Leyla Bonilla's List: Negocios

Hay dos preguntas que los VC preguntan que no debes responder: “¿Con quién más has hablado?” y “¿Cuánto buscas recaudar?”

Los VC no esperan que respondas a la primera pregunta. Sólo la preguntan por si acaso. Sí parecen esperar que respondas la segunda pregunta. Pero no creo que tengas que decirles un número.

5. Se independiente.

Un startup con un par de fundadores de veinti tantos años tienen gastos tan bajos que con sólo USD2.000 mensuales ya tendrían rentabilidad.

5. Invest in yourself

Running your own business is risky. It's also one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom. Start a side-project in the evening while you keep your W-2 job.

6. Think Long-Term

You don't need to check your investments every week. A quarterly checkup is a good idea.

8. Invest Like a Robot

Automation, automation, automation. Set up all your investments to get deducted automatically from your paycheck or your bank account. If it's not automatic you'll make excuses and not put away as much as you should.

9. If You Don't Understand It, Don't Invest In It

Complex options, annuities, oil wells, currency, any "investment" that you don't understand completely should be avoided.

Let me tell you a story. We needed some shirts for a trade
show. I called up Lands’ End and ordered two dozen, using the same logo design we
had used for some knapsacks we bought earlier.

When the shirts arrived, to our dismay, you couldn’t read the
logo.

It turns out that the knapsacks were brighter than the polo
shirts. The thread color that looked good on the knapsacks was too dark to read
on the shirts.

I called up Lands’ End. As usual, a human answered the phone
even before it started ringing. I’m pretty sure that they have a system
where the next agent in the queue is told to standby, so customers don’t
even have to wait one ringy-dingy
before they’re talking to a human.

I explained that I screwed up.

They said, “Don’t worry. You can return those for a full
credit, and we’ll redo the shirts with a different color thread.”

I said, “The trade show is in two days.”

They said they would Fedex me a new box of shirts and I’d
have it tomorrow. I could return the old shirts at my convenience.

“It still doesn’t work?” he asked. “Let me see.”

He looked at it.

I was sputtering, trying to figure out how best to express
my rage at being forced to spend the morning going back and forth.

“Ah. It’s my fault,” he said.

And suddenly, I wasn’t mad at all.

Mysteriously, the words “it’s my fault” completely defused
me. That was all it took.

The solution is to memorize some key phrases, and practice
saying them, so that when you need to say them, you can forget your
testosterone and make a customer happy.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t accept your money. The meal’s on me.”

“That’s terrible, please tell me what happened so I can make
sure it never happens again.”

Set Up a PPC Campaign

Pay-Per-Click advertising is capable of giving you an outstanding return on your advertising investment.

Build a Free WordPress Theme

Designing and distributing a free WordPress theme can bring tons of links and traffic to your site

Design Icons to Give Away

There are a number of skilled graphic designers that offer free downloads of icon sets that they have developed.

Work on Sites that You Own

You may already have some sites of your own that are currently, or have the potential to, produce income

Catch Up On Paperwork

The details and finances of freelancing can be a real headache. Not many of us like dealing with invoices and taxes, but we still have to do it.

Do Some Work for a Non-Profit

If you’re looking for a chance to use your skills for good while you don’t have a busy schedule full of client work, consider doing some work for a non-profit organization for free or at a low cost.

Take a Vacation!

If you have some down time in your client work, enjoy it!

How many potential customers are there?

There's no point selling a product if there are only a handful of people interested. How big is the group of people who might potentially buy from you?

What does your company look like in 1, 3, and 5 years?

Answer this quickly. It's okay to "dream" a bit here.

4a. How much money will it cost to make your product or provide your service?

Write down all the things you might have to pay for while launching or running your business.

Your expenses will fall into three categories: fixed expenses, variable expenses, and capital expenses.

How much do you have to charge to earn a profit?

For bloggers, how much does it cost you monthly to run your blog? In addition to the hard costs (hosting), don't forget to count the time involved. How much would you like to earn each month? That number plus your expenses is your target sales volume.