How to start a startup from scratch: 6 lessons learned (2023)

By Tito Golas

The business journey of the average entrepreneur is one of trial and error. Opening and building a successful business is a task that few dare to undertake. And for good reason.

With research indicating that approximately50% of startups pass the 5-year mark on the market, the chances of running a business that not only survives but thrives are slim. However, with the right product, the right people, and the right strategy, it is possible.

In this article I want to share mine with you.The 6 Most Valuable Lessons I Learned While Building My Startup From Scratch To Over 140,000 Happy Customers🇧🇷 I also asked other successful entrepreneurs to share their tips.

Set up? let's go diving

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but it's all too common to see entrepreneurs spend their time, energy, and money developing and launching complex products that no one wants to buy.

Determining and testing the demand for your product or service is critical to the decisions you will make about your business in the future.

This is why building and testing the MVP (minimum viable product) is such popular advice for new entrepreneurs, and it couldn't be further from the truth.

We also did it with Tidio.

Before developing the product in its current form, we experimented a lot with other ideas. For example, in 2013, one of them was a tool called Tidio Elements, a tool for editing websites. Everything's fine. However, what really gained momentum and showed us that there was genuine interest was aLive chat solutionwe have created in the meantime.

Comenzó como una simple herramienta de comunicación con el cliente que las personas podían instalar en sus sitios web, principalmente para sus tiendas de comercio electrónico, para poder hablar con los visitantes de su sitio web en tiempo real. Rápidamente se hizo evidente que dicha solución tenía demanda en el mercado a medida que se abrían más y más tiendas en línea.

A few years later, Tidio has grown into a complete and complex tool for sales automation and customer engagement.

With 3 separate modules including live chat, chatbots, and upcoming email features, the app has been installed on over 300,000 websites.

We would never have developed Tidio without the MVP testing of our early products. It is important to remember that mistakes are part of the journey. In fact, all the "failed" products we created before Tidio came to life in its current form led us to create live chat.

Following this principle of rapid validation of ideas, we have implemented chatbots and are now testing and launching our new Mail Merge feature to make Tidio a powerful all-in-one tool for customer communication, sales, and email marketing.

• Use the "SPRINT" methodology to create a prototype and test it with a selected group
• share your ideasEmail Disclosurees LinkedIn
• Offer free access or samples to industry influencers
• behaviourfocus group interviewswith a target group
• Hold product demos and hire UX researchers to test usability
• embedeffective landing pagefor your product
• Create waitlist records

For example, here's a great real-world example of successful entrepreneur Glen Allsop of Detailed.com trying out an online SEO plan course idea using the waitlist. On his landing page he comments that the course has ended and gives 16 convincing testimonials from people who have attended previous editions. For those who didn't make it on time, Glen suggests getting on the waiting list.

It's a great way to kickstart your next product or service without actually building it. You can test the idea, see if there's interest, and decide if it's worth developing and launching based on how many people have indicated their willingness to try it.

Also, don't forget to pay close attention to the feedback you get from your early adopters. You can follow our steps andmake a chatbotfor your newly created landing page to help you gather feedback from your audience and customers. This is another great way to check if the product or service you are offering lives up to your expectations and what needs to be improved.

One of the most important things aspiring entrepreneurs can do is surround themselves with more experienced entrepreneurs. In fact, research shows thatBusinesses served grow 3.5 times faster and can raise 7 times more money.

That's pretty impressive, isn't it?

At Tidio we were lucky to find people who believed in our project and continue to support us with their knowledge.

There are several ways to find mentors for your projects:

• Networking-Eventos der Branche
• Linked and Twitter
• Platforms like GrowthMentor.com
• Development centers for small businesses.
• The startup incubator

If you decide to finance your startup, you can also try contacting angel investors, who often become advisors to the companies they choose to finance.

• Can you avoid making silly mistakes?
• You save time
• You can validate their ideas (how often do we stubbornly go ahead with an idea that we thought was a good one but has been totally invalidated?)
• They are not moved by emotions, but by numbers.
• You can identify yourself better and have access to interesting people

This is what Aditya Sheth didfriendship's Dayhas to say about connecting with mentors and potential partners.

"I've never strayed from itwith cold mailgreat mentors and just finding and talking to interesting people to learn from. It allowed me to connect with amazing company founders like Twitter, Kettle & Fire, etc. and some of my favorite authors and bloggers. It also allowed me to scale my own personal network and you know how they say "your network is your asset". Good is true.

Remember it:If you want to find great mentors or build amazing relationships, send them a cold message or email. Ask him for advice. People don't like to be sold, but they love to give advice."

Bonus Tip #1:You can use email locators likeVoilaNorbertto find email addresses in the URL of any website.

Bonus Tip #2:You can also collect LinkedIn email addresses by simply going to "Contact Information" for the people you want to contact, e.g. B. Their mentors.

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The issue of recruitment is complex. Every entrepreneur I've ever met has a different idea of ​​what their dream team would look like. However, one thing is universal: the recipe for success is to hire competent people who are willing to learn and commit.

In our case, once we decided that starting a live chat solution was the way to go, we were just four passionate people putting in long hours to make things work. In fact, we were able to build a Tidio live chat prototype in 2 weeks and then release it to the world. The product was starting to get noticed, and as demand grew, we had to work harder to improve it.

With over 140,000 unique users now, we've recruited 54 talented people who work hard every day to make Tidio the #1 customer engagement and marketing automation solution for small businesses.

• If you want to find the right people, create a perfectcandidate profile
• Use word of mouth to find good candidates and save time and money posting jobs
• Hire multi-skilled people so they can be responsible for multiple areas
• Tune in to the candidate's attitude and willingness to learn (consult professional development through courses, conferences, etc.).
• From the beginning, make people feel valued, not just in monetary terms, but also in the form of recognition for their work. Observe his success, praise him.

See what Emil Hajric, CEO ofhelp juicesays about the onboarding process for new employees.

“One thing to keep in mind is that no matter how motivated, skilled, and committed an individual employee is, it usually takes time, an understanding of your organization's various work processes, and a sense of ownership before that employee reaches their full potential. to his organization.

it's hereemployee onboardingHis new employee made a lasting impression on him so he was hired. So he makes sure to reciprocate by making his new employee feel welcome and part of the team.

This way, you can minimize the time it takes for new hires to align with your company's overall culture, vision, and mission. This, in turn, translates into better employee engagement and productivity, as well as the ability to retain new hires for the long term.”

Bonus Tip #1:you can use oneEmployee feedback toolto automate the peer feedback process and collect suggestions and ideas in one organized place.

Bonus Tip #2:Collect feedback from employees during the onboarding process, as this will not only help improve the process for future hires, but it will also make current employees feel valued early on by showing that you care about their opinion.

Creating a platform for your users to raise concerns, ask questions, or provide feedback is crucial if you want your customers to remain loyal.your brand🇧🇷 Building a community from scratch is also a good idea if you want to start building an email list.

At Tidio we have created a Facebook group called Tidio Community where we actively interact with our users. This group has helped us strengthen our relationship with our users and gain a better perspective of what our audience expects from our product.

Ideally, you should create a pool on your own platform to avoid dependency on third parties. However, this can be expensive if you are short on cash.

• the facebook group
• LinkedIn Group
• day off
• Reddit
• twittear chats

We are not the only ones who created a platform to give voice and support to our users. This is what Jack Paxton, co-founder of VYPER, had to say about building a community.

• offer help
• Let them know about new products and resources.
• Offer advice and value through blog posts.
• Consider feedback from group users

Today, that group has grown into a powerful community made up of people who share a common interest in our brand. Having a community focused on your brand is crucial when launching a startup. This community can support your business in the early stages.

To get your community involved,Create charts to sharealong with various prompts is a great way to start conversations with everyone in your group. Consider a #TipTuesday or #FeedbackFriday to get members talking.

As mentioned above, it's also important to start building an email subscriber list right away. Collecting leads is an important part of yourssales funnel.

Building a community is also great for strengthening your brand. A strong brand is what can make or break your business. See what Irina Weber, brand manager, inSE Classificationdice:

Your brand is much more than your physical being. It's important to get them to think or feel a certain way when they interact with your brand.

Brand positioning is what you need to focus on to make a lasting impression on people and convert them into potential customers.

If your customers feel an emotional connection to your brand, you have a good chance of remembering it and talking about it with others. It is a subconscious effect, but very important.

It is common for many founders with an IT background to forget the importance of marketing for success. It doesn't matter how good your product is if people don't know about it.

Don't fall into the trap of trying to do everything orspend a lot of money on advertising🇧🇷 Instead, think of clever ways to promote yourself, especially if you are self-taught.

One of the ideas that does not require funding is to partner with other small businesses that are not direct competitors. This works great for SaaS companies, including Tidio.

This is what entrepreneur and founder Stefan Dobois ofsearch everywheresays about it.

“With so many players vying for their audience's attention, it's hard for small businesses to make their voices heard online.

• Post to a lookalike audience
• no competitor
• Use similar marketing and advertising channels

Form a closed community with these companies to promote each other, engage in joint marketing campaigns, and build long-term relationships.

An example is B2B Bloggers Boost Group. It's a Facebook group created by a small software provider (Survey Anyplace).

The community is made up of content managers from similar businesses who help each other create and mention content.

To demonstrate the efficiency of such a solution, these are the SEO results we got after months of collaboration.”

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Impressive, isn't it?

• start a blogand optimize your content marketing for SEO (focus heavily on investing in SEO and building links to your content and landing pages). You can post less content as long as it is SEO optimized and has the potential to drive free organic traffic.
• Just test SEM (ads) to see which keywords have the potential to drive qualified leads and conversions.
• If possible, use free tools. Ask for discounts, negotiate.
• consideraffiliate marketingor a referral program to gain more traction.
• Network and connect with industry experts in Facebook and Slack groups. Please give your opinion and advice.
• Install live chat and chatbots to automate communication with your website visitors and your sales processes. Focus on delivering the bestCustomer servicepossible experience.
• Monitor all marketing changes and their impact on your results.
• Use different variants ofcold emailsto present your products to your audience. See what works best.
• Don't focus on social media unless you're sure you'll bring in customers (social media reach is thin these days and you have to spend money on ads to make an impact).

An entrepreneurial friend, Darren Foong, a growth manager atRecommendationCandyy candy bar dice:

Another aspect of smart marketing is figuring out where the leverage is. Do the smart work and scale the hard work.

Let's take content as an example. As a new business, you need to experiment and find out what works best for your audience across all of your channels: what content works for SEO, newsletters, product copy, social channels, etc.

You will probably have to do most of the research and writing from day one; that's the hard work, but the smart work is figuring out what works.

Once you figure out what works, the equation changes. You can go by topic or research and leave writing to part-timers or new hires—people who can write but still don't understand your pitch or your clients.

We used to write every word on itCandyBar.co🇧🇷 That was not lasting. Now we focus on knowing what our clients want, writing explicit summaries and mentoring the best writers in creating those articles. Do the smart work and then you can scale the hard work with people.

As an entrepreneur, it is crucial to have at least a basic understanding of finance and accounting. In addition to tracking your sales, you should pay attention to the following metrics:

• CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
• LTV (Lifetime Value)
• MAU (monthly active users)
• Abandonment rate (and retention rate)

It is not only recommended, it is necessary. The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones obsessed with numbers. A common mistake is to "go with your gut" when all you have to do is math. Always think logically, not emotionally.

This is especially important for startup founders trying to get funding. These are the metrics that investors will carefully monitor before making the decision to lend you their money.

Many founders are motivated by emotion instead of numbers, and that ruins their business. But investors want you to quantify your potential success: they want to see real numbers to help them predict the future of their company. This is especially important when deciding on yoursPrices for placing strategy.

If something costs you more than it brings in, be bold and kill your loved ones (cut your losses even if it's something you personally love about your company/product).

Also, hire a CFO as soon as you can afford it, but make all hiring decisions slowly and wisely so you don't spend money on the wrong people.

In the mainstream, starting and launching a startup should be fun, exciting, and hugely rewarding. Yes, there will be challenges along the way, and yes, not all startups make it. But if you use the tips in this article and get it right, there's no reason your validated idea can't rise to the top.

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