7 ''NOTs'' to consider when starting a business So I got a great question for one of my YouTube viewers emil Love you guys wrote in to say Evan I've been watching your videos for a while now I hope you enjoyed your trip to Asia. [I] did it was awesome You can watch the videos. I've searched on Youtube on google, and I always get videos articles about what to do I believe knowing what not to do is equally important usually all I get is generic tips which is don't grow too fast But there are no concrete case studies, but when it comes to successful stories there are specific examples I was thinking if maybe you can have videos or articles analyzing explaining How businesses failed especially startups it would be great if you can use your influence to encourage Entrepreneurs who have failed to share their stories with you. That way the mistake will only be made once, because we all will have learned from it. Hopefully you consider my suggestion. Emil This is for you [here] are the top 7 things not to do when starting the business? Number one is pick the wrong business. A lot of companies fail, right? 80% + of companies fail in five years, a lot of it's because you picked the wrong business. Your business just trying to make money, and if money is your only goal, you're not going to be successful. You look at any entrepreneur who starts off and just trying to make money, they rarely do, or if you look at the most successful entrepreneurs of all time the big names of people who you would recognize: Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs whoever it is. Look at why they got started look at the early days of the reason for starting their business the number one is never to make money okay, they want to have a positive impact they want to change the way something is done. They want to mean something, but it's not just to make money now making money is important, okay? I'm not saying start a charity you got to make money you got to be able to support [yourself] your family your community live the Lifestyle you want money is going to be important. We're not throwing it away But it's not the number [one] reason for starting this business you have to be [passionate] about what you're doing [and] too many entrepreneurs Pick the wrong business number two is make the perfect plan so many entrepreneurs Before they get started they want to have the perfect plan you gotta have it all lined out It's got to be a hundred percent Quick know exactly what you're going to do before you launch and and that holds you back, and this was me, okay? My in my first real business retta saab the the biotech software company I had I spent a whole summer making my plan right here's how we're going to grow here's exactly what we're going to do and as soon as we launched Everything changed because my plan was wrong my assumptions were wrong and so To many entrepreneurs get focused on making the perfect plan That they don't start that they hold themselves back the best thing you can do is plan a little and start Right when you get feedback and reaction and customers telling you what they like and don't like you'll have to adapt anyway So get that feedback as soon as possible don't worry about making the perfect plan and don't wait Until you have that perfect plan because so many people wait so long that they don't actually take any action at all they give up On it because they can't figure out the perfect plan you will never have the perfect plan [at] the start so start Number three is spend money so many entrepreneurs have Great ways on [how] to spend money right if I gave you a million dollars you can find a million different ways to spend it Not many entrepreneurs are great at making money, and so stop trying to think about how [to] spend money, okay? You do not need a website you do not need an office you. Do not need a car You [don't] need business cards [you] don't need anything you need you and your hustle to get out there and start talking to customers [stop] trying to figure out ways to spend money you do not need money to make money You need to work you need the hustle you got to get out there and start talking to people [it] takes your time, you got to invest your time, but don't start investing your money stop spending money Until you're making some money number four is try to do it alone. [you] can't do this alone You cannot do this just on your own you need people to [help] you and whether that's having Volunteers or interns that I have when I started my first business whether it's having people who are working for you? Part-time the first guy hired was for one hour a day to relieve some of the work off [of] me Right [whether] that's having a mastermind group of people that you connect with I have one I run here in Toronto where we meet every month to talk about our businesses and help each other out [you] can't do this alone you need to be able to talk to people how [people] help you and we're not spending money at the start right back to the last point We're not spending money on these people to start, but you can attract people to you You can meet up with [the] mastermind group once a month. You can have volunteers or student interns helping you out Hey, if you're saving for something important, you're going to have people coming to you I can't tell you how many people want to volunteer At my business because I'm trying to do something big and important you could start that way But don't don't try to do everything yourself Because running the business is a lot harder than one person can manage [and] if you want to do something big [you] want to have a big impact [you] want to change the world you want to have a huge you know meaning and also make a lot of money in the process You need to be able to reach out and not do everything yourself Number five is jump into the wrong partnership so many entrepreneurs Jump in the partnership. Maybe you met somebody at a hackathon over the weekend you have this great business idea And there's six of you starting up Don't jump in the bed with the wrong partner and I get why you do it right you want to surround yourself with like-Minded People who have complementary skill sets you're on board here's our big vision. Here's where we're going rah Rah, Rah here We go and then when things get tough That's when the partnership starts to crumble that's when a lot of fights start to happen being in the business partnership is Just as important as being in a marriage right you got to think about these people as I'm [gonna] get married to this person Can I live with that right you're you're seeing them? How many hours of the day right you're seeing them probably more than you're going to see your husband or wife during the week? So [you] have to be someone who has the same? Values as you and the best way to try that [out] is to [start] working together on small projects before jumping together into the partnership Work on one small project together See if you guys get along [see] if you work well together see if you share that same vision see if you share the same Values, it's so much more than just having complementary skill sets right if you're the business guy you need a coder You don't just bring on any coder who can who can program what you need right? then give them shares in your business has to be somebody who you [can] get married to and Work with for the [rest] of your life potentially, right? It's got to be that important so don't just jump into the wrong partnerships number six is operate in a bubble so many [entrepreneurs] and myself included We try to figure everything out ourselves And I wasn't investing in [myself]. I wasn't learning to try to get better. [I] remember with my first business [I] was earning [300] dollars a month and and surviving on Beans and Struggling and and trying to put up a good face for my friends because I was supposed to be the guy Making it big and doing well, but meanwhile I tried everything I knew I was failing [I] couldn't afford anything I couldn't afford a night out to have beer with my friends and The strategy that saved me was was [modeling] success and and looking from the strategies of bill [gates] And how we started Microsoft applying that to my company? And that helped me start to grow and if I never look at what made bill gates successful I call it wouldn't have been able to make my company be successful because I actually told my partner that I quit like I was so Stressed out. I was so tired of not making any money That that [I] wanted to quit and do something that I felt that would would be meaningful and and I would feel valued in So I was operating the bubble And you can't operate in the bubble you have to bust through right? Whatever your comfort zone is you got to be able to bust through that to become the entrepreneur that you can truly become? So that's model success learning from others watching videos reading books stretching your comfort zone stretching your knowledge Zone Stretching the the safe environment [that] you have for yourself to become a better entrepreneur and every single big break up having my business career has been because I've taken my limiting beliefs and smashed it and expanded them a little bit more and expand them and Expand them [and] believe [that] I could do more and learn from others to to accomplish those things and model strategies and mall success So stop operating in a bubble and number seven is startup product. This is a bit of a controversial one, but Big fan of product startups the main reason comes back to the money issue, right? I want you to get profitable as soon as possible I want cash in your hand as soon as possible and the problem with product companies Are you spend a lot of money at the start right you have to invest into product into inventory and so many companies entrepreneurs [start] [up] invest a lot you know they put a lot on the line They [may] you know take out another mortgage on their on their house They may pull out money from their retirement savings To launch into this product and then they end up with all of this inventory sitting in their garage In their basement that they can't sell and so many product companies fail Because they picked the wrong product and it's so much easier to start in a [service-based] business Because you're not investing anything except your time You don't need to invest any money into a service based business except your time And what that does is allows you to get close to [your] customers? Allows you to refine [your] message allows you to find your service because the service you go in thinking You're going to do is not the service that you end up actually Doing it will change right go back to the point about planning it will change and it's so much easier to be flexible in a service based business to figure out what your offer is going to be and Then launch into [a] product right get some cocktail coming in get that Mortgage bill and that electricity bill paid off from your service based business. [it's] harder the scale of service It's much easier to scale Park That's why it's so attractive right you want to trade time for money you want to build a huge empire? That's why building a product but start with the service to get the cash She'll coming in to get you close to the customers to get you understanding what it is that [people] want? You have a base of people that sell your product to you. Have an income stream coming and support you then launch your product dominate the world So I'm not a fan of starting with a product so in summary the top seven things not to do when start in the business Number one pick the wrong business number two make the perfect plan number three spend money number four try to do it alone number five jump into the wrong partner number six operating the bubble number seven start a product and Believe you guys liked this video. You want to see more you can subscribe to the channel? [thank] you so much for watching I'll see you soon Hi, I'm [tourism] from my manager and chef calm and how might this new [Center] ethic subscribe? you
