Business Practices for Entrepreneurs Moderated by: Chris Lopez Hosted by: Westbank Community Library

Business Practices for Entrepreneurs

Moderated by:Chris Lopez

Hosted by:Westbank Community Library

Few Announcements

• Morgan Spurlock – Cyber Spying/Big Data – 11 pm Friday• Tosh.o – New Tonight at 9 pm on comedy central ch 59• HLN Viral Videos “Right This Minute” Saturday and Sunday 12

pm ch 47• Tonight Goldbergs Star Wars Episode 8 pm ch. 3

Let’s Build a Team

Wait, how do you build a team?

It Depends on the company

Common Mistakes Taken on First Time startups• Starting a business with Friends• Starting a business with family members• Starting a business with co-workers from a

previous job• Starting a business with loans from a bank• Starting a business with no customers (but it’s the

best idea in the world!)• Starting a business with no homework done

It Depends on the company

You first need to know what kind of company you are starting

• If you are starting a baking company, who are the main employees you will need starting off?

• A tech company? Who do you need starting off?• A brick and mortar company? What’s the bare minimum of

staff you need?• A service company? Who are the skilled employees?• An online company? How much can you outsource? Bare

# of employees?• A starter company (practice company)? What can you do

without?• A bank?• A restaurant?• An international company?• etc

Man, is it really that hard to start a

business?

I just want to hangout with my friends and try to make some money

on the side

Sure,But there’s a shark

swimming and you’re not paying attention to

it.

Who’s the shark swimming?


A.- ConsumersB.- MarketersC.- CoworkersD.- Business PartnersE.- Investors









There is a long history of business partners

stealing business ideas and plans

Business is Business

When Creating your team, do the following right away

• Sign nondisclosure agreements (if your company depends on a special way of doing something)

• Assemble a team based on talents, not personal relationships• Determine when business will be conducted and stick to that routine (even if

you are homebased)• Create contracts for admin staff, do not use verbal contracts• Create expectations for everyone so they know what is expected of them at any

moment in their job• Keep Personal and Business Life separated as much as possible

Ready to build your Team now?

The 3 People You Need Right Away

And then someMalcolm Gladwell said it great in his book, “The Tipping Point.”• He explained there are three types of people• Connectors – They are the ones who find other people for you• Mavens – They are the brains and just know tons about everything• Salesmen – They can sell anything, even the clothes on your back

• But you also need a few more people

http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/2010/08/23/connectors-mavens-and-salesmen-the-secret-to-your-success/

The 3 People You Need Right Away

And then some• Standards include• Finance Person (try to outsource if you can)• Social Media (hire HS to college level person, there are no degrees yet

for this field so don’t be taken by flashy titles)• You need the following• Video• Microblogging• Blog• Interaction

• Front Line (only if you are a brick and mortar or expanding and need the help)

Finding those 3 People

• Connectors are hard to come by, especially for hire, their talent is natural and scales based on connections.

• Salesmen who know they are great are hard to hire, you need a connector to find one for you.

• Mavens are the hardest to hire since they know it all. It’s extremely difficult to pull a fast one on them since they are always 30 steps ahead of you. If the Maven doesn’t want control, pay them well with a comfy job and you will be rewarded with great things.

Which one are you?

Are you any of those three types of people?

If not, what do you have to offer?

What role do you play as an entrepreneur for your

company?

Or do you need to have one?

Remember the 4 hour work week rule?

• If you are a hands on entrepreneur, how much time are you going to put in in the beginning?• Determine your time in the beginning vs payoff

• If you are NOT a hands on entrepreneur, did you hire the right people to take over the operation?• If so, pay quality level to get quality service back.• Pay scale determines quality service and leveraging tool• Check up throughout the week, which should only at MOST 4

hours a week

How big should your staff be?

• As large as you need to meet daily operational demands PERIOD• Do not hire over that; that is money wasted.• If it only takes 2 people to run the business, then each person will serve

multiple titles.• If it takes only 1 person, make sure their personal comforts are met in

order to do their job. Do NOT skip or ignore this rule.

Structure of Work Flow

• Daily Check up• What number do you need to see everyday to ensure you are operating

profitably• Who are the key people in your business that know any obstacles

encountered the day before• Do you need to have meetings? (Meetings are the most wasteful expense

for companies) (i.e., 5 minute standing only meetings)• Who manages the books at the end of the day? Again, what is your

number you need to see each day?• What are the daily expectations, weekly expectations? Monthly?

A few things to think about1. Single Founder2. Bad Location3. Marginal Niche4. Derivative Idea5. Obstinacy6. Hiring Bad Programmers7. Choosing the Wrong Platform8. Slowness in Launching9. Launching too early10. Having No Specific user in mind11. Raising too little money12. Spending too much13. Raising Too much

14. Poor Investor Management15. Sacrificing Users to supposed

profit16. Not wanting to get your hands

dirty17. Fights between founders18. A half hearted effort19. No assessment of competition

Ready to start that business now?

If any of this was new to you today and your about to start a

business, you haven’t done your homework yet.

Documents

Business Practices for Entrepreneurs Moderated by: Chris Lopez Hosted by: Westbank Community Library