Table Of ContentStartup
Smart
P
A ha n d b o o k fo r e n t re p re n e u r s
I
H
S
R
U
E
N
E
R
P
E
R
T
N
E
about the author
Deirdre
Sartorelli
eirdre Sartorelli is
D the director of the
Angle Center for
Entrepreneurship at
Endicott College in Beverly, Mass-
achusetts. Earlier she had her own
consulting firm and was a senior
executive in several high-technology
companies.
Sartorelli holds an undergraduate
degree from Salem State University,
a Master of Business Administration
from Bentley University and a doctoral
degree in business administration
from California Coast University.
She is enrolled in an innovation
and entrepreneurship program at
Stanford University.
contents
You can be Your customers:
1 4
an entrepreneur— getting, keeping
for one idea and growing them
or for a lifetime
46 | Accelerating
4 | Play to results for
make your idea work your startup
Building your Financing your
2 5
business block startup
by block 56 | From
18 | Create a bootstrapping
lasting foundation to angel chasing
for your startup
You as business Launch
3 6
owner, manager your dream
and leader business
34 | Becoming the 64 | Planning
entrepreneurial leader and networking for
you are meant to be startup success
Glossary | 74 Online resources | 76
h a n d b o o k o n e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p
Steve Jobs “wanted to Steve Jobs, right,
and Steve Wozniak
be kind of a master of a
in 1976, the year
company and make something they founded Apple.
They reinvented
in life…and I just wanted
the personal computer
to design computers
with the introduction
and be a great engineer.” of the Macintosh.
Steve Wozniak
Introduction
Many people think that try to minimize those risks where possible.
entrepreneurs are born, not We’ll help you figure out what is needed to
made. Don’t believe it! You make your business last long-term, and how
don’t have to be born with to ensure that your business runs smoothly.
entrepreneurial spirit to start a successful We want you to be able to look back with
business. You can acquire the knowledge pride on your creation months and years
and skills to transform your idea from from now.
a thought to a business that provides a One thing that is vitally important to
livelihood for you and your family. your business is, naturally, the customer!
By taking a journey with us in this book, While you may want to think that everyone
you can develop a mindset and skills to will buy your product or service, you
make your business idea a reality. You can can’t plan your business that way. It seems
learn the essential skills and ingredients to counterintuitive, but the truth is, if you try
launch and sustain your business. to sell to everyone, you will end up selling
We’ll start by exploring what it means to no one.
to be an entrepreneur. It may surprise you! Finally, we will help you plan for the
Then we’ll help you refine and honestly future of your business. Remember, you
evaluate your business idea. That can be aren’t in this alone: We will brainstorm
hard work, but it will help separate your how you can find mentors, build your
new business from those that fail. networking muscles, deal with failure and
Starting a business, whether you are plan your business without necessarily
making a product or providing a service, having a formal business plan.
can be scary. Anyone who tells you Ready to ride the rocket ship that is
otherwise probably has never done it. being an entrepreneur? Strap yourself in!
We will work through how you can get
comfortable with the idea of risk and then
33
h a n d b o o k o n e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p
“I gain inspiration from NKHENSANI
NKOSI
people, culture, history,
Founder of Stoned
spirituality, love, Cherrie, a South African
fashion label.
fantasy and magic.”
Cape Town, South Africa
You can be an
1
entrepreneur—for one
idea or for a lifetime
Chances are, if you are reading This may seem like a minor benefit, but
this sentence, you have asked this is how real economic growth can
yourself at some point, what happen in a small community.
would it be like if I were my own
Being an entrepreneur
boss? What is it even like to think of yourself
is different
as an entrepreneur?
It probably means feelings of excitement, Not all cultures appreciate entrepreneurism.
independence and creativity—as well as What if, in your culture, it is not expected
anxiety, self-doubt and worry. Here is a that you own and run a business? In
secret: Every successful entrepreneur has some regions, cultural barriers and
had all of those emotions at some point. biases prevent women from pursuing
In fact, many startup owners will tell you, professional careers or going on their own.
if it weren’t for self-doubt and worry, they The family can prevent a woman from
never would have succeeded. These going into business in the belief that, as an
emotions can be used to fuel drive, gener- entrepreneur, she will neglect her husband
ate energy and inspire you to get up every and children. Even if unmarried, women
morning eager to show the world what often lack collateral—a valuable thing
you can do. pledged as security for repayment of a
People start a business for a variety loan—and access to potential mentors.
of reasons. Financial security and well- Addressing gender bias and removing
being are certainly high on the list, but barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and
your business can positively affect your professional development could boost
neighbors, friends and even your com- economic development significantly,
munity. When others see how your hard according to a 2015 International Monetary
work, drive and inspiration have paid off, Fund study. This and other research
it may inspire them to take similar chances. suggest that women entrepreneurs invest up
to 90 percent of every dollar earned back
5
h a n d b o o k o n e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p
into their families to educate their children, You may indeed have a fabulous idea,
improve family health and provide better but it still must be refined and tested against
nutrition. The additional income produced reality. This chapter will introduce you to
by a business strengthens a family’s some specific tools to help bring that idea
financial security. These arguments may out of your imagination and into the hands
help you persuade your family that your of potential customers.
business will make a difference in their You may also have picked up this
lives. The promise of eating and living book with no specific idea in mind for a
better can help settle a debate about you business, yet you just know you are meant
as a businesswoman. to run your own business. The “what” of the
Being an entrepreneur can be lonely, business, meaning the product or service
even in the best circumstances. Owning it sells to customers, is important, but just
a business when your culture discourages as important is being your own boss and
it because of who you are can add to that being in control of your own future.
feeling. With the internet and mobile tech- Let’s begin with one essential fact that
nology, however, it’s easier than ever to holds true whether you already have your
reach out to others. business idea or not:
You can seek out others who are in a
A successful business
similar predicament and together you can
meets the needs of customers,
create a network. Through those contacts,
pure and simple.
you can share experiences and ways to
deal with biases and barriers, support You may have many different types of
each other emotionally and possibly even customers; ultimately your job is to please
pool your resources to help one another’s them. For example, you may have designed
startups where no financing is available. an innovative new farm machine, but if it
Also, a growing number of corporations doesn’t meet the needs or desires of a good
and nongovernmental groups run inter- number of farmers, your business will not
national programs focused on giving work, no matter how wonderful your idea is.
potential female entrepreneurs the skills and
support they need to overcome barriers and Although studies differ as to
start a business. Seek them out and find out the number, the fact is that the
how you can enroll. The more people you majority of all new businesses
get “invested” in your success, the less lonely fail. With odds like that,
you will be. You can pave the way and why would anyone start his/her own
become a role model for others to follow. business? We will discuss that in this book.
You will also learn how to put the odds for
Ideas are everywhere!
success more in your favor.
You may already have a specific idea for Many businesses suffer because they
a business. In this chapter, we will discover failed to act on this principle: You have
why, no matter how great you think your to develop a product or service that
idea is, you must be open to changing it, customers want or need. Thomas Edison,
at least a little bit. the American inventor of the lightbulb and
the phonograph, famously said, “Anything
that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent.”
What was true more than a century ago
is still true today.
6
“Anything that Below: Generating
a new idea requires
won’t sell, tapping many
inspirational sources
I don’t want and exploring
promising paths.
to invent.”
Thomas Edison
h a n d b o o k o n e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p
Where do we find ideas then? It is not willing to buy from you, this is known as
as difficult as you might think. You may market readiness. You will learn the skills
come up with an idea from a variety to test market readiness later in this chapter.
of sources: In some cases, you will not be creating
a product or service that no one has ever
✏✏A job you have done in the past
done before. This still could be a good
or are doing now.
business to launch. You will be selling to
✏✏School. Something in a class you’re
customers who are already buying those
taking now or took in the past.
products and services elsewhere. These
✏✏Something you’re good at, like
kinds of customers are known as an
a special talent or pastime.
existing market.
✏✏Your everyday experience.
Do you ever notice an unmet need An existing product
for a product or service? or service
Let’s think about all the different products
Making something new
or services you use in the course of your
This may be the simplest entrepreneurial day. Chances are that at some point you
idea. Have you ever thought, “I wish I have thought, “If this product could only do
had a time machine!” or “What if a farm this” or “If my local food market only did
plow could use only sunlight for energy?” that.” These thoughts are important to a
Making something new is probably the budding entrepreneur. Your idea makes
one business area where you push the good business sense if you can do one or
boundaries of “what if” the most. Obviously, more of these things:
in our example here, time machines and
e Build a product that has
solar-powered plows don’t exist. In fact,
more or better features.
those ideas may sound silly to you.
e Make something that does
But the idea Thomas Edison had for
everything an existing product
the lightbulb probably sounded just as
does but at a lower price.
challenging. Don’t you think people found
e Construct an item that lasts
it hard to take his idea seriously at the
longer and is more reliable.
time he came up with it? Yet, look at how
e Offer a product or service that is easier
it changed the world. You may be read-
for a customer to use or obtain.
ing this book using light from this very
invention. New businesses improve existing
products every day. It may be your fresh
Now, whether Edison was the first eyes that can see an existing product or
person to think of the idea for service in a new light. Many entrepreneurs
the lightbulb is hard to prove. He have had a lot of success improving on
was, however, the first person to products and services that already exist.
design one, build it and—most importantly—
An existing market with
market it successfully.
unmet demand
If your business idea is for something
completely new, we call this an innovation. Demand is just another word for “requests
What is telling you that customers will be from customers.” Unmet demand means
willing to buy this new product or service that the current providers of goods and
from you? When many customers are services cannot possibly provide enough
8
