Many of us believe that to start our own business, we need a huge capital investment. We think we need enough money to fit out a hair salon, a day spa, café, or a retail space.
And, if you watch Shark Tank, this idea may be reinforced every week!
However, investing large amounts of money before testing your products and concepts is a risky strategy! And, even worse, if you have found a venture capitalist to invest in your business, you are now playing with someone else’s money to test your ideas.
Yet many of our business ideas can be tested with minimal upfront investment. And, let’s be honest, they probably should be tested that way!
As I speak to business owners of large and small businesses, I have found the model of massive upfront capital investment is not common. In fact, most businesses find a way to start small.
Tony Nash, CEO of Booktopia, started Booktopia on a budget of $10 per day.
Toni Moran, Director of Flavours of the Valley, started cooking classes in her family kitchen.
A highly successful example on Shark Tank was ‘Those Girls’. Lauren and Elena tested their range of iced teas at markets, including Melbourne’s iconic Queen Victoria Market. They demonstrated demand for their product, received feedback on their product, refined their offering, and demonstrated that their idea was profitable. Only then did they seek external investment to grow their business—and they were successful in securing it.
(And I just read on their website that they can be found at the Queen Victoria Night Market in Melbourne on Wednesdays from 5pm – 10pm – and you can now buy Hot Apple Cider! Sounds like my cup of tea!)
Another great example from my local area is Two Birds Brewing. Jayne Lewis and Danielle Allen commenced Two Birds Brewing in June 2011. They first worked with a brewery based in Geelong to produce and refine their beer recipes. They travelled Australia attending nearly every beer festival, event and tasting to share their beers with eager enthusiasts.
Three years after launching their beer products, they opened their own brewery in my local area—on Hall Street, Newport in Melbourne. This required a huge capital investment, but again, they only made this investment after developing and trialling their products, and seeing demand for them.
(Even though I’m not a beer drinker, I dropped into their brewery last Friday night and it is beautiful! They have been very savvy with their design and construction of the brewery. And the lime curd donuts were amazing!!)
So, next time you’re imagining how to build your business empire, think about how you can test your ideas by starting small.
Here's an opportunity to practice your ‘start small’ thinking right now! A friend of mine is a beauty therapist who is passionate about health and wellbeing, fitness and relaxation therapies. She has big dreams—and would love to start working towards them.
What ‘start small’ ideas could you suggest? Have you noticed any gaps in the beauty therapy market? In the health and wellness market? In the personal training market?
Have you ever thought ‘I wish my local day spa would ….’ Or ‘I wish I could get a massage ….’ Or 'I wish my personal trainer would...'
Enter your ideas in the comment field below!
Comments
Thank you for your feedback! The donuts were very good!
I'll think more on time management! I would say I used to be the queen of time management - a very structured, list-driven, project-focused person - but more recently I've moved away from that and being more 'intuitive' about saying 'if it's important, I will make time to do it' And if it's important, I will want to focus my energy on that.
I've found having a big picture 'theme' and business objective that I'm working on keeps me moving in the right direction, rather than lists of actions. (Although if I have a big event, lists are good to make sure that everything gets done).
I probably used to get more done in my old style, but was I working on the most important things? I don't think so.
Some food for thought!
Erin
The advise all 3 women gave on time management was similar to what you wrote above, if it is important you will find the time. These women were doing all sorts of things like getting up at 5.30am to get 2 hours of poetry writing in before their kids got up to achieve their goals. I just couldn't imagine doing it, so maybe that is a tell tale sign that writing is just not that important to me right now.
Loving the variety of your blogs, they always offer something fresh and interesting. Good luck with everything. Regards, Bec
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!
And thank you for your lovely feedback.
Regarding the time management, I think definitely find time to make a start and see how it feels. Sometimes we need to make a start to get the momentum going!
I definitely found that with my website and with writing my book. Once I started, I couldn't stop. But the final stages require persistence, that's for sure.
All the best!
Erin