Multipreneur

Growing Your Business from the Ground Up!

This lens is about helping you start a focused, highly differentiated company that is quickly profitable by serving a small niche in a very unique way. It is about picking the right idea for a business, assembling all the resources you will need to be successful, and launching. It's about matching your unique abilites to the business you want to start to ensure its success while allowing you to live the life you want.

It is not about growing a company to sell, or managing an existing business. It is not about raising money from VC's or banks. It is about starting one from scratch, with limited resources, that grows from your hard work and imagination.

There are no links to BS home based business "opportunities". This is not about how to sell on Ebay or any basic business concepts like that. This is about growing your business idea into a viable and profitable enterprise.

The Basics to Starting Your Own Business...from Scratch

You already know most of what you need!

It's all in your head!

Most of what you need to know about starting a business is already in your head. You already have some expertise in marketing bacause you have been marketed to since you were born. You have some expertise in customer service because you have been the recipient of good and bad service.

What's your BHAG?

What's a BHAG? Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Its the why in "why do you get up every morning". Here is a hint...it's not about the money. Sure the money is important but if that's your BHAG, you are doomed to failure as an entrepreneur.

So what is it about? It's about your passion. For me that passion is creating something from a blank sheet of paper. To bring forth into this world something that has never been done before. It is thrilling!

Do I get my teeth kicked in every once in a while? Yes! I have about a 60% success rate... which means alost half the time I am dead wrong on something. (By dead wrong, it means no one is willing to pay me more for something than it costs me to deliver it).

So what's the trick to making it work if you find a successful (or potentially successful) niche?

It's the System Dummy

A business is pretty simple really. It is basically a system that provides a product or service that is desired by another person who is willing to exchange some cash for that product or service because they can't or don't want to provide it for themself. The key to success in business is to make sure that your cost of providing a good or service is less than what the other person is willing to pay.

Anytime anyone tells you that business is more complex than this they are full of crap. Sure, there are a lot of things that go into the system to provide a good or service but the basics are simple.

We make ourselves miserable in business because we burden ourselves with too much complexity. Most of what we do on a daily basis is just busy work that makes us feel like we are accomplishing stuff when we are really just spinning our wheels.

Links to Help You Grow Your Business from the Ground Up!

These are links to resources that will help you grow you business from the ground up.

Quickbooks: This link will take you to the Quickbooks site to let you compare products. I do not recomend the online version of Quickbooks but do recomend Quickbooks Pro. This is all the accounting power you will need until your sales reach $10 million or greater.

I believe all entrepreneurs should do their own books in the beginning. You should set up your own chart of accounts, and do your own books for at least a year.

That way, you will understand the natural ebb and flow of cash through your business. You will know its pulse so that when you do hand over the books to free you to do more of what you love, you will be in a position to recognize Bull Shitake in the numbers (Thanks to Guy Kawasaki for the term "Bull Shitake")
New Business Ideas: This is a great website that features new business ideas from around the world. Some of these ideas require massive capital to start and I do not recommend. However, this is a good place to get inspired or to come up with your own twist on an idea that is showing some signs of success.
Global Trends you can Profit From: Sister site to Springwise.com. This site features broad trends that are taking place around the globe. A big one is the concept of consumer-made where the customers of a product or service are getting intimately involved in creating the product or service they will consume.
Experts for Hire....Cheap!: I use Elance a lot. For design work, web sites, etc. Although I recommend you do as much as possible on your own, Elance helps you find folks from around the world that can get it done quicker and cheaper. The World is Flat and you need to tap into the global brain to get your business up and running (and generating cash) as soon as possible.
Market Research: Okay... some ideas need extensive market research. But most can be tested on the cheap via the internet. Put up a little store to sell your product, keep costs low, and off you go. However, before you crank up Frontpage or Dreamweaver to create your website, this link will show you how many folks are looking for a similar product, service or information.

This is based on searches on Yahoo! Google does not offer a similar tool (to my knowledge) but my experience is that Google is up to ten times bigger in search. So if your keyword gets 2,000 hits per month, then expect Google to hit the same keywords 10,000 to 20,000 times per month. If your keyword draws less that 1,000 hits per month, reconsider your idea.

Growing a Business Blog

Mark's Blog on Starting a Business

Ideas, tools and resources for planting your business seed and nurturing its growth.

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Business (and other) Books I Have Read and Recommend

These are books I have read and are available on Amazon.com. I recommend these books for both aspiring entrpreneurs and crusty old veterans of the school of hard knocks. These books contain essential concepts that every entrepreneur should know.

I have over 1200 books (at last count) in my personal library. I used to read 1 to 2 books per week but have found lately that most of the new books being released today are full of crap or even harmful information. Most of what you need to start and run a business is in your own head already. You really don't need too many experts.

Growing a Business

by Paul Hawken

Baby's First Business Book - this is the first business book I read. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy and gives you the confidence you need to get started...thanks Paul Hawken!

Amazon Price: $11.20 (as of 08/30/2008)

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

by Michael E. Gerber

This book saved my ass. How? It taught me the value of a systems in business. Have a frustration? It's the lack of a system. A step by step "how to do something" for various parts of your business. Ticked off because your bathroom is out of paper? Create a system... Frustrated with the way the phone is being answered? Create a system. It is about doing business in a predictable way.

Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 08/30/2008)

The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

by Guy Kawasaki

Don't write a business plan to get VC money... the chance of winning a lotto is higher. Put together a popsickle stick and duct tape prototype and go find a buyer. That's the Art of the Start!

Amazon Price: $17.79 (as of 08/30/2008)