Smart vs. Hard
Woody Allen famously said, “Ninety percent of success is just showing up.” The fact is, in a startup environment, you have to show up A LOT. Grinding out 12-plus-hour days is certainly a hallmark (if not a badge of honor) for many successful startups.
However, there’s certainly more to it than simply putting in the time. A big part of entrepreneurial success is working smart – not just hard.
Unfortunately, many aspiring founders seem to be stuck on the bottom end of this scale – all perspiration and no inspiration. (There are founders boxed in at the other end also, but we’ll save that examination for another time.) There comes a time, relatively early in your company’s life cycle, when you need to pull your nose up from the grindstone and take stock if you’re actually advancing your corporate goals.
Fill a need. Be certain that your product actually plugs a hole in the marketplace. Satisfying customers is inspiring – particularly because that results in sales (revenues!). If your product doesn’t move off the shelf in a reasonable time frame, you should be evaluating your circumstances.
Seek Competitive Advantage. I see a lot of “me too” business plans lately. In and of itself, there’s nothing wrong with replicating a competitor’s success (particularly with key modifications or improvements). Nonetheless, creating breakthrough innovations, new intellectual property, proprietary developments and new business processes are particularly satisfying and a source of foundational strength in building a startup.
Hoard IP. In a related fashion, create intellectual property wherever you can. Register domain names. File for trademarks and service marks. Copyright when appropriate. Register the same (and related names) on social media sites. File patents whenever possible. Building a storehouse of intellectual property should serve you well in the future.
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