- You have to, have to enjoy what you do. You are committing mentally and physically to your biz. Smiling and laughing are pretty much compulsory. And yes - unless you are very lucky there will be some dark days when you doubt yourself but accept these are going to happen and move on.
- Be prepared to be wrong. I have pontificated on most topics associated with online over last 2 years and some of my positions have changed completely in that time. I am currently passionate that Twitter is a load of old tosh but its not a science - its just an educated opinion based on my view of the future. Hey - guess what i might be completely wrong and my answer to that is - so what! Our clients want to be able to discuss their options - argue the toss and come to decisions based on finite budgets - and they value informed opinion better than a list of infinite options of equal value.
- Deliver brilliant service - the best source of leads are referrals and we have been flattered that certain people have put themselves out to recommend us on. It has meant that we have spent virtually nothing on marketing (is this a mistake?) as the pipeline always tends to look healthy - this is all relative sometimes that business pipeline looks rather sickly
- Continue innovating and taking risks. You need to retain the vigour and vibrancy of a start up and especially to retain the status as a relatively "cool" company to use as a supplier. The big boys have inevitably improved their offering in 2 years - so we need to retain our competitive edge by innovating further.
- Pick your business partner/s wisely - your relationship will be tested to the maximum and the small fault lines which exist at the beginning will be widened at times of great stress. and yes - its a cliche but it is exactly like a marriage. My co-founder Sean has been fantastic to work with but the relationship is entirely different than how we envisaged it to be. Most importantly though we trust each other implicitly.
If these sound like self congratulatory wise words - i can assure that despite knowing most of this going in - much of it has come from sometimes painful experience
2 comments:
Nice couple of posts Dom and wise words I'm sure for anyone thinking of starting their own business. Also congratulations on reaching your two year milestone and growing as you have. Very impressive and I honestly mean that
I know you've put the caveat in about changing your mind but is it wise to passionately beleive something is a load of old tosh that you haven't tried properly? Twitter has proved itself to me to be an invaluable business tool but only after being open minded enough to play around with it. Surely the point of being in the digital business is to accept that the things that look to be a fad on the surface can surprise you the most once you get your hands dirty with them?
Matt
http://www.twitter.com/mattalder
Cheers for the advice Dom. We are now 5 months old (today actually) and EVERY word you have writ holds relevence. On self promotion Id just like to say if you get a chance check out www.mylonglunch.com/myworkinglunch ;-)
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