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Lean Start up Success

In 2008 US based tech startups have used the lean startup processes outlined by Eric Reis, Steve Blank and Alexander Osterwalder. It is a system that values experimentation over planning, market feedback over intuition and an iterative approach to product development instead of a belief that if fully built the customers will come.

The ever evolving lean canvas has replaced the established business plan. Instead of assuming that the imagined business model will work, the lean system searches for a business model that works based on actual evidence. It is said that business plans rarely survive the first contact with customers. They often don’t behave in the way you think they will. Boxer Mike Tyson perhaps articulated this truth most colorfully when he said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The same is true for small business owners and the customers they wish to serve.

Small business owners can leverage the lean startup principles and processes used by tech entrepreneurs to build and deliver great products to thousands, if not millions, of customers quickly and affordably. Here are 3 ways you can leverage tech lean startup principles to boost your small business today:

1. Validate Assumptions to Mitigate Risk

The primary difference between the old established route to business success is that the lean startup entrepreneur first asks “Should this idea be brought to market?” instead of “How do I build my product?” Write down all of the assumptions you have about your idea and how the market will respond to your idea. Include what you think it will cost to develop your product, who it will benefit most, how you will drive awareness to your big idea and how you will sell it. Then come up with small experiments to test your idea.

For example, if you’re thinking about starting a food truck business selling meat pies, you could easily and affordably launch a simple landing page announcing that your “Meat Pie Food Truck” is coming soon and a spot for people to enter in their email address if they want to be notified when it arrives in their area. You could then run a series of Facebook ads to drive targeted traffic to your landing page and analyze how many people sign up for the announcement. The campaign could run for 10 days at $5 per day. If no one signs up you may want to rethink your idea or test with a better value proposition, or ad “hook” to motivate interest and the click through to the landing page. Start testing the assumptions that are the most riskiest to your business viability.

2. Talk To Your Market

One of the biggest reasons business owners struggle is that they look at their business and their product from their own perspective. The problem with that strategy is that the market doesn’t think about your business and product the way you do. They have their own opinions, their own perspective. In order to find out, specifically, how your market thinks about your company and what you have to offer you have to talk to them. Google does not have your answers. You need to get away from your desk and go to where lots of people in your market can be found. You might find groups of them at meet ups. They could be shopping at the mall. Figure out what they have in common in the types of places and events they attend and get your butt over there.

Ask open-ended questions about the relevant problems they have, what pisses them off, what creates the biggest pain in their daily life or work. Seek to learn. Dig deep to fully understand their perspective impact of the problem (pain), what difference it would make to have a solution (benefit) and what’s working and not working about the things they are now using to try to solve the problem. Do no selling. Just learn as much as you can.

3. Start with a Minimum Viable Product

Instead of investing a lot of time, energy and money in fully developing your product just build the simplest and smallest version of it to test to see if you’re headed in the right direction. Analyze the feedback you get in your initial talks with people in your market. Identify the one most important thing your product must do to deliver the benefit your market is actively seeking.

For example, if you’re the meat pie food truck visionary the most important thing might be that your meat pie tastes really good. Make a few pies and find ways to do some taste testing with people who don’t know and love you. In other words, friends and family don’t count. Their feedback will likely be biased. Solicit honest opinions from lots and lots of people. Gather and examine what they had to say and iterate from there. You may find that your customers would rather be able to pick up your meat pies at the local grocery store rather than wait for a food truck to arrive in their area.

The continued repetition of continued product development based on a constant customer feedback loop is what will get you to the holy grail of what is known as product-market fit. What this means is that you have a product that you know, rather than hope, your customers will love and buy at a profitable price.

Using tech lean startup planning and development processes in non-tech small business development assures that risks are mitigated, big and costly mistakes are avoided and assures that the business has the flexibility and agility it needs to grow in a fast-paced, every changing, competitive marketplace.

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Start Your Business With These Basic Tools

Running a business can be difficult; we all know that. But one thing which can make it so much easier is to take advantage of the many tech tools available today. So many believe it’s just too difficult to learn new things and so they just don’t do it. But truly nothing could be farther from the truth (well a few things, but for this let’s go with nothing!) Many of these tools are not only easy to learn and use, but can save you an enormous amount of time and money as well. Now I’ve got your attention!

Here are the top three tech tools we recommend:

Skype – This tool is so much more than a long-distance alternative and inexpensive way to connect with others. Yes, the capability to call anyone anywhere for free is GREAT, but that is only one of the many benefits you can enjoy with Skype. Perhaps one of the most utilized benefits for small businesses is the ability to instantly connect with your clients and others anytime you need them. Think about it; how often have you needed a quick response to a question, but had to wait hours for a return email or phone call? With Skype you can instantly message someone and get the info you need within seconds. Now instant messaging isn’t new, but one benefit to Skype is say you discover you need to talk in more detail with the person, with a click of a mouse and your trusty headset; you can be talking to that person within seconds. (Take that Facebook!)

Skype has also become the norm for business meetings, interviews, events and other opportunities where a personal connection is needed. As an example, look at TV and notice how often you see guest appearances via Skype. Guests no longer have to be flown in for an interview. Thanks to great technology and the use of webcams, it’s as if they are right there with you. That’s money in the bank if you normally host numerous events.

Another huge benefit for many is the ability to share your screen with someone while on a Skype call. Coaches especially appreciate this feature and the ability to walk someone through the steps they are teaching. It is also priceless when a problem arises as well. Having the ability to show someone exactly what is happening enables you to find quick solutions. (Just remember you share the screen throughout the call until you tell it to end. You don’t want to be embarrassed by checking email while Skyping because you forgot the share-screen feature was on.)

Basecamp -If you aren’t using Basecamp for your business, why not? It makes everything so much easier and streamlined. Basecamp is a project management and collaboration software that is not only convenient and so easy to use, but is also an excellent way to easily organize your projects and collaborate with your team and clients.

One of the best advantages of Basecamp is perhaps its unique method of keeping everything in one central location. This allows you to monitor numerous team members in one primary location and for coaches and speakers, offers a centralized location for your students to ask questions and keep their materials. Individual logins and passwords are provided, which allows easy access to files, notes, messages, etc. Think back to how much time you have wasted sifting through Outlook to find an email from previous months. With Basecamp, you easily follow the thread and have all that correspondence in a flash. Again, this can offer you a huge savings of both your time and money. And that is just a few of the benefits to Basecamp. There are so many more (including their whiteboard feature), so make sure to check it out ASAP.

Dropbox – This is a file-sharing and storage tool utilized by many businesses. The beauty of this resource is that it enables you to work with large files effortlessly. But there is so much more to it than that. You have the ability to share multiple files in one location, create and share folders, and best yet, numerous people can have access to these files through a simple invite. It is also beneficial for the on-the-go entrepreneur because of its ability to sync files and share folders among your many electronics such as your iPad, smart phone, etc. Since Dropbox is an online tool, you can access it from any of your devices.

With the paid versions of Dropbox you can even utilize it as a back-up system. Not only will it keep your files safe and sound, but if something were to happen to your computer or back-up in your home or office, you would still be protected.

Trying to run a business these days without utilizing some of these great tech tools is like trying to dig a ditch with a spoon. You might eventually get it done, but you’d be asking yourself the entire time-“Isn’t there a better way?” Using the right tech tools can increase your productivity, which of course, will affect your profitability. Start using these today and you’ll see what a difference having the right tools can make in your business.