Building from Scratch - Strategy Perspective

One thing I can boldly tell you is that I know what it takes to build a business from scratch. That means conceiving an idea and materialising it to become a reality. I can say this without any fear of contraction because I have done it over and over, and here are some of the lessons I have learnt from this exercise.

1. Have a clear vision of what you want to build.

Before starting your execution, always design and define what you want your organisation to be. Define the scope, vision and mission of the business. Identify what you want to do in the business, where you want the company to focus, and who you want to target as customers. Once you've understood and defined this, it is easier for you to make progress on to the next stage

2. Don't leave any aspect to CHANCE:

Business is not a gamble (unless you are a gambler trying to win through betting), you must and have to take practical steps to ensure that every aspect of the business is not ignored or left for "what will be will be". Everything that needs to be done, must be done, do not leave any part or aspect of the business assuming that things will play out on their own. If you have to reach out to clients, reach out if you have to send a reminder email or make a follow-up call, do so. Do not assume that the client already knows and will come through. take total control of your business and you will see the progress.

3. Build a team and Share the vision with them - Do not assume:

One key mistake that entrepreneurs make is thinking or assuming that those they recruit already know what to do. Every business has its vision which is partly or generally different from that of the competition and for you to stand out, you must bring something new to the industry and it is the responsibility of the owner of that vision to share it with the team and ensure that they fully understand it. No matter how qualified or experienced someone might be, they need to understand the vision of the business before they can effectively execute. So make it a habit that at the time of recruitment, during regular meetings and at every opportunity you get with your team to share and reshare the vision of the company; because once it is made clear, they can easily run with it.

4. Don't hope for your friends and family to immediately patronise you:

Most of the time, at the start of the business, we are always excited to share with our friends, family and immediate network in the hope that they will patronise us and be our first set of customers. The truth is, these are the highest doubters and if you depend on them for the growth of your business, you will be out of business in less than no time. The truth is, that those close to us will doubt, and question our quality or ability to deliver and it is only when outsiders start patronising us, that they will start coming. So focus your energy on actual clients that need your products or services and not family and friends

5. First Impression Matters.

Once you get a client, your highest target should be to make them become repeat customers and this is only possible if you give them a very good first impression. Most of the time when clients are coming for a new product, they are coming to try it and see if it is valuable enough for them to switch from their current supplier to you and for this to be possible, you have to ensure that they get a good first experience with your product, service and customer experience.

6. Do not release an incomplete or unfinished product.

Excitement to launch and tell the whole world that your business is out there could mislead you into releasing an incomplete or unfinished product. This is very dangerous and could end your business before it even starts. Once your product or service is released, clients expect satisfaction immediately and if they come and are told stories like this or that are not ready yet but will be ready later on (meanwhile you mentioned that such was there already), they will start losing interest immediately. if they acquire your product or service and realise that it is incomplete and maybe a misrepresentation of what you communicated to them, they might not come back. So be very careful when releasing your product, and ensure that all the aspects are covered.

These and more are some of my learnings.

#CNDECHAM