Starting a business before you start a business

Writing by admin on Wednesday, 18 of June , 2008 at 1:01 pm

Last year I made a fairly big business mistake. I made an assumption about the size of a market and the ease of working with a particular demographic: Real estate professionals. To make a long story short my business idea didn’t live up to my or my partner’s expectations.

The problem wasn’t the business itself. It became positive cash flow within 6 months and it continues to grow on a monthly basis. The problem was that we put everything we had into the project for over a year. When we launched the market response was not what we expected and we struggled for 6 months to break even. The next 6 months following our company launch consisted of us scrambling to design a Plan B to help us push our real estate website CMS company.

Plan B is now designed and we are over the worst of it. However, after this terrifying lesson I’ve decided to approach business slightly differently. I’ve done it successfully once and I’m in the process of doing it successfully a second time. I’m building the infrastructure, the network and my client base before I have a business or product to sell.

Within the next 6 – 8 months I’m planning on launching a photography and film studio in downtown Vancouver. However, my new business philosophy works as follows: If I sense that a sufficient market doesn’t exist for my idea, or I can’t find a profitable angle in this somewhat competitive market, then I can pull the plug with minimal investment or time loss.

I’ve designed a website, hired a search engine optimization company, started 2 local meet up groups that target my demographic to help me build my network and I’ve set up meetings with photographers and filmmakers who I could develop creative partnerships with to help draw an immediate client base and revenue stream into the studio.

The results have been great so far. I’ve spent $150 to form 2 meet up groups. Within 2 weeks I already have close to 100 highly targeted people who are interested. I hired a search engine optimization company to optimize for 3 of my main key-phrases and within 1 month I’ve already landed a first page ranking in Google and Yahoo for my niche terms. In many cases I’m the first listing. I’m forming partnerships with local magazine publishers. I’m offering free space in exchange for free advertising.

This had triggered an assortment of emails to my “company” from people wanting access to my studio space. They want to know the daily rental rates, they want to see pictures, and they want to know if they can bring motorcycles in. The problem is that I don’t actually have anything to offer them yet. I’m all brand and no product.

The goal is in 6 months when I’m ready to launch the business that I’ll have an enormous network of people who I’ve already connected with and want to use my service. However, if this ambitious “enormous network” doesn’t show interest or lacks enthusiasm than I can pull the plug on the idea having invested less than $500 to test the market before diving in. Best case scenario, I launch my 1st month will 100% booking capacity based on my promotional efforts for these next 6 months!

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Category: Business Planning, Entrepreneurship Ideas

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