60 Things Every Startup Needs To Know

60 Things Every Startup Needs To Know – Moses Kemibaro1

60 THINGS EVERY STARTUP NEEDS TO KNOW


MOSES KEMIBARO BIOGRAPHY

• Founder @ Dotsavvy since 2002 •Manager @ Perform Group since 2014• TechBlogger @ MosesKemibaro.com• Africa Sales Director @ InMobi in 2012• Founder @ Dealfish (OLX KE) 2010/11• Chairman @ ASC since 2015


YOUR BUSINESS IDEAS ARE ARE NOT UNIQUEThe majority of business ideas out there are a remix of something that’s already been done


DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR BUSINESS IDEASBusiness ideas are a commodity so the more you have the better they get


BUSINESS IDEAS ARE USELESS WITHOUT EXECUTIONEveryone has great ideas - the difference is those who get them done and those who don’t


CUSTOMERS ARE KING, & QUEEN, ETCFocus on acquiring customers from day one – that’s what matters


A POSITIVE CASHFLOW SOLVES ALL PROBLEMSA startup that has a positive cash flow can survive the tough times


PUSH YOUR BUSINESS BEYOND ITS BOUNDARIESPreconceived notions about what you can or cannot do as a business is all in your mind


INNOVATION MEANS NO MATURE MARKETSNothing is said and done. Just ask Uber, Safaricom, AirBNB & Tesla. Everything is up for

disruption


EXPONENTIAL SCALING CHANGES EVERYTHINGIn today’s global business environment, growing big fast (scaling) as a business can mean the difference between success and failure even with an inferior product. There is a good reason

why Uber is worth US$ 62B!


SEEK NON-LINEAR BUSINESS MODELSIn addition to scaling fast, seek business models that follow an exponential growth curve


DON’T BURN YOUR BRIDGESBuilding a business requires all the help you can get and therefore it is essential to keep your

doors open, even for a competitor or former employer to help


NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE THE LOOK OF SUCCESSIf it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it most probably is a duck! Make sure you are the best all round in the industry. The best proposals. The best sales pitch. The

best everything! Look the part of a million shillings!


VALIDATE YOUR BUSINESS BEFORE GOING ALL INThe reality is that many businesses fail because they were built on assumptions instead of accurate market insights. Therefore, do your homework and get actual paying customers

before placing the big bets


THE FISHING IS BEST WHERE FEW DARE TO GOWhen it comes to customer acquisition, the ones that you fear approaching are the very ones

you need to go after. Fortune favors the brave!


NOTHING BEATS OLD SCHOOL TO WIN CUSTOMERSForget using email, skype, whatsapp, etc only. In an increasingly digital world, personal visits,

hand-written cards, phone calls, gifts, etc make brands stand out


FOUNDERS FIGHT SO FIGURE IT OUT EARLYAny business venture with co-founders can unravel if the they are not of the same heart and

mind – if you can figure this out early it can save you years of wasted time and emotions


LEADERS ARE NOT BORN THEY ARE MADELeaders are always a work in progress. You never know it all. Consider that your decisions affect the lives of ALL your stakeholders. It’s a massive responsibility! Get help from those

who have gone before you – reach up, not downwards or sideways. Get skills. Make. It. Work!


IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN YOU PLAN TO FAILWhat is worse than having a bad plan is having no plan at all. Even if you fall short it means

you aimed for a target rather than none. If you don’t know where you are going, how the heck will you know when you have arrived?


BUILD A BUSINESS MODEL THAT CAN GO GLOBALYes. I know. This sounds cliché? It may not count or matter if your focus is just Kenya or East Africa based on your current business but the payoff of building a global business far exceeds

the prospect of a small local business.


HUSTLING TRUMPS WINNING COMPETITIONSSeriously. Acquiring customers and retaining them is all that counts. If you winning startup

competitions and have no working business model to speak of your just screwing around. Go out there and sell like your life depends on it whilst making the best product or service

possible.


LOW BARRIERS TO ENTRY MEAN YOU CAN WINNever in the history of business in Kenya have the barriers to entry been so low for startups. Now is the time to step up and make your business ‘blow up’. Everything you need is there –

just hustle and make it happen!


TALENT CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOUR BUSINESSThe battle for the best talent is on. Talent defines what you can or cannot do as a business.

Be prepared to pay top shilling for the best you can afford.


TALENT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE USUAL SUSPECTSI have found that the best talent for your start up is sometimes the people you least expect to

thrive in a role. Sometimes, the best talent is right under your nose


BAD LEADERSHIP HAPPENS TO GREAT STARTUPSBad leadership can destroy what is essentially an ironclad startup. Therefore, work youryour

leadership skills and team everyday to get better


BAD EMPLOYEES HAPPEN TO GREAT STARTUPS TOOIts NOT just about solid credentials and skills. Employees who are toxic, even if they are

brilliant, can destroy your business by spreading like a cancer. If you don’t cut them out early your screwed!


TENACITY IS A GIVEN TO MOVE THINGS FORWARDThe entrepreneur journey requires that you go all in to make things happens. This means

always being relentless in pursuing new business, solving customer problems, creating great services. There is no substitute for the determined effort needed to succeed.


CONTENT MARKETING GETS YOUR BRAND SEENCreate a blog and post weekly about your industry and business. Create infographics. Get a newspaper column. Get speaker engagements at events. Get on radio. Give free training.

Share decks. Get your brand out there. Own the space!


CONTACTS + HUSTLE = MONEY IN THE BANKYou need to grow your base of contacts to drive more sales – always! Therefore, you are

really not short of money since that comes in when you have an massive sales pipeline. Start with friends and family and expand from there. Do things that make you scared!


DO DELEGATE DO NOT MICROMANAGEThis is hard. Really hard! This is why having the best talent possible and business processes is

required. Failure to do so means you have to do everything yourself. Madness happens!


BUSINESS IS PERSONALEvery startup needs help to lift off and the most accessible help is friends and family


BUILD A BRAND THAT HAS A PURPOSEA logo is not a brand. Neither is a website or mobile app. A brand is the core of what you are doing. The raison d'etre or ‘the reason for being’. This is what will attract and retain your ‘tribe’

of customers


MARKETING COLLATERAL SUPPORTS SALES EFFORTSBusiness cards. Website. Language. Office. Presentations. In person engagement. All these

things and more are essential in closing the sale.


STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPSSeek strategic partnerships with people and organizations that can help you grow your

business. Look for resellers and commission agents for instance. Look for board members who can make introductions to the right places. It can change everything!


HAVE A BRAND STORYHuman beings have told stories for millenia. This is how we communicate most effectively.

Therefore, make sure you can create a brand story that compels customers to consider your brand over others. Some of the best brand stories include Apple, KFC & Under Armour.


LIVE THE ETHOS OF THE BRANDPart of branding is actually living the thing that you are selling or doing as a business. Nothing creates brand authenticity or credibility like demonstrating that you are one and the same with

what you are selling as a business


THE 80/20 RULE FOR CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENTIn my experience, Pareto’s Principle or the 80/20 rule matters in customer acquisition or retention. This means that NOT all customers are equal as some are more valuable than

others. Figure this out early so that you can prioritize resource allocation


GREAT CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT = GREAT WORKContrary to the popular notion that great work creates a great customer, this works in the

opposite. A customer partnership where there is a harmony of goals and efforts leads to great work every time


DELIVER THE PROMISE WHATEVER IT TAKESAs a brand, your business must do everything possible to deliver on the promise. If this does

NOT happen prepare for the possibility of business failure.


FORGET THE HYPE FOCUS ON GETTING IT DONE!Hype can be seductive and delusional. Put your head down and get the work done. That’s

what counts for your customers and your business.


PROCESSES RUN BUSINESS PEOPLE RUN PROCESSESClearly defined business processes can make all the difference. You can have the best talent

but a lack of business processes will fail to realize the full potential of your brand


A BRAND CANNOT BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONEIt is so important to define what your brand is about and who its targeting. A brand cannot be

everything to everyone. Consider how Apple appeals to certain market segments and not others. Find your brand ‘tribe’ and focus on a niche


MARKET RESEARCH MEANS HITTING THE GROUNDForget online research only. Going out and meeting people to demonstrate your product or service in person is one of the best ways of better understanding what they think of it and

how to iterate to the next version.


COLD CALLING STILL WORKSCold calling, which literally means knocking on doors unannounced to get business still works. This works well especially when you have qualified a sales target who can truly benefit from

what you have to offer.


UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS ARE YOUR TRUE NORTHWhen all is said and done, the customers who are the most difficult and have issues with your

business can truly help you make your business better with their candid feedback. As Microsoft’s Bill Gates once said, ‘Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of

learning’.


PROACTIVELY SOLICIT CUSTOMER REFERRALSDon’t wait for customer referrals to happen serendipitously. Make them them happen on purpose. This means reaching out to existing customers who should ideally be happy with

your services to recommend several names of other people or businesses


SOCIAL MEDIA IS OVERRATEDSocial media is overrated. Everyone is doing social media but forgetting the basics of marketing and customer service. Go out there, meet people, get business, in person.


EMAIL MARKETING OUTPERFORMS SOCIAL MEDIAIts true. Google the research. Email marketing leads to more conversions than social media

does. Email marketing done right will sell more. The best part is that its one-on-one and highly measurable


THE GOAL OF ALL MARKETING IS SALESYes. Its true. Ultimately, all marketing should lead to sales, in addition to brand awareness and

other ‘softer’ objectives. Sales conversions matter. End of story.


GREAT PUBLIC RELATIONS WORKS WONDERSIn the digital age its still impressive to see how effective public relations still is. This means

engaging regularly with media to get your message out there on digital and traditional media with a great story about your brand


MAKE YOUR BRAND OMNIPRESENTBe everywhere all the time. Make your brand visible on all channels always. This takes work

but avoids the classic startup problem of obscurity.


COMPANY CULTURE DRIVES EVERYTHINGA company with a great culture is able to become a business that exceed all odds. A company culture is everything. Customer service in particular can be largely seen as a result of a good

company culture – how much does your brand care about the customer?


CREATE SERENDIPITYCreate moments of serendipity by getting out there to meet people all the time. Serendipity

leads to new opportunities.


DON’T GET DISTRACTED BY THE COMPETITIONIf your business is really solid and you have something of value for your customers then

competition should not be your focus – your customers should be. Clients only leave when they have a better option, not when you are delivering exceptional value for money


SALES ARE EMOTIONALLY DRIVENCustomers buy with their hearts, not their minds. Therefore, a solid brand knows which

emotional triggers work for their offerings. Why do people buy Apple products?


PIVOT YOUR BUSINESS EVERYDAYNothing stays constant in the world so make sure your ‘pivoting’ your business everyday to

keep up with the changes happening around you.


BE OBSESSIVE ABOUT EVERYTHINGEverything matters. EVERYTHING. Being obsessive counts as it can make a good product

become great and a lost customer become an enthusiastic brand advocate.


YOUR BRAND IS A MEDIA COMPANYTrue story. Every brand today is a media company that uses social media and digital marketing

channels to produce and distribute its brand content. RedBull is the best example out there today.


MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS STILL MATTERDigital marketing is NOT the end game. Digital is ultimately a mix of channels but the

marketing strategy ultimately drives the message on the channels. Remember this!


ABOVE ALL ELSE FAMILY FIRSTStartups can be all consuming. They can burn everything in your life. This happens. All. The.

Time! Just remember when all is said and done, all you have is your family so never lose sight of that. They are what matters the most.


BEND REALITYTo your will. Nothing is writ. Nothing is truly lost or won. Just make it happen.


THANK YOU!

Moses [email protected]

@moseskemibaromoseskemibaro.com