Too many entrepreneurs develop complex business plans and products just to see them ignored by the people they assumed were potential buyers. The best advice I can give you is that modern successful startups do not start with a good idea, good product or great business plan. They start with understanding the needs of the potential target pool of customers.
Do not let your potential business drain your entire savings or force you to go out and get a loan before even have buyers actually purchasing the product or service. Put the start-up on a diet. The Lean Start-up diet.
In fact, if your service or product is going to need financing or investors, you had better put it on a Lean Startup from the outset. Your chances of acquiring financing or investors without a profitable track record are almost nil. Investors and banks want to see profits.
The Lean Startup diet pushes startup entrepreneurs to spend their time and energies building minimal viable products, testing them in the marketplace, learning from their customers responses, making new iterations of the product and testing it in the marketplace. It is what Eric Ries calls Validated Learning. Ries and Steve Blank are two of the most well know proponents of Lean Startup principles.
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On September 27th, 2014, I will be on a panel at the Startup Africa conference. The panel is “How African Startups Are Using Lean Startup Principles.” On October 3rd, just a few days after the conference, I will be hosting a webinar to share highlights of the conference and panel, and more. If you would like to join us for the webinar, click here.
In preparation for the webinar read and review the following resources.
Build. Measure. Learn – A free online course by Eric Ries, Steve Blank, et. al
The Startup Owners Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company
If you need some assistance with you African venture right away. Click on this link to schedule a call with me.
