The MVP is a product or service you are building in your first instance that is delivered to customers.
The MVP tests the ability of the product to meet minimal customer needs. A MVP is not a minimal product, it is the activation of your product.
Thursday 27 September 2012
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Ranking Painkillers
Painkillers are things that solve a customer's pain. They solve a customer's problem or need.
Now how we rank pains are accroding to INTENSITY and FREQUENCY.
Intensity means whether if the pain is lifethreatening or just something you can deal with.
Frequency refers to how often a problem or need is not met. How often does that pain reoccur.
Now how we rank pains are accroding to INTENSITY and FREQUENCY.
Intensity means whether if the pain is lifethreatening or just something you can deal with.
Frequency refers to how often a problem or need is not met. How often does that pain reoccur.
Monday 24 September 2012
Value Proposition
The value proposition of a product is what we offer to a customer that satisfies their need or problem. Although you may think your idea is the best thing since sliced bread, if your value proposition does not solve a customer's needs or problems then you have failed. In turn, you have to go outside of the building and ask your customers what they want or need. You need to figure out what your customer's pain is and a gain is when you have solved a that problem.
Market Size
When it comes to starting a business, your available market size is key. The larger the portion of the market you company serves, the more customers you will potentially have. Here are four questions you need to ask about your business to see if it has a high served available market.
Market Size Questions:
How big can this market be?
How much of it can we get?
What is the growth rate?
Is the market structure mature or in flux?
Friday 21 September 2012
Customer Discovery
If you do not understand your customer and their needs then your business will not be able to thrive. Your customers need to be begging for your product or service because you are solving their problem.
Here are the four phases of customer discovery.
1. State Your Hypothesis-Your hypothesis is basicly a guess of what your business is based on. You are guessing the customer's need and your solution to it.
2. Test the Problem- Here you must test your customer's need or problem.
3. Test the solution- When you have validated the problem, then you must test your solution to your customer's problem.
4. Verify or pivot- Now If you haved verified your solution you are ready to go to the next step. However if you realized you have been mistaken then you can pivot and change your hypothesis.
The great part about this procedure is that if you realized you are wrong or have failed during any phases you can easily return and restart at phase 1 with little trouble.
Here are the four phases of customer discovery.
1. State Your Hypothesis-Your hypothesis is basicly a guess of what your business is based on. You are guessing the customer's need and your solution to it.
2. Test the Problem- Here you must test your customer's need or problem.
3. Test the solution- When you have validated the problem, then you must test your solution to your customer's problem.
4. Verify or pivot- Now If you haved verified your solution you are ready to go to the next step. However if you realized you have been mistaken then you can pivot and change your hypothesis.
The great part about this procedure is that if you realized you are wrong or have failed during any phases you can easily return and restart at phase 1 with little trouble.
Wednesday 19 September 2012
What is a company? A start-up?
Many people know what a company is and what it does, but do we know exactly what it is defined as.
A company is a business that sells a product or service in exchange for revenue/profit.
Now what is a start-up? People who have done several start-ups in there life do not know what a start-up is.
A start-up is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. If your start-up is not scalable then do not put too much time into it. You want to make money from your business, if you are not-leave it behind.
Now what is a business model? It is a canvas that organizations use to search and learn about a plan for your start-up. Business Models creates value for itself.
A company is a business that sells a product or service in exchange for revenue/profit.
A start-up is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. If your start-up is not scalable then do not put too much time into it. You want to make money from your business, if you are not-leave it behind.
Now what is a business model? It is a canvas that organizations use to search and learn about a plan for your start-up. Business Models creates value for itself.
Why do most startups fail?
There are four main reasons why start-ups fail:
1. Cofounders fight- A quarter of start-ups fail because cofounders have trouble coming to a agreement.
2. They can't build their inital speculation- The initial vision is just to far ahead to achieve in a small time.
3. No one will fund the idea- The business does not have the funding need to carry out it's plan.
4. Nobody buys your product- Mabye your company does not meet the customer's need and it does not make enough money.
1. Cofounders fight- A quarter of start-ups fail because cofounders have trouble coming to a agreement.
2. They can't build their inital speculation- The initial vision is just to far ahead to achieve in a small time.
3. No one will fund the idea- The business does not have the funding need to carry out it's plan.
4. Nobody buys your product- Mabye your company does not meet the customer's need and it does not make enough money.
Tuesday 18 September 2012
What we now know.
Startups are not just smaller versions of larger companies. Harvard started the first MBA program in 1908, but what they did not teach in the program is how to start a company.
It was previously believed that startup companies would do the same thing as a larger company- just smaller. However we now know that startups do more searching with large companies do more execution.
Another thing we used to believe was that we would spend a lot of time writing a business plan, then we would just follow that plan. However startups are rollercoaster rides that include ups and down. In turn no business plan survives first contact with a customer.
What we need to do is planning before the plan. We need to organize our thinking and get out of the building and test our hypothesis. This becomes a search for a business plan, not a write-up of a business plan. The result is a business model canvas where we update it frequently. This become a checklist for a business.
It was previously believed that startup companies would do the same thing as a larger company- just smaller. However we now know that startups do more searching with large companies do more execution.
Another thing we used to believe was that we would spend a lot of time writing a business plan, then we would just follow that plan. However startups are rollercoaster rides that include ups and down. In turn no business plan survives first contact with a customer.
What we need to do is planning before the plan. We need to organize our thinking and get out of the building and test our hypothesis. This becomes a search for a business plan, not a write-up of a business plan. The result is a business model canvas where we update it frequently. This become a checklist for a business.
Monday 17 September 2012
What do you say to yourself when you fail?
Today is the question of how one handles failure. Everyone will at some point fail in life whether it be in business or other areas of life. How you handle it is a completely other story.
When failure comes and knocks on the door, do you run away from, face it and let it go, or get beaten up by it. Stay optmistic and do not let this failure spread into other areas of you life and ruin that as well. In the true story of Rudy, he tries so hard to get into Notre Dame and when he finally does, he quits the football team because he believes he cannot do it. Had he failed to realize that quitting because he failed once or twice was a big mistake, he would have become a janitor of some sorts. instead, he gets boosted back onto his feet by a friend and succeeds on the team.
Now when it come to dealing with failure there are 3 key steps you should take to help.
1.Tell yourself the truth- This means to give yourself the truth and not some kind or sugar-coated explanation. It also does not mean to make it a big deal and into such a big failure.
2. Put it in context- Put your problem down into a simple format. Then assess it with a stable mind and try to find a solution to your failue. Do not forget that learning comes from failure so take advantage of your failure.
3. Remember the BIG PICTURE- Never forget that one little failure is only a small portion of your life. Remember life goes on with or without you; don't spend it in the gutter.
In conclusion, do not let a failure cripple you and take up all of you life. The world is big and you have lots of time to fix or move on and succeed elsewhere in your life.
When failure comes and knocks on the door, do you run away from, face it and let it go, or get beaten up by it. Stay optmistic and do not let this failure spread into other areas of you life and ruin that as well. In the true story of Rudy, he tries so hard to get into Notre Dame and when he finally does, he quits the football team because he believes he cannot do it. Had he failed to realize that quitting because he failed once or twice was a big mistake, he would have become a janitor of some sorts. instead, he gets boosted back onto his feet by a friend and succeeds on the team.
Now when it come to dealing with failure there are 3 key steps you should take to help.
1.Tell yourself the truth- This means to give yourself the truth and not some kind or sugar-coated explanation. It also does not mean to make it a big deal and into such a big failure.
2. Put it in context- Put your problem down into a simple format. Then assess it with a stable mind and try to find a solution to your failue. Do not forget that learning comes from failure so take advantage of your failure.
3. Remember the BIG PICTURE- Never forget that one little failure is only a small portion of your life. Remember life goes on with or without you; don't spend it in the gutter.
Friday 14 September 2012
Keys to Starting a Business
Before you go rushing into the world dreaming of starting a multi-million dollar company, there are some key points that one must know to start a succesful and scalable business.
Remember that it is okay to fail, FAIL FAST, LEARN QUICK is a fundamental idea. It is okay to fail as long as you move on and learn from them. Take the Germans for example. They lost the war and they looked into why they lost and how they can improve themselves. They came up with better teamwork and now Germany is the center of innovation with all the luxury cars and such.
Speaking of teamwork, it is another key point in starting a successful business.
The team is everything! There is no one that can do everything and anything by themselves. You must surround yourself with influencial people that meets your needs. They are the people that will help your business get off the ground. However, a team cannot function to its full potential if the team has bad attitude. ATTITUDE is KEY. Good attitude goes a long way. Furthermore in a team there should be no titles. A system of hiearchy does not provide an efficient method of work. When the "big boss" comes down to work with the "serf" miracels happen. This happened during WWII with the allies. The managers worked with the workers to find a solution to making more airplanes. The result was a mass production of airplanes overnight.
In conclusion, remember failing is okay, and teamwork and attitude goes a long way in your businuess.
Remember that it is okay to fail, FAIL FAST, LEARN QUICK is a fundamental idea. It is okay to fail as long as you move on and learn from them. Take the Germans for example. They lost the war and they looked into why they lost and how they can improve themselves. They came up with better teamwork and now Germany is the center of innovation with all the luxury cars and such.
Speaking of teamwork, it is another key point in starting a successful business.
The team is everything! There is no one that can do everything and anything by themselves. You must surround yourself with influencial people that meets your needs. They are the people that will help your business get off the ground. However, a team cannot function to its full potential if the team has bad attitude. ATTITUDE is KEY. Good attitude goes a long way. Furthermore in a team there should be no titles. A system of hiearchy does not provide an efficient method of work. When the "big boss" comes down to work with the "serf" miracels happen. This happened during WWII with the allies. The managers worked with the workers to find a solution to making more airplanes. The result was a mass production of airplanes overnight.
In conclusion, remember failing is okay, and teamwork and attitude goes a long way in your businuess.
Old and New way of thinking
We used to think Entrepreneurial Education was about execution, but its is not. It is all about searching. Entrepreneurial education begins with a search for a business model.
It is all about a search approach rather than a execution approach.
We also used to believe that cases and a business plan were good teaching tools, but at the end of the day it is no good. We need to get people out of the class. Business model patterns replace cases. This is where we place all our hypothesis. Experience is valuable and we need to get out there and experience the real world. Not sit in a room studying about it!
It is all about a search approach rather than a execution approach.
We also used to believe that cases and a business plan were good teaching tools, but at the end of the day it is no good. We need to get people out of the class. Business model patterns replace cases. This is where we place all our hypothesis. Experience is valuable and we need to get out there and experience the real world. Not sit in a room studying about it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)