1 FINDING YOU BIG IDEA

1.1 Finding the problem to solve 1. Make a list of dreams

2. Make a note of problems that needs to be solved.
3. Research Available solutions.
4. Ask Why ?

1.2. Playing to your own fields As you start business ,

Determine Market Risk & Competitor Risk >
- Is it easy to find information about the market opportunity. If
there’s little information about competitor > market risk.
- Is there an established competitor that has an incentive to co-opt
your idea ?
- Are you going after people that have not historically been
anyone’s customer ?
- When you take on market vs competitive risk > Success is 6
times higher and Revenue opportunity is 20 times greater.

1.3 Playing to your distinctive strengths. - What makes you strong ?

- What do you think about when there nothing you have to think
about ?
- What do others identify as you best skill ?
- Do you have confluence of skill ?
- To build business well, build upon your distinctive strengths.

1.4. Determine whether you have a business or 1. Gauge interest or demand

a hobby. 2. Are people willing to pay for what you do ?
3. IRS 3 of 5 test > Have you earn money on this in 3 to 5 years ?
 4. Show proof you are trying to make money. ( business cards,
business idea, etc).

1.5 Finding your customer 1. Minimum Viable Product Approach > maximum amount of
learning about customer with least cost. (refer group on) >
conciere approach. (refer intuit). Start with tweets> Blogs >
Podcast> Short videos.
2. Remember a building a minimum viable product is iterative
process of generating ideas, prototyping, presenting and
collecting ideas.

2 STARTING YOUR BUSINESS

2.1 Writing a Business plan Types of business plan :

1. Elevator Pitch
2. Pitch Deck
3. Written Proposal

Think like CEO

Business plan resources > how to write a great business plan in Lynda
Ask yourself >
1. What will you solve ?
2. What problem will you solve ?
3. What will you charge ?
4. Who will buy your product ?
5. How will people know about you ?
6. How will you make the product > provide service and what will it
cost ?
7. Do you have competitors ? Why will people prefer you ? Are you
disrupting other company ?
8. Does this business play to your strength?
9. What are the obstacles and challenges that you may face ?
10. By when u will start ?
 Business plan is all about
1. Idea generation
2. Prototyping
3. Data collection
4. Analysis
5. Learning
How you make money can change but start with plan

2.2 Selling prices 1. Research Market Prices.

2. Benchmark against competitors > if product is better, demonstrate
charge more, if product has fewer feature, acknowledge and
justify it
3. Err on the side of pricing too high.
4. Experiment with prices.
5. Anchor around value> calculate value > charge them 30-40% of
that value with expectation of earning 2.5 to 3x their money.
6. Payments promotes satisfaction.
7. Nine and Zero effect > 9= value , 0 is quality
8. Consider what you need to charge to make money. Factored in
overhead and marked it up to 100%.

2.3 Deciding between online vs brick and I. Bricks and Mortar > a physical space
mortar. II. Start online if at all possible . Think of online presence as
minimum viable product.
III. Deciding brick and mortar > choose a speciality > curate your
inventory > place an emphasis on non-commoditized items >
have great website> emphasize on exclusivity> hire only superb
customer facing employee.

2.4 Building a financial model. A statement that sets short term targets to keep you
- Focused
 - Track your costs
- Monitor cash
- See if you have a viable business.

1. Revenue > Price x volume > how to generate revenue ?

2. Calculate your cost > cost to make and market your product >
employees > office space > cost of acquiring customer ?
Categorize every penny spent > surprising number of business go
bust not because of there is no revenue but owners dont have
any idea where money is going ?
3. Solve for profit > ( or loss) > sell more at lower price ? > less at
higher price ? lower cost ?
4. Know your burn rate > know your runway.

2.5 Deciding on a legal Structure. 5 basics structure

1. Sole proprietorship (No Setup Costs> Complete Control > Tax
efficient> Pass through taxation)
2. Limited Liability Company ( LLC) Where on person legally makes
up the whole company. Creditors can't come after your house.
Issue stock to raise capital.
3. Partnership (Less expensive than an LLC> pass through taxation
> partners responsible for obligation.
4. Subchapters (s-corp) provides limited liability protection and pass
through taxation. Tax rate is lower than LLC. Only wages are
subject to tax .
5. C-Corp> structured to venture capital. No personal assets at risk
but double taxation.

Keep your business and personal account separate.

Consult with an accountant or lawyer. If you need a low cost service take
a look at a service like legal zoom.
 Start small with sole proprietor , access and adapt.

2.6 Protecting your intellectual property 1. Brand Name

2. Website ?
3. Legal ownership
- Trade secrets >business plan> customer list
pricing designs> procedures.
- Non-disclosure agreement > an agreement
between two parties that creates confidential
relationship, protecting proprietary information or
trade secrets.
- Trademark > Names, words, slogans, pictures,
graphics or sound that distinguish a product.
- Checking for trademark > domain registration >
trademark electronic search system.
- Copyright> protection that extends to original
works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of
expression.If you have a website, pay attention to
copyright. If you dont have copyright, web
developer could claim website is theirs, best way
to protect with agreemnt that assigns the
intellectual property rights to your company for the
works you paid to create.
- Patent > a set of exclusive rights for inventor.

2.7 Gearing up operationally Prepare operational checklist

1. What are the process used in your product and service ?
2. What are sources ?
3. What are inputs ?
4. What are outputs?
5. Determine supply channels ?

Day to day details of running business.

 2.8. Bootstrap Business Scarce resource
1. Money
2. Time
3. Expertise

3 BUILDING A TEAM

3.1 Deciding on a co-founder - Fly solo or form founding team ?

- When companies fail, they fail due to complications around
building a team, including disagreements over roles and
compensation.
- If you go solo, it may fail to reach full potential > less chance of
growing.
- Look at the relationship of co founders.
- If u want to business to succeed , you co-founders should be
people with whom you have worked previously.
- Think carefully about respective roles.
- Be ready of disagreements.
- Equity ? dynamic equity split > diving equity based on phase
weighting. For example : prelaunch phase = 40% of value , you
will contribute 60% of value and rest partners will contribute 40%
...so you will recieve 60% of 40% and you partner will recieve
40% of 40%.
- Working with co-founders > it is vital to sort out roles and
responsibilities.

3.2 Hiring the right people - Identify what you really need a new hire to do.
- Ensure skill sets are complementary but no redundant.

Team Diagnostic test > teamability > Plumb

 Try before you buy. Hiring is tricky ….some people are very good in
interview. See how they respond to the stress.

Hire for expertise not credentials.

Hire right person, let go and trust them.

3.3 Getting the right advisors on board Putting together on a board

- Identify what you need.
- Be aware of your personal bias.
- Only bring people you trust.

Make specific asks.

Compensating board members > cash> your product> equity ?

3.3. Tapping into networks of expertise Expanding your network

- Create an elevator pitch
- Use weak ties (Linkedin)
- Ask the right person for the right thing.
- Networks are transactional

4 MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS

4.1 Telling your story 1. Start with Why ?

2. Make your message memorable.
3. Make it easy to share (use catchphrase)> tell stories with images
and videos> compelling genesis story.

4.2. Building Website 1. Usability > Simple Menu, Clear Text, Easy Navigation, Any
browse or any Device.
2. Structure > create a blueprint; look menus; titles; photos and
texts; layouts; consistent branding and fonts, hotspots marketting
 greater.
3. Building websites yourself > WordPress> Squarespace
4. Web-designer vs web-developer (architect vs engineer)

4.3 Chasing customers until you catch them. I. Marketing Tools > Blog ; Social Media > Instagram> Linkedin
II. Lead Generation > a person usually becomes a lead when they
till out a form for some sort of offer.
III. Brand Ambassadors > have others talk about you than you
yourself.

4.4 Serving your customer Show customer love

- Find the yes in a request
- Hire good employees.
- Be responsive.
- Learn to apologise.
- Follow-up
70%-80% of new customers are generated from word of mouth from 5%
of most delighted customer.

4.5 Refining your business idea Cohort Analysis > Clustering your customer
Examining Costs
Examining Sales
Checking with Co-founder
Consider Employees
Self-Reflection

Periodic check-in

4.6 Becoming a thought leader You beat the competition

1. Begin with Genesis Story

- Why your product ?
 - Why your company ?
- Why you ?

2. Start Blogging
- Low cost ways of expressing ideas.
- Podcast, Slideshare, video as alternatives.

3. Pitch online publication

- www.themuse.com
- Huffingtonpost, Medium and Linkedin.

4. Speak at conferences.
- Keynote
- Panellist

5 SCALING YOUR BUSINESS

5.1 Using the right metrics A- acquisition

Google analytics > tracking bounce rate > percentage of customer who
visit your store and site but leave immediately without transaction.

A- activation
Activated customers stay more than 10secs, read 2+ pages, ideally 50%
of all visitors, ideally 20% of all click.

R- retention
Should be at least 10% of all visitors.
Start by interviewing potential customers.

R- referral
Ideally 1% of all visitors refer one other person.
 R- revenue
The amount of money customers spending with you.

5.2. Learning to negotiate Tips

a. Signalling when you’re transaction : eg: This is what my company
does. Here’s the problem we solve for our customer’
b. Learn to sit on both sides of the table. Look for Win-Win
c. Avoid Ultimatums.
d. Consider the whole deal.
e. Look to the horizon
f. Watch for wanting a deal too much .

Good negotiation leads to good business and good relationships.

Refer Negotiation Fundamentals.

5.3 Minding you cash Managing Money

1. How much cash you have , once a week.
2. Look at receivables , money you have earned but not collected.
3. Act like a broke, Do a 13 week cash flow forecast.
4. Anticipate expected inflows and unexpected expenses.
5. Close your books > categorizing your transaction.

5.4. Put failure in its place. Building a business is a process. Dealing with failure is important.
a. Acknowledge the emotional effects.
b. Ditch the shame

5.5 Managing Stress Run-walk-run approach

Build stamina
Work in 15 minutes increments.
 Consider resting one day a week > you will be productive in next 6 days.
Exercise> take care of body > eat good food>get more sleep.
Maintain connections.
Don’t underestimate your mind power.

5.6 Documenting process Essential to transition from messy trial and error to well-oiled machine.
Efficiency frees up money, time and resources that can be plowed back
to grow your business.
Best way to be efficient is to codify and document the process.

A PROCESS DOCUMENT >

Explain what you do , how will you do.
- Start with just one process. Start with process that is in
reasonably good working order.
- Interview the people involved.
- Create a one-page visual representation of process. Focus on
role functions than in person.
- Engage in and if then exercise
- Document the process from beginning to the end.
- Review the document with all impacted parties.

6 FUNDING GROWTH.

6.1 Understanding capital options Bootstrapping Ideas

- Working out of your home.
- Using low-cost services
- Leasing Rather than buying.
- Delaying compensation.
- Using temporary personnel.
- Bartering
6.2 Crowdfunding

6.3 Pitching investors

6.4 Valuing your company

6.5 Reaching a deal