The Art Of The Start

The Art Of The Start is your guide to beginning a company and explains everything from getting the right people on board to writing a winning business plan and building your brand.

Before I began my entrepreneurial journey, I was apprehensive about it. I’d see corrupt billionaires and guys advertising their get rich quick scheme with flashy cars and big houses. I wanted nothing to do with any of that stuff. And I definitely didn’t want to become that kind of person.

The reason these things are so tacky and obnoxious is that they go against everything that business should be. It’s more about the money than making a difference, which is what winners focus on before cash.

Your company does this by making a product or service that makes the world a better place. And the more what you do or sell improves the lives of your customers, the more successful your business will be.

This happens because when your primary focus is money, the main motivation is greed. That attracts dishonest people that make your customers feel uncomfortable, just like the guys with sports cars.

Contrast this with a company that focuses on creating value and truly helping people. If you’ve ever worked at such a place then you know the powerful motivation that trying to make a difference brings.

You can build this meaning into your company from the start by identifying a mantra that supports it. This is different than a mission statement but is also a short and powerful phrase that reminds everyone of your why.

Nike’s, for example, is “Authentic athletic performance.” And Disney uses the mantra of “Fun family entertainment” to remind themselves of their purpose.

Have you ever worked at a place that seems like it’s going nowhere? I’ve been there before and it’s not really fun. You don’t want to create this kind of environment for your employees. To avoid this, use the MAT framework to get direction: Milestones Assumptions Tasks The initial step is to identify milestones, which are the big events on your way to accomplishing your business goals. This is vital because it lets you see clear steps in the path to success and review how well you’re doing at each of them. You might, for example, set a milestone of establishing a “proof of concept” for your product to make sure it will actually work. A good follow-up step would be to finish the prototype. And last, you’d want to track the milestone of getting funding to make it. Next, you must review the assumptions you’re making about your business. Brainstorm a list of everything that you think is true about your idea that might not actually…