Young Successful Entrepreneur

Photo by Zara

I started my company based on trial and error.  Sure I had Guy Kawasaki telling me what he wanted on a business plan and executive summary, but I did not have another young entrepreneur to guide me through the startup process.  Outrageously, there was no one out there who had the authority to grab my team and I by our collars and tell us that we are most likely NOT going to get funding and that we should NOT spend the majority of our time writing a business plan.

That’s what I want to do for you.  I want to guide your through the process so that you learn the best way to launch a company.

The following is my 10-step process to successfully launching your very first startup company.  Keep in mind, this quick guide is meant to get you to launch as efficiently as possible; this is NOT a how to build a successful company after launch.  That post will come later.  For my steps, I am assuming that you are young (under 30), do not have previous startup experience, and that you want to start an internet/tech company.

Step 1: Write your idea out on a piece of paper

It’s one thing to always day dream about your idea; it’s another more concrete matter when you have physically put your idea down on a piece of paper and committed yourself to pursuing your startup company.  This is the “I think therefore I am” phase.  If you have decided with your mind and heart that you’re starting your company, then you have started your company.

Step 2: Tell absolutely everyone about your idea

Don’t worry about your idea getting stolen. People are too busy with their own lives to actually stop what they’re doing to pursue YOUR dream.  Your goal is to get people to criticize you and your idea so that you can learn from their criticisms, make your idea stronger, and give it a greater chance for success.

Step 3: Find the Dream Team

Find a team that compliments your skills.  The Dream Team consists of the CEO, marketer, and developer.  If you don’t have a network of entrepreneurial minded people, go to events in your area and chat with people about your idea.  Meet up w/ those who gave the best feedback, who seemed genuinely interested, and who are passionate about your company idea. Give that person an offer if they have a successful interview.

Step 4:  Once the team is on the bus, it’s time to figure out where the bus is going

Entrepreneurship is NOT a one-man show.  Encourage your team members to argue and debate as much as possible so that you can iron out your best ideas.  Remember, the hardest working team has an unwavering loyalty to the company.  Create company loyalty by allowing each team member to contribute their ideas and expertise.

Step 5: Solidify a plan to generate revenue

Your team should all be full-time on this startup.  How will you survive the next 6 - 12 months without any source of income?  What can you guys do to generate revenue now and generate revenue once your product has launched?  Do you guys have an expertise so that you can do consulting work?  You must have an answer to each of these questions.

Step 6: Register to become an official LLC

This does a few things.  Number 1, it makes your company more real in the minds of you and your team members.  Once the process is complete, team members will have their official titles and will officially be given their equity in the company.

Secondly, you are no longer personally liable for any of the business that you do.  If you get sued, your company is sued and people cannot go after your personal assets. I recommend using Legal Zoom for this step.

Step 7: Find a designer

You need to develop a BEAUTIFUL company logo, easy user-interface, and sticky color scheme.  You want to live your brand, and a sticky brand makes it easier for your products and services to to be remembered. Though you may not have funding, your website needs to give off a professional, trust-worthy, high-quality feel.

Step 8: Start branding the company WAY before your product is launched

Hire part-time interns to work for you for free.  In an internet company, it’s all about leveraging the blogosphere, the twitter community, optimizing your site for SEO, and utilizing all of the other social media networks.  You can easily get people to do this for you for free. Listen to my interview with Andrew Warner to find out how.

Step 9: Your product should only do one thing and do it right

You may have a million ideas for features for your website.  That’s great, but too many features is a hindrance to your site.  Your product should only do ONE thing, and it must do it better than any other site out there.  Once your product has established itself as a leader in that area, you can begin to add more features and develop your website.

Step 10: Work tirelessly until you have finished your product

If you have followed steps 1 - 9 successfully, then all that is left is a lot of hard work and execution.

Getting started on the right foot is extremely important.  Let me know what steps you would like to add or modify so that we can all learn from each other.