Final Year: My Last year at UWI

By Stuart Foster
via:Brazen Careerist

Start-up fever is in full swing. Everyone wants to be the next Larry and Sergei or Mark Zuckerberg? Hell, they may even want to be Ron Popeil. The reason? Tight credit conditions and clear needs being created in the market by retrenching companies are making small, agile privateers the company of choice. Add in a lot of additional brainpower amongst the laid off and you can see why the idea has so much appeal.

Guess what though? There is a reason 90% of all new businesses fail. So here are five tips (all marketing/PR related) to keep you from crashing out of the gate:

1. Do your Homework. Is a clear need present? Do you have a business plan? Have you identified your competition, potential allies and done a thorough study of the industry you are launching yourself into? Have you done a SWOT analysis even? Don’t jump in head first. You will cost yourself a lot of money and/or heartache.

2. Bootstrap your marketing campaign and go low tech. Product/platform development should be the primary concern. However, lay the groundwork for a multi-channel launch and subsequent tiered marketing campaign. Lay out all your plans initially but give yourself enough room to deviate. It’s far easier to have a plan and deviate from it then fly by the seat of your pants.

3. Attack from the Periphery. Slow steady buzz is always better then enormous buzz and then a let down. Promote your product/site within it’s capabilities and don’t overstretch. A balanced steady stream of information, promotion and buzz can build into a massively successful launch and prolonged stretch of goodwill/interest. You’ve built a solid foundation. How high you build your company is now is dependent on your effort there after and your will to succeed.

4. Build a vocal active community. Vital for prolonged success and your sanity. Having a great community can provide a lot of solutions to a variety of different areas in your business. Creation of a free-flowing dialogue will save you countless headaches and keep you honest about the actual validity of your ideas. They can be used as a sounding board, quality control, and your most effective evangelists/promoters.

5. Hire a HUNGRY Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). This should always be your second or third hire. The only person possibly more vital to your success as a business will be your CFO (who ensures you have enough money to run your business and the rate at which you can expand). This person can direct initial campaigns, create the ground work for a PR program, and eventually oversee a dynamic marketing department. Effectively building marketing campaigns from scratch is damn hard and time consuming. So leave it with the guy who will shoot for the moon (and hit it dead on).

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and throw stones at failed start-ups. However, remember how much balls it takes to go for it. You have no safety net, back up plan or escape route. You will live and die with the success of your company. So I salute anyone willing to go out there and take the plunge. Have more tips? Leave them below.