founder of Your New Crew, a service for graduates/young professionals relocating to a new city for work. Your New Crew introduces members to their new city and new people by organising unique events in stand-out venues around the city. Your New Crew is launching in Edinburgh and Glasgow this September. See www.yournewcrew.com for more information. You can follow Gemma @MissGHP and Your New Crew @yournewcrew
Good luck Gemma and we will check out your new site asap too. If you like "lessons learned" themed posts you might also like...
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Published on: 24th August 2013
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