So you have started up

Firstly, congrats and give yourself a pat in the back for taking the plunge. You are an entrepreneur. You are now a part of a tribe that is exclusive. Well done in believing in yourself.

Here are a few pointers/questions that you can ask yourself or brainstorm with your founders that I am sure will give a very nice clarity with respect to the hows, whats and whys of your company. I am not going into investor relationships or raising funds. These will be purely for having to make your baby steps easy.

(I will be calling this company as Awesomesauce&Co throughout this essay)

1. What is Awesomesauce&Co for you? How do you want Awesomesauce&Co to be? When thinking of an answer don’t bring in your current product/service. Two years down the line Awesomesauce&Co might not be doing what it is doing now. When Nokia started out nobody would have thought they will make mobile phones. Identify one core value that you want in Awesomesauce&Co forever. This will help you to build peripherals around it. This is crucial in establishing the culture and values of Awesomesauce&Co which eventually leads to the kind of team you want to be with while building the future.

2. Do you have an elevator pitch for Awesomesauce&Co? This is the best exercise for identifying what you want to do with Awesomesauce&Co short term. When the founders brainstorm to create an elevator pitch for their company it is very difficult to come to a consensus. Fight and make sure all are in the same page. All founders must say the same words even when stopped at random and asked. Internalize it so much that you automatically start working for it.

3. What is the basic happy path for a customer in Awesomesauce&Co? This will help you identify core value (without any frills) you are providing to your customer. Example: I want to create an app that lets user book flight tickets. The app can have features that let user do so many things. Choose seat, choose class, upgrade.. But the basic happy path is “allow a traveler to book a flight ticket”. Find the simplest value that you offer. Make sure this is not diluted when you are building over it. This can change over a period of time. But you must change it consciously.

4. Do you have someone who asks you uncomfortable questions periodically? You must squirm due to these questions and work for proving it wrong. This is usually a senior who will be your mentor. Without a mentor you are only going to make the same mistakes that so many others did. Learn from others’ mistakes. Try making new mistakes

5. Do you have accountant? If you are going to do it yourself then go to the loft and take out your high school accountancy books. Get through with it and become comfortable with basics. Having your books right, from day one is of paramount importance. Classic test: do you have values for all heads in your ledger right now? Have your books in place right from the first day. Your auditor should have an easy job working Awesomesauce&Co’s books every quarter. If he/she struggles then it is a clear indicator of you not doing a good job. That is a very very wrong path.

6. Where do you jot down the next big game changing idea that you got when you were having a coffee break/speaking to a customer? Have multiple white boards that is accessible to all everywhere. Develop a practice of writing down every bit of idea that comes immediately.

7. Are all rooms in your office swept clean everyday? Your office, however small or large should be clean. If a janitor is not able to clean the floor properly everyday then you have an unhealthy mess at hand which increases the probability of you wasting time looking for stuff. It might appear small, but no. Cumulatively, the waste of time is huge.

8. Do you have a tool for handling your process? This can be as simple as Excel. But it must be exhaustive and cover end-end. Anybody should be able to get the status of any item at any point of time in a matter minutes.

9. Is Awesomesauce&Co incorporated? If not, when are you planning to do it? This is crucial because this means you are a commercial entity according to the government. You have to put a board, pay commercial current, et al. Simple things, but crucial changes to your everyday business activities. Have a target for when you are going to do it. The sooner the better.

10. Are you working alone? If you have co-founders then you have a blessing. You have a team already. Make sure no two people are working on the same thing at any point of time. This is an unpardonable waste of time. Distribute and delegate. Rotate the duties and make sure anybody can work on anything easily. There should not be a dependency created where something will not happen if one person is not available.