After attending an event packed with the UK's best
entrepreneurs, managing director of Make It Cheaper, Jonathan Elliot, came away
believing there are three boxes to tick if you want to run a
successful business.
A few weeks ago I was invited to Sir Richard
Branson's house because Make It Cheaper is currently one of the
UK's Fast Track 100 companies (at number 39 if you're
interested). My fellow guests were all owners and directors of
businesses on that list.
Among the people I encountered that day were
guest speakers Richard Reed, Michael Acton Smith and Nick
Robertson, who told the success stories of their respective
companies Innocent Drinks, Mind Candy and ASOS. They have overcome
all sorts of different challenges to get where they are today - but
it struck me that they all referred (or at least alluded) to three
major principles that any aspiring entrepreneur would be wise to
consider.
The first of these is about mission and vision -
and to get this right you need to probe away at what your business
plans to do, what it stands for and how it's going to achieve its
goals. It might seem like asking these questions repeatedly will
result in some kind of existential crisis, but actually the effect
is quite the opposite. A firm sense of mission and vision brings
your business to life - it gives you a chance to cultivate a
culture in which staff are fully engaged and working towards a
common purpose. The way you position the company to your team will
almost certainly affect the way you are perceived externally, as
it's a flawed idea to market yourself as someone you're not - the
savvy British public will be onto you in a flash.
The second thing to strive for, in simple terms,
is something really good about your product or service -
that one thing that makes it different from anything else out
there. ASOS were the first online fashion store to offer free
returns. At Make It Cheaper we have a no-quibbles savings
guarantee. Spend time finding that unique quality - you can't rely
solely on your own faith that you can do something better than your
competitors. If you offer something that is genuinely good, you can
save a packet on above-the-line advertising because your customers
will advocate your company and effectively do your promotion for
you.
The final piece of advice that stood out is to
make sure you take the time to hire the right staff. Look at the
example of online giants Google, who are notoriously rigorous about
their recruitment process - there's even a book on the subject
that's filled with mind-bending sample interview questions. You
might not feel that you have to go to quite the same lengths as
Google, but give the process the rigour it deserves. Surrounding
yourself with the right people is a key ingredient to the success
of any new business venture.
In association with
To find out how you save money on your utiltity bills,
call Make It Cheaper for a free consultation. It takes just a few
minutes, but could save your business thousands. Click here for more
information.