How do I get my first 100 customers? Start-up founders and marketeers I have coached and advised over the years have asked themselves this same question time and again. This article is the first one in a five part series summarizing the lessons I have learned with and from my entrepreneurial advisees and coachees as they traveled through their first 100 customers journey.
The series (published weekly over the next 5 weeks) will include the following parts:
Establish What Your Business Stands For
Understand Your Potential Customers
Nail your Products
Spread the Word: Marketing
Perfect Customer Service
Let’s get started with Part 1: Establish What Your Business Stands For
Most startups have a compelling story and passionate founders who are the protagonists of that story. It usually goes like this: It is a moment in time and they are needing / wanting / seeking something. They identify a gap, a missing step when they experience a blocker between themselves and what they are needing / wanting / seeking. They are frustrated and want to come up with a solution which is the impetus for starting a business. A light bulb moment strikes - a business idea occurs to them. They get excited about it. They tell their friends. They try a thing or two. They go for it. That is the beginning of their story - the "how it all began". The rest is history.
It might be that they had corporate jobs and during the regular work day, they came across something that didn’t sit well with them so they created their own business solving that very problem. It might be that they came across a hurdle in their personal lives and wanted to solve that problem by filling in a gap in the market with their business / organization. Whatever the trigger may be, it reflects the founders’ character, experience, and desire for change — and as such, sets the tone for the company’s identity and future outlook.
Some business story examples are:
MailChimp: Ben Chestnut was interning at an appliance company as a designer in the 1990s and he was not really feeling it. He thought he might try designing on the internet - a new and novel idea at the time. He got together with two partners to found a web design company to design for the web. While successful, it did not turn out to be the groundbreaking change the founders thought it would signify. Interestingly, however, the email marketing service they had included in the offering, was getting more and more traction, making it the star attraction of the company as opposed to the side add-on they had initially envisioned it would be. They decided in 2007 they would single this service out and double down on it - they called it Mailchimp, and it took off from then on.
TaskRabbit: One night in Boston, Leah Solivan ran out of dog food for her 100-pound yellow lab, Kobe. She and her boyfriend had other commitments that night. It was snowy and cold. The closest store was pretty far from the house and from where they were invited for dinner. She wondered: "Shouldn’t I be able to get Kobe food without having to go to the store myself, especially if I am willing to pay a premium? There has got to be someone in the neighborhood looking to make some extra cash, someone who doesn’t have any plans tonight, who would not mind a run to the store for the right amount of compensation." That was the origin of TaskRabbit, an online errand service that matches users with “taskers” to do deliveries and other chores.
Airbnb: In 2008, Joe Gebbia’s rent had just gone up by 25% and he did not have a full time job. He and his friend Brian Chesky were surfing on the internet and came across an industrial design conference to be held in San Francisco a couple of weeks out. They were able to sign up for the conference but they saw that the hotels in SF were all sold out. Luckily for them, they already lived in San Francisco and did not need room and board. Many other participants, on the other hand, did. Joe and Brian thought for the right price, they would be able to rent out space in their apartment, pull out their air mattress, pick up participants from the airport, give them tips about tourism in San Francisco and even serve breakfast as an added touch. They quickly designed www.airbedandbreakfast.com and advertised it to the conference attendees. Seeing the demand, they decided this would be their future business.
Houzz: Adi Tartako and her husband had just moved to the Bay Area and bought a house that needed fixing and upping! As Adi looked at hiring professionals to do various jobs, she found it very challenging to understand the needs, the possibilities, the considerations, the costs associated, the timeline estimates, etc. Talking to others in her community and neighborhood, many of them faced the same challenges and frustrations. She decided they would benefit from a site where users could share and get ideas for home improvement and connect with industry professionals who could showcase and transparently share their work. While initially they had no intention to quit their corporate jobs that provided them with enough satisfaction, stability, and visa sponsorship, when she saw it took off like they would have never expected, Adi decided to quit her finance career and focus on expanding Houzz.
To craft your company story and the fundamentals of your brand identity, ask yourself and your founding team the following questions:
What was the pain point / the problem statement?
How is your business solving the pain point / the problem statement? i.e. what is the value proposition?
What is your business’ USP (Unique Selling Point)? i.e. how is your business different than others? What is different about YOU? About YOUR brand?
For more tips on how to tell a compelling business story, you can check out my blog post about the power of storytelling and the Leadrise storytelling templates worksheet.
Once you do the work on the above, the next step is to work on your brand strategy. Your brand is arguably the most important intangible asset of your business. It represents the business and is the image your clients visualize when they think of your business. It is, therefore, imperative that you invest a significant amount of time and energy into creating a brand strategy that truly represents what you stand for. I find that brand strategy often tends to be left behind in the hustle and bustle of the everyday life of an entrepreneur, though it is one of those important (though seemingly not urgent) pieces of work that, if prioritized, can connect consumer needs and emotions with the business offering leading to more customers with higher LTV (Life Time Value).
Brand strategy is comprised of the following elements:
Mission Statement
What (Purpose)
Why (Reason for Existence)
How (Real Life Application)
Vision Statement
Long-term Goals
Aspirations and Ambitions
Impact
Core Values
Values the company embodies
How it operates
How it interacts with the world
Brand Identity
Brand Name
Brand Image
Brand Association / Tagline
MISSION STATEMENT:
A good mission statement describes:
what a company/organization does (purpose),
why it does what it does (reason for existence),
how it does what it does (real life application)
in a clear and concise manner.
Your mission statement tells your potential customers what to expect from your business and serves as a marketing tool that explains to the world what you are here to achieve. The mission statement’s benefits extend beyond external branding, in that it also is a source of motivation and inspiration for employees, partners, and investors. Not only does it provide focus, direction, and meaning to the workforce, but it can also be grounding for founders. Life in a startup can be hectic and daily operations can take over sometimes. That is understandable and comes with the territory! That said, some of the most laser-visioned and grounded founders and CxOs I know intentionally carve out time in the calendar to revisit their mission, vision statement as well as values often as a reflective exercise. A yoga studio owner I work with told me once that when it felt like the ground was shaking during the pandemic, she and her partner went back to their mission statement and thought how else (other than in-person classes in the studio) they can fulfill that mission.
To compose your mission statement, ask these questions:
What is our overarching purpose as a company?
What is the essence of what we are trying to achieve?
How are we achieving our purpose?
How are we adding value to the world?
Why do we exist?
Why are we unique?
Some mission statement examples are:
Houzz: Deliver the best technology, user experience and products for home remodeling and design.
Nike: Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. (*If you have a body, you are an athlete.)
Starbucks: Inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.
Microsoft: Empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.
Lego: Inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.
You can download the Leadrise Mission Statement worksheet for the full exercise.
VISION STATEMENT:
A vision statement complements but is separate to the mission statement in that it is future-oriented and inspirational. It describes the company’s
long term goals,
aspirations and ambitions, and
the future impact it intends to drive.
Your vision statement tells the world what you have set out to achieve, gives them an idea of the future you want to create and live in. Just like the mission statement, it is a connection point with your potential customers and target audience at large, as well as an engagement tool for your employees, partners, advisors, and investors. A solid vision statement is especially crucial for a start-up as it is what can hold founders and teams together and provide morale when times are hard and traction is less than ideal. It is also a point of attraction for potential investors and advisors, and as such an essential element of the business plan and pitch deck. A tech start-up founder I advise shared with me that they were always able to draw people in with their 4 word vision at the beginning of a pitch - people wanted to partner, advise, and invest because they believed in the vision. The details that came after were useful and complementary of course, but the vision statement had already done 85% of the convincing.
Your vision for the future needs to be clear, ambitious, and inspirational so people can easily understand and rally for it. James Collins and Jerry Porras share the results of their research in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. that companies with a clear vision have outperformed competitors by a factor of 12 since 1925. In the same vein, Forbes research determines that employees who find their company’s vision to be meaningful have average engagement scores of 68%. While the average for those who don’t is just 16%.
To compose your vision statement, ask yourself and your team these questions and jot down the answers, keywords, common themes on a whiteboard / piece of paper / post-its / vision board:
What are our long term goals?
What role do we want to play in the world?
What do we aspire towards?
What will change in the world when we are successful?
What kind of future do we want to live in?
Where do we see our target audience in 10 years?
What will human lives look like when we successfully deliver?
And then what? (ask this question three or four times until you get to the ‘dream state’, the ‘utopia’)
When we appear on magazine covers in the future, what will the headlines say? What amazing thing(s) will we have done?
Some vision statement examples are:
Ikea: Create a better everyday life for the many people
Disney: Make people happy
TED: Spread Ideas
NASA: Explore the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all.
Patagonia: Save our home planet.
You can download the Leadrise Vision Statement worksheet for the full exercise.
CORE VALUES:
Core values are a collection of inherent beliefs, philosophies, and principles that serve as guidance for the company's actions, as well as set the tone for the company's culture and personality. Much like the mission and vision statements, core values connect employees, define the brand, and encourage customers, partners, investors to be an advocate for the company.
Once established, core values can help businesses make future decisions and keep everyone accountable, particularly during tough times. A foundational building block for the company, core values are also helpful in recruiting, interviewing and hiring the right talent to maintain and build on a healthy culture. They help customers trust and align to the company's guidelines, encouraging loyalty and advocacy.
To arrive at your company values, ask yourself and your team these questions and jot down the answers, keywords, common themes on a whiteboard / piece of paper / brainstorm board:
What values do we stand by no matter what?
What is important for us as the founders / leadership?
What do we stand for?
What is the driving force behind your startup?
What can we not live without?
What are our must haves?
What impact do we want to drive in the world?
What frustrates us about the world today?
What are the founders' personal values?
To further dig into your values, you can check out the Leadrise Coaching values worksheet
Some examples of company values are:
Apple: Accessibility, Education, Environment, Inclusion and diversity, Privacy, Supplier responsibility
Adidas: Confidence, Collaboration, Creativity
Lego: Imagination, Creativity, Fun, Learning, Caring, Quality
Affirm: Honesty, Transparency, Putting people first
Columbia: Enjoy an Active Life, Compete to Win, Relentless Improvement, Culture of Honesty, Respect & Trust, Doing the Right Thing for Consumers, Customers, Employees, the Company & our Communities
BRAND IDENTITY:
Once you have settled on your company mission and vision as well as written your brand story, the last important step towards establishing what your business stands for is to create the right brand identity. Having a relevant, appropriate, and fitting (to you!) brand name is important in creating strong brand recall and awareness, increasing market exposure, as well as building trust with your target audience.
Founders sometimes spend months trying to land the right name for their business. They hire professionals, ask their friends and family, stress test options, obsess over it day and night. While it's advised that you spend ample time and headspace in finding the brand name that works for you (brainstorming with your team or trusted advisors, as well as hiring professionals are all great pathways into finding the right brand name too), it's important to remember that in the end what matters is not what the brand is as much as your ownership of it / story behind it. As long as it makes sense to you and it's something you can stand behind, something you can own when telling your story, that's really all that matters - you're all set!
Here are some questions that might help you stress test your options for a brand name:
What do(es) the word(s) mean?
How do(es) the word(s) relate to and align with the brand vision?
What is the story behind the word(s)? How does it fit with your overall company / brand narrative?
How easy is it to pronounce, spell, and recall?
(If relevant e.g. if you aim to be global) Is it easy to translate to other languages / cultures? Does it mean anything you don't want it to mean in other languages?
Are there any negative associations with the name?
Are there any trademarks associated with the name?
Is there availability online for the name? (e.g. domain, social media pages, etc.)
Following the brand name, you want to look at other visuals that will constitute your brand book: the logo, fonts, color palette, slogan) You want your brand visuals to be simple, sticky, memorable, sleek, and once again, representative of your brand identity!
Here are some questions you might ask when designing the brand book:
What best represents the mission, vision, and values of the company?
What fits into the brand story and identity?
Which colors best represent your brand?
Do your logo and fonts pass the squint test?
Does your logo resemble a design or gimmick?
What are some associations people make with the brand when they see your logo / fonts / color pallette? (e.g. Google's colorful logo might be associated with 'fun')
Is the brand collateral timeless?
Some great examples include the Apple logo, red color associated with Coca-Cola, Disneyland's famous tagline "Happiest Place on Earth", and Twitter's blue bird.
Congratulations on establishing what your business stands for! Next week, I will be back with a piece about understanding your potential customers - stay tuned!
Connect with me at leadrisecoaching@gmail.com if you have any questions / comments / experiences you would like to share on getting your first 100 customers!
#first100customers #earlyadopters #chasm #missionstatement #visionstatement #brandidentity #brandstory #corevalues #startups #entrepreneurship
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