February 19, 2020

How Can I Get Help with a Start-up?

If you are among those people who are blessed with powerful collaborators or connections, then perhaps this article is not for you. We would like to address all those “solopreneurs” who are feeling overwhelmed with having to be the all-rounder in their business. From financing needs to marketing, to fixing the light bulb in the office, they do it all.

Solopreneurs or not, here are some tips that can help every aspiring start-up founder gain perspective.

Find Industry Trends through Conferences and Trade Shows

Every industry has its source of challenges and changes. Identifying these trends can help you predict future challenges for your own company, as well as the areas you need to work on. Start participating in conferences, seminars, hackathons, industry trade shows…. you get the gist.

Look at what people are talking about at these events. Take notes from experts. These events could be great eye-openers and fantastic opportunities to establish contacts with journalists, growth hackers, investment bankers and venture capitalists. Look at some of these events scheduled for 2020:

• Startup Grind Global Conference, Silicon Valley California, February 11-12
• Step Conference, Dubai, February 11-12
• REFLECT, Cyprus, May 14-15
• EU Startup Summit, Spain, May 28-29
• Viva Technology, Paris, June 11
• Bread & Jam Festival, London, October 1-2

Even if you can’t attend these events, look at the agendas. Go through the association publications and blogs. Look at industry expert lists and follow them on social media. 

Hire the Right People

Teams with more than one founder outperform solo founders by a whopping 163%. 

But, we also know that resources are limited, which is why you have to strategically think this through. Here is who we believe are the three most important people you need:

1. A co-founder who has technical expertise: A CTO who can save you product development costs.
2. Digital marketing agency: To get you some inbound marketing advantages and offer content expertise, like preparing pitch decks, company blogs, managing social media channels, etc.
3. Mentor: An expert in your industry, who can take some weight off your shoulders. A mentor can help you boost ROI through tested plans with higher success predictability, leaving you to focus on things that create value.

Keep Reading, Keep Listening, Keep Learning 

Founders are creative people, and brave too. But to run a company in this rapidly changing market, they need skills, like:

• Leadership 
• Financial management
• Convincing/confrontational/negotiating skills
• Product design
• Digital marketing
• Team management

Too many? But, you don’t need to attain all these skills in one go. Therefore we say keep reading and learning from what experts and your fellow entrepreneurs have to say. There are plenty of books and podcasts that might interest you.

Let’s start with books:

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz
• Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity, by Charles Duhigg
• Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek
• Tools of Titans, by Tim Ferris
• The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries

Now, for some podcasts:

• The Tim Ferris Show
• Mixergy – Startup Stories
• Rework by Basecamp

Wondering what the next step should be? Come talk to us. We work with start-ups looking to scale, increase profitability and hit their KPIs. We have scaled and worked with businesses across all verticals and from all parts of the world. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get going.