Successful Startup 101: September 2014 Successful Startup 101: September 2014 | Page 65

great does not mean customers are going to
flock to your business. In fact, many people may
not even know – or care – about your business.

Passion will keep your
business alive.

Whatever services or products you are trying
to sell are irrelevant; even if it’s something that
has never hit the market before. Unless it is an
absolutely breakthrough in science, it needs to
be properly marketed and given a purpose.

Did you know that passion doesn’t actually run
your business? It is extremely important to be
passionate about your company and brand. You
must care about your products and what you’re
going to be giving back to the public, yes, but it is
not what is going to keep your business thriving.

Customers need to be given a reason to care about
your product and know that it serves a purpose for
them that no other product can serve.

Expectations: You’re going to spend a lot
of time marketing and advertising through
social media and be reliant on word of
mouth, including your own, to spread
the news about your business. Even after
you’ve spent hours and hours marketing,
customers are still going to be far and few.
It may be months before you begin to see a
rise in customers, so don’t get discouraged.

Passion is not going to sell or market your
product. It isn’t going to spread the word
through friends and family. Once your products
have been sampled or used, the excitement in
customers may sell your product to others, but it
is not passion that will get it there.
Many startup founders get distracted with their
passion because they believe that their product is
good enough to sell itself. While it is vital to having
faith in your own products, you must be able to see
your products from the customer’s point of view.

Expectations: You have to allow yourself to see
things from an outside perspective. Being able to
accept criticism and make changes is what is going
to help keep your business going. If you’re too
passionate about your services or products, it may
be detrimental to your company. The dreams you
have of succeeding and selling an unbelievable
product should not trump your intelligence or
attention to details. Every product has flaws –
don’t let your vision blind you from seeing them.

If you don’t know, get a
cofounder who does.
It’s obvious you cannot do it all. While being the
jack of all trades is ideal, it’s often unrealistic.
Getting a cofounder can help reduce some of
your workload, but if you’re getting one for
the wrong reasons, your startup may still fail.
Because you aren’t familiar with the technical
details of running a startup is not reason enough
to find a cofounder to help your business.
You may be asking yourself why you need to know
something if you have a cofounder who knows already.