Experiences and lessons of starting a business

Pay attention to project experience accumulation

At the beginning of your business, you must pay attention to your own project experience accumulation, which is the capital for negotiating orders and the basis for customers to trust you.

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Make a team building plan

Although it is a start-up, team building cannot be sloppy. Team is the guarantee to ensure the normal development of business, and team building scheme is the premise of implementation.

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Develop a high-goal strategy

In the initial stage of starting a business, we should not always pursue stability, but adopt high-goal strategies to boost team morale and help the team grow better.

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Workflow standardization

Standardized workflow can not only restrain some random behaviors of employees, but also show a good corporate image to the outside world, which is also very beneficial to the future development of startup companies.

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Attach importance to the sense of team ceremony

Whether in life or work, having a certain sense of ceremony can drive the positive behavior of the team and boost the overall morale of the team, which is also very beneficial to the development of startup companies.

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For a startup company, if it wants to be truly stable, it should not only pay attention to market expansion, but also the internal management of the team is very important. Only by synchronous development can we ensure the continuous improvement of our business in the process of both internal and external repair.

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In our pleasant communication, we shared and summarized the different ways of starting a second business and starting a first business from the perspective of our own experience.

1. Skip the trial-and-error link and use other people's experience.

In the eyes of first-time entrepreneurs, they will think that every new situation is unique to them, and they should constantly try and make mistakes to solve all kinds of problems they need to face.

However, for second-time entrepreneurs, they know that many people have actually experienced these "unique" situations. Therefore, they would rather spend time looking for such people to help them solve their problems than try and make mistakes painfully and inefficiently.

In short, second-time entrepreneurs are good at using other people's brains.

Don't care too much about all the details.

For those who start a business for the first time, after facing all kinds of problems, they all hope to solve these problems by themselves. However, this practice may sometimes make them feel at a loss and affect their work efficiency.

Second-time entrepreneurs will comprehensively consider who is the most suitable to solve a problem except themselves, and then authorize the other party to solve it. They will put their energy into dealing with and solving bigger problems.

3. Seek more financing

For the first time, entrepreneurs feel satisfied after financing is enough.

But for the second-time entrepreneurs, they know that the company may experience more difficult situations and need more funds than the financial budget. So they will try their best to seek more financing.

4. Optimize the speed and efficiency of financing

For the first time, entrepreneurs will think that the most important thing in financing is valuation. Therefore, they often invest too much in this area, which eventually leads to the delay in financing, and it is too late to make sure. In the end, good investors may choose to withdraw their funds.

Second-time entrepreneurs clearly realize the importance of time in financing, and will use time to optimize their financing links, find the most suitable investors, and make quick and efficient choices under high valuation.

5. Rethink the strategy and look at the business outside the framework.

For first-time entrepreneurs, most of them will only seriously think about their business strategies before starting a business. After the establishment of the company, most of the time was spent dealing with the daily operation-related work, and there was little time to review and reflect on its own business strategy.

If you are always immersed in the internal development of the company, it is difficult to look at the development of the company from the perspective of a third party in another way.

For the second-time entrepreneurs, they clearly realize that the success of any investment is inseparable from the strategy behind it. Therefore, they will deliberately spend time looking at their business outside the framework (instead of always immersed in their strategic framework), constantly reflect on their business strategies, and apply their newly learned knowledge to them.

6. Don't recruit employees at will.

For those who start a business for the first time, they may choose one or two of the four or five job seekers for an interview, and then choose the most suitable candidate.

But for the second-time entrepreneurs, they can realize that the quality of employees will directly affect the growth of the company. Therefore, they will spare no effort to avoid hiring unsuitable candidates, and at the same time, they will set up a professional recruitment process, which also includes multiple links and interview processes.

Excellent human resource managers are usually one of the earliest people they recruit. For such a position, they usually choose the best candidate from at least 50 candidates.

7. Recruit powerful representatives

For the first time, entrepreneurs will regard themselves as the core of the company. He did everything himself and must get his final approval.

Everyone who starts a second business knows that someone must support his work, and it is best to recruit an effective deputy to help him manage his daily work. They know that anyone with foresight needs a deputy to assist them in their work.

8. In the growth stage, hire employees with relevant experience.

First-time entrepreneurs like to hire candidates who are enthusiastic, clear-cut and suitable for corporate culture, but their shortcoming may be their lack of relevant work experience.

Second-time entrepreneurs will also pay attention to these aspects, but they can also realize that core professional skills and related experience can play a vital role when the company is in the growth stage. Therefore, they will give priority to hiring people with relevant experience to achieve a balance between human growth and promotion within the company.

9. Provide relevant training and guidance for employees.

For first-time entrepreneurs, the purpose of recruiting employees is to hope that they can help solve problems.

But for those who start their own businesses for the second time, what they understand is that whether employees can solve problems is also the responsibility of the company. Therefore, they will provide employees with professional training and guidance programs and invest in them in the hope that they will help the company solve more problems.

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10. Managing corporate culture through values

People who start a business for the first time hardly discuss the corporate values clearly, so they basically let the corporate culture develop freely.

However, the second-time entrepreneurs have made clear the company's values, mission and vision from the first day of starting their business again. This is a way for them to provide clear guidance within the company, and at the same time, they can actively filter out inappropriate candidates when recruiting employees. In short, second-time entrepreneurs will actively manage their corporate culture.

1 1. Keep communication with consumers.

For the first time, entrepreneurs will do their own market research at the beginning of their business, and then there will be no more.

Second-time entrepreneurs know that maintaining communication with consumers at any time is an indispensable and correct way to create explosive products. They will deeply understand this fact, always maintain direct communication with consumers, and root this practice in the company's DNA.

12. Learn to manage or not manage.

Entrepreneurs don't understand the difference between entrepreneurs and managers for the first time, and may play two roles at the same time.

Everyone who starts a second business knows that excellent entrepreneurs and managers actually have different skills. They either learn management skills or recruit excellent managers.

13. Adhere to the employee first

In the minds of first-time entrepreneurs, if you want to order by importance, it must be investors first, followed by consumers, and finally employees.

But the ranking of second-time entrepreneurs is just the opposite, and they will put their employees first. They know that only when employees are happy can they please consumers and create greater value for investors.

14. Pay attention to and understand KPI.

People who start a business for the first time may set a series of KPIs for themselves in the early stage, but in fact they often act on instinct and don't think about KPIs.

However, for the second-time entrepreneurs, although they can also realize the importance of intuition, they will also help them understand the company's operation by paying attention to the data information related to KPI, so as to make necessary adjustments.

15. Regularly review the economic benefits of this unit.

For first-time entrepreneurs, they will calculate the lifetime value of customers or obtain unit economic benefits such as customer costs through a small number of user groups, thus realizing seed round financing. Later, they may forget.

Everyone who starts a second venture knows that unit economic benefits can affect the company's scale and profit growth. Therefore, they will often carefully review the economic benefits of their own units and make necessary adjustments.

16. Do a good job in basic management

People who start a business for the first time may try various pseudo-management strategies similar to "Hoacracy" because of meetings or recommendations from consultants.

Second-time entrepreneurs will remain skeptical when faced with some "novel" management methods. They usually do a good job in daily basic management through correct and organized management methods. They understand that their resources are limited, so they will focus on making creative products and services instead of exploring future work and management models.

17. Good memory is better than bad written memory.

For the first time, entrepreneurs will think that the company's internal processes are very bureaucratic and will only make employees feel pain and disgust.

Second-time entrepreneurs believe that proper internal management process is very necessary, and they will also write down important things in their daily work. These practices can ensure the clarity and transparency of organizational structure and daily operation and management, which is also the prerequisite for achieving rapid growth.

18. Do less and think more

For the first time, entrepreneurs hope to accomplish as many things as possible in the shortest time, and often "drive the team crazy".

People who start a second business will do less and get more. They usually do things more calmly and spend time thinking about their real strengths instead of seizing opportunities.

19. Relax more.

For first-time entrepreneurs, if the most important members of the team don't want to work overtime on weekends, or investors withdraw their funds, they will go crazy.

But for the second-time entrepreneurs, these things have become commonplace in their eyes. They are confident that things can be solved in the end, and at the same time, they should relax and concentrate on solving the problems they encounter.