This book is different, and it has two key themes: freedom and value. Freedom is what we’re all looking for, and value is the way to achieve it.
The second part of this book is about value, a word that is often used but rarely analyzed. As we’ll consider it, value is created when a person makes something useful and shares it with the world.
“The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” —MAYA ANGELOU On the Monday
You can learn more about the methodology for the study, including survey data and specific interviews, at 100startup.com
To succeed in a business project, especially one you’re excited about, it helps to think carefully about all the skills you have that could be helpful to others and particularly about the combination of those skills.
1. Product or service: what you sell 2. People willing to pay for it: your customers 3. A way to get paid: how you’ll exchange a product or service for money
Passion or skill + usefulness = success
1.Product or service: what you sell 2.People willing to pay for it: your customers 3.A way to get paid: how you’ll exchange a product or service for money
But to look at it more closely, it helps to have an offer: a combination of product or service plus the messaging that makes a case to potential buyers. The initial work can be a challenge, but after the typical business gets going, you can usually take a number of steps to ramp up sales and income—if you want to. It helps to have a strategy of building interest and attracting attention, described here as hustling. Instead of just popping up one day with an offer, it helps to craft a launch event
1. Decide on your product or service. 2. Set up a website, even a very basic one (you can get a free one from WordPress.org). 3. Develop an offer (an offer is distinct from a product or service; see Chapter 7 for help). 4. Ensure you have a way to get paid (get a free PayPal account to start).
5. Announce your offer to the world (see Chapter 9 for more on this). 6. Learn from steps 1 through 5, then repeat.
1.Decide on your product or service. 2.Set up a website, even a very basic one (you can get a free one from WordPress.org). 3.Develop an offer (an offer is distinct from a product or service; see Chapter 7 for help). 4.Ensure you have a way to get paid (get a free PayPal account to start).
5.Announce your offer to the world (see Chapter 9 for more on this). 6.Learn from steps 1 through 5, then repeat.
Value means “helping people.” Our unexpected entrepreneurs discovered that when they focused on providing value above all else, their businesses were successful. Give people what they really want, not just what you think they should have. Give them the fish! The more you can market a core benefit instead of a list of features, the easier it will be to profit from your idea. Core benefits usually relate to emotional needs more than physical needs. Most people want more of some things (money, love, attention) and less of other things (stress, anxiety, debt). Always focus on what you can add or take away to improve someone’s life … and then prepare to get paid.
Value means “helping people.” Our unexpected entrepreneurs discovered that when they focused on providing value above all else, their businesses were successful. • Give people what they really want, not just what you think they should have. Give them the fish! • The more you can market a core benefit instead of a list of features, the easier it will be to profit from your idea. Core benefits usually relate to emotional needs more than physical needs. • Most people want more of some things (money, love, attention) and less of other things (stress, anxiety, debt). Always focus on what you can add or take away to improve someone’s life…and then prepare to get paid.
“Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.” —RALPH WALDO EMERSON
I will help clients _________. After hiring me, they will receive [core benefit + secondary benefit].
I will help clients __________. After hiring me, they will receive [core benefit + secondary benefit].
Mignon changed course, trading science for grammar. The answer wasn’t to abandon her passion altogether but to make sure she connected the right passion with the right audience. “Absolute Science” “Grammar Girl” Passion … but not Passion … and a enough audience substantial audience
Mignon changed course, trading science for grammar. The answer wasn’t to abandon her passion altogether but to make sure she connected the right passion with the right audience. “Absolute Science” Passion… but not enough audience “Grammar Girl” Passion…and a substantial audience
The missing piece is that you usually don’t get paid for your hobby itself; you get paid for helping other people pursue the hobby or for something indirectly related to it. This point is critical.
Questions for You Instead of just during your free time, would you enjoy pursuing your hobby at least twenty hours a week? Do you enjoy teaching others to practice the same hobby? Do you like the ins and outs (all the details) of your hobby? If you had to do a fair amount of administrative work related to your hobby, would you still enjoy it?
Questions for the Marketplace Have other people asked for your help? Are enough other people willing to pay to gain or otherwise benefit from your expertise? Are there other businesses serving this market (usually a good thing) but not in the same way you would?
Questions for You • Instead of just during your free time, would you enjoy pursuing your hobby at least twenty hours a week? • Do you enjoy teaching others to practice the same hobby? • Do you like the ins and outs (all the details) of your hobby? • If you had to do a fair amount of administrative work related to your hobby, would you still enjoy it?
Questions for the Marketplace • Have other people asked for your help? • Are enough other people willing to pay to gain or otherwise benefit from your expertise? • Are there other businesses serving this market (usually a good thing) but not in the same way you would?
To understand how passion can sometimes translate into a profitable business, look at the chart on this page. In addition to passion, you must develop a skill that provides a solution to a problem. Only when passion merges with a skill that other people value can you truly follow your passion to the bank.
“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” —JOHN LE CARRÉ
Finally, I realized that the target market had nothing to do with demographics in a traditional sense—the group simply consisted of people from all backgrounds who wanted to live unconventional, remarkable lives. They were “pro-change”
Here’s one option: the decision-making matrix. In this matrix, you’ll list your ideas in the left-hand
column and then score them on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. Granted, the scoring will be subjective, but since we’re looking for trends, it’s OK to estimate. Score your ideas according to these criteria: Impact: Overall, how much of an impact will this project make on your business and customers? Effort: How much time and work will it take to create the project? (In this case, a lower score indicates more effort, so choose 1 for a project that requires a ton of work and 5 for a project that requires almost no work.) Profitability: Relative to the other ideas, how much money will the project bring in? Vision: How close of a fit is this project with your overall mission and vision? Rank each item on a scale of 1 to 5 and then add them up in the right-hand column.
Don’t think innovation; think usefulness.*
Seven Steps to Instant Market Testing† 1. You need to care about the problem you are going to solve, and there has to be a sizable number of other people who also care. Always remember the lesson of convergence: the way your idea intersects with what other people value. 2. Make sure the market is big enough. Test the size by checking the number and relevancy
Jen and Omar began with an idea, kept costs low, and didn’t wait long before stepping forward with a product. Then they adapted to the marketplace
Don’t think innovation; think usefulness
Seven Steps to Instant Market Testing* 1.You need to care about the problem you are going to solve, and there has to be a sizable number of other people who also care. Always remember the lesson of convergence: the way your idea intersects with what other people value. 2.Make sure the market is big enough. Test the size by checking the number and relevancy
Focus on eliminating “blatant admitted pain.” The product needs to solve a problem that causes pain that the market knows it has.
1781.
Note: one page b plan. so simple
Follow the Seven Steps to Instant Market Testing (or the market before manufacturing method) to gauge the initial response. Use the One-Page Business Plan to outline your business ideas quickly. To avoid overcomplicating things, explain your business with a 140-Character Mission Statement.
Note: solid steps
It may help to think of the first two characteristics of any business: a product or service and the group of people who pay for it. Put the two together and you’ve got a mission statement:
Note: simple mission statement creation
Follow the Seven Steps to Instant Market Testing (or the market before manufacturing method) to gauge the initial response. • Use the One-Page Business Plan to outline your business ideas quickly. • To avoid overcomplicating things, explain your business with a 140-Character Mission Statement.
Note: solid steps
The first $1.26 is the hardest, so find a way to get your first sale as quickly as possible. Then work on improving the things that are working, while ignoring the things that aren’t.