Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Yet the average perception of customer experience continues to decline. You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology. Jeff Bezos has kept his focus on customers. In my view, every startup in today’s world would do well to adopt a management system with the same key objectives: Start with a customer-obsessed business model.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Productivity and repeatability is the hallmark of a good business, whereas a hobby usually assumes everything is custom built and personal.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

I recommend a trial run with an experiment or MVP (minimum viable product), at full price and cost, before the big bang launch, risking your investment money and a major time commitment. Look for validation from your mainstream customers. It’s an amazing ride, and there is no satisfaction like creating something out of nothing.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

They don’t realize that they are missing out on a great opportunity for “free” promotion, as well as taking a great risk by not listening to what customers are saying, and not monitoring or responding to undeserved challenges to their reputation. Use business metrics and tools to tune your efforts.

Social Media 99

Social Media Media Tool Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

Yet I find that most employees I know limit their scope of thinking to the specific role they are assigned, and rarely tune their thinking and results to the following key principles that every business owner can relate to: Connect every action to a business focus on customers. Your career will only grow as the business grows.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Customer 75

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. Decide early where and when money will come from, set some milestones and metrics, and work to a plan, or be caught short. Start selling it before you build it.

Startup 107

Startup Sales Customer Custom 107

InfoChachkie

JUNE 2, 2014

The result of her efforts is an online service that allows brides to select their bridesmaids'' gowns, within a broad range of colors, styles and price points. The gowns are then dry cleaned and readied for the next customer, in the spirit of the emerging sharing economy in which goods are communally used multiple times.

Design 208

Design Customer Custom Satisfaction 208

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Productivity and repeatability is the hallmark of a good business, whereas a hobby usually assumes everything is custom built and personal.

Outsource Development 99

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

Until a new brand has national recognition or high promotion, it won’t be found or used by local customers or out of town visitors. You need metrics to show dominant penetration of the relevant customer demographic, added value over existing media, and real customer testimonials of value.

Advertising 63

Advertising Content Social Media Satisfaction 63

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Smart entrepreneurs have metrics for assessing their progress against milestones and regularly communicate new insights to the team. Don’t allow your startup to “fail by success,” meaning too many orders delivered and inventory required for big customers, before their long payment cycle kicks in. Update your plan at least once a month.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Productivity and repeatability is the hallmark of a good business, whereas a hobby usually assumes everything is custom built and personal.

Ideas 62

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Competition 62

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

We have customers from so many different industries like software, financial services, healthcare, and media. We could also spend time talking with customers rather than updating investors. Within six months we launched with a minimum feature set that a few customers were willing to pay for.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Many business executives and entrepreneurs I know are convinced that business success is all about having the right solution for the right price. Takers can never get satisfaction, and they antagonize those around them. Some things need to be done whether we like them or not; for example, daily cash-flow analysis and business metrics.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

What neither group seems to fully comprehend is that retail needs to fundamentally change to succeed, far beyond the addition of an online component, to meet the experience expectations of today’s generation, an oversupplied global marketplace, and technology for instant pricing and distribution. Look outside for benchmarks.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52