Starting a Business: Lessons from My Journey and Failures
What’s next? A Co-op.
Welcome to the crossroads of ambition and reality, a place where dreams are meticulously mapped into strategic plans. If you’re embarking on the thrilling journey of entrepreneurship, pause here for a moment!
P. A. U. S. E.
My name is Ro Fernandez, and I’ve navigated these tricky waters myself. Probably too many times. I know too well that the allure of starting your own business is intoxicating — visions of success, independence, and passion projects can dominate your thoughts. But behind the glittering façade of entrepreneurial success lies a less glamorous truth: commitment, thousands of hours of constant work — and “strategy” are the bedrocks upon which sustainable businesses are built.
Embarking on a business venture without a clear strategy is like setting sail without a map. It’s not just about choosing the right kind of business or identifying your market — though these are crucial steps. It’s about understanding the deep, often demanding commitments that entrepreneurship entails. In this blog, we’ll delve into the importance of crafting a robust business strategy and the personal sacrifices and steadfast dedication required to turn your business aspirations into reality.
Let’s explore together how to set the stage for success, ensuring your business dream doesn’t just shimmer momentarily — but shines persistently.
Join me on this journey; it’s one where every hard-earned lesson paves the way to mastering the art of entrepreneurship.
Reflecting on my entrepreneurial journey, each business I’ve founded or contributed to has been a unique challenge. The ease or difficulty of launching these ventures often hinged on the resources available, the connections at hand, the clientele we targeted, and the nature of the products or services we offered. My first foray into business at the age of 18 seemed almost serendipitous. I launched a service-based business as demands for my “expertise”(or let’s call it talent and drive — because I didn’t have much experience) in branding and product display strategy started pouring in unsolicited — so much so, that it naturally evolved into a full-business. This business led to opportunities like designing window displays for well-known European companies such as Brijou Brigitte.
At 20, my entrepreneurial path took a sophisticated turn when I partnered with a businessman eager to enter the wine industry. With his sales acumen, his contacts and my design and strategic skills, we quickly brought the business to life. I designed the website and product branding, including new labels for the wine bottles, and within months we were scaling up and generating significant revenue.
However, launching my current business, Nova, was a stark contrast. We started with no contacts, a non-existent sales team, and a product that required extensive research and development before companies would even consider it. Furthermore, it being a B2B venture meant persuading multiple decision-makers, compounded by the fact that neither my partner nor I had the financial resources for marketing — a first in my career where marketing investment was necessary! In previous businesses, marketing and lead-generation strategies were a nice to have.
What remains consistent across all my ventures is the absolute commitment required. Regardless of whether reaching profitability was straightforward or an uphill battle, each required my undivided commitment and significant personal sacrifices. This often meant working weekends, cutting personal expenses, and balancing multiple jobs — all testament to the relentless pursuit of entrepreneurial success.
So, where should you start?
If you are using Nova, get access to the Rapid Business Strategy for Free or choose the business plan if you have a PRO account, but in general, these are the key BASIC things you have to prepare.
Something important…before you start going over the process and the templates…
It’s not about writing down a business plan or strategy; it’s about thinking strategically. This process that I am sharing with you is NOT an activity to fill out the template; it’s a thinking framework to make you think and explore strategies and different ways to approach your business. If you are using it just as a template that you fill out, you are probably not going to benefit from it. This should make you think critically, strategically, and really build a good business plan. After this, you will be more confident about what you want to achieve, how you can get there, the challenges you will find, and how you can communicate your value to your customers.
Define your Objectives & Vision
I would say it’s crucial to begin by defining your vision. And this shouldn’t be limited to business perspectives; consider yourself and all your partners involved. Discuss what each of you expects and the type of commitment you can make to the business.
With that established, don’t forget to clearly define your business objectives. It is key that you articulate your vision — it acts as your moon. That is where you want to be; that is your direction. You might not get there as quickly as you expect, but if you make a plan to reach it and move in the right direction, that is already a win. Today, I mentor over 20 companies a year, and I can tell you that companies often flounder because they don’t have clear goals. As a result, they continue working without a sense of direction, and it never feels like they are making progress.
A good framework to start defining your objectives is this one.
TOOL
- Business goals — Nova: Define your long-term business goals and the deliverables you expect to achieve within the next 90 days. A very practical and simple way to think about goals in a business framework. Using this tool is free.
Then, once you define your goals, you may want to evaluate the market. What is happening in the market? Is it a good time for you? Where is the opportunity? You may want to go back to your goals once you are done with this one, as you will find out that there are a lot of considerations you have to make.
TOOL
- PESTEL & TO: The objective of this tool is to assess the external factors that may impact an organization or a project. These factors include Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal influences, but also make you think about Trends and Opportunities. By conducting a PESTEL &TO analysis, you can gain insights into the broader context in which they operate, identify potential risks and opportunities, and make informed strategic decisions. This tool is Free at Nova.
Business model
The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management tool used to visualize and describe a company’s business model. It consists of nine key building blocks: customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships, and cost structure.
It is typically used when:
- Starting a New Business: Entrepreneurs can use the canvas to brainstorm and develop their business idea, ensuring all critical aspects are considered.
- Evaluating Existing Business Models: Established businesses can use the canvas to analyze and potentially redesign their current business model to adapt to changes in the market or to improve performance.
- Developing New Products or Services: When launching a new product or service, the canvas helps in understanding how it fits within the overall business model and how it creates value for customers.
- Seeking Investment or Partnerships: The canvas provides a concise overview of the business model, making it easier to communicate with potential investors, partners, or stakeholders.
The Business Model Canvas is important because it provides a structured framework for understanding and designing business models. It encourages holistic thinking by considering various aspects of the business simultaneously.
By visually representing the key elements of a business model, it helps in identifying potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, thus enabling better decision-making and strategic planning.
TOOL
- Business Model: The canvas allows for a clear and concise visualization of how a business creates, delivers, and captures value. It helps in identifying and defining the key components of the business model, including customer segments, value propositions, channels, revenue streams, etc. Just to mention some of the benefits.
Overall the Business Model Canvas aims to enable businesses to articulate, analyze, and iterate their business models effectively, ultimately leading to better strategic decision-making and sustainable business growth.
You can find this tool for free at Nova.
Once you have this, think about your value proposition. How are you different? What’s the value you provide? How should you communicate that value to the customer?
Value Proposition Canvas.
The Value Proposition Canvas is a tool used to design and analyze the value proposition of a product or service. It helps businesses understand their customers’ needs and desires more deeply and align their offerings accordingly. Here’s how to use it:
####Customer Profile (Right Side):
- Identify the jobs your customers are trying to get done. These could be functional tasks they need to accomplish, social/emotional needs, or tasks related to personal identity.
- Define the pains or challenges your customers experience in trying to get these jobs done. These could be obstacles, frustrations, or risks.
- Determine the gains or benefits your customers seek when trying to get the jobs done. These could be desired outcomes, expectations, or aspirations.
####Value Map (Left Side):
- List the products, services, or features your business offers that help customers get their jobs done.
- Identify how your offerings alleviate or eliminate the pains your customers experience. These could be ways your products or services solve problems or alleviate frustrations.
- Determine how your offerings create gains or benefits for your customers. These could be ways your products or services fulfill customer desires or help them achieve outcomes.
###Connect Customer Profile with Value Map:
- Analyze the relationship between the customer profile and the value map. Identify where your offerings directly address customer pains and gains, and where there might be gaps.
- Adjust your value proposition based on the insights gained. Refine your offerings to better align with customer needs and desires.
##Test and Iterate:
- Use the insights from the Value Proposition Canvas to create prototypes or minimum viable products (MVPs) to test with real customers.
- Gather feedback and iterate on your offerings based on customer responses. Continuously refine your value proposition to better meet customer needs and create value.
TOOL
Value Proposition Canvas: Overall, the Value Proposition Canvas helps businesses develop compelling value propositions by deeply understanding their customers and tailoring their offerings to address customer needs and desires effectively. You can find this tool for free at Nova.
I will consider these to be the basic things that I will recommend anyone starting a business to do always. Secondly, I will recommend them to read “Scaling Up” by Verne Harnish, and finally, I will say that if you work with other people, you have to define roles and responsibilities and discuss those openly. So, a RACI chart will help.
Reflecting on the road I’ve traveled, the highs and the lows, it’s clear that the entrepreneurial path is not just a career choice but a profound life journey. Each challenge I’ve faced has been a stepping stone to deeper understanding and resilience. Whether it was the grinding hours, the tough negotiations with investors, or the strategic pivots, every moment was a lesson in disguise.
The journey of an entrepreneur is akin to sailing against the current: not only must you be skilled in navigation but also ready to adjust your sails when the wind changes. This adaptability has been crucial. Embracing the uncertainty and learning from each “no” has transformed potential setbacks into powerful catalysts for growth. The feedback that once seemed harsh now fuels my journey forward, each piece a golden nugget contributing to a larger vision.
As I look ahead, the importance of staying humble and hungry for knowledge becomes ever more apparent. The path of entrepreneurship is paved with continuous learning and relentless passion. If that passion starts to dim, it’s a cue to reassess and realign. Because, in the end, our greatest achievements come not from the external accolades but from the internal victories won through perseverance and an unwavering commitment to our vision.
From my experience and from talking with hundreds of entrepreneurs every year, I can tell you that one of the things I often see is that entrepreneurs start new businesses without fully understanding the type of commitment they need to make and the number of choices they have to make. There is no time for everything, and starting a business requires time; you have to be constantly present, even when you are sick, on weekends, and whenever else it’s needed. Sometimes entrepreneurs are doing too many things, or start a business thinking that it will give them the freedom to work their own hours, but the reality is that you will always be working and thinking about your business. So why do I mention this? Because I believe the most important of all tools is the Cultivating Happiness Framework. Because I believe is very important that you are happy with the decisions you make.
It’s very important that you spend a few hours before you start a business to think about all the things you want to do and commit to them. Think about that commitment consciously. Ask yourself: How many hours do I need to put into this every week to ensure it grows and flourishes?
Think of it as if it were a plant. How much of my team will it need, and what type of care, knowledge, and decisions will it require? Then make the commitment to dedicate that time and create habits. Think about the commitments you have today that you have to say “no” to so you can grow and flourish in the areas that are important to you now. This “tool” is a tool that I designed a few years ago to share with people I coach, and it has become one of the most popular tools. I have also made it available at Nova for free.
…To all of you, I say: hold onto your vision, stay adaptable, and keep learning.
The road is long and often solitary, but the rewards of seeing your vision come to life are unparalleled. Here’s to embracing the challenges, learning from every step back, and advancing confidently in the direction of our vision.
Let’s keep pushing, growing, and thriving in this adventurous entrepreneurial landscape.
Wait!
One more thing.
Here is an idea. :)
Co-op for entrepreneurs.
In recent months, I’ve heard from many of you and other new entrepreneurs about two main challenges: sharing difficulties and finding affordable resources that benefit multiple startups. Recognizing the importance of both, I propose a new idea: creating a cooperative for entrepreneurs.
This cooperative would provide a platform for us to openly discuss challenges and share solutions, fostering a spirit of vulnerability and collaboration.
We aim to reduce costs by pooling resources and sharing insights that benefit everyone involved.
Here’s how it will work: We’ll establish a simple channel for regular discussions, where our community of volunteers will organize events and bring in speakers on topics you select. Additionally, we’ll facilitate connections between entrepreneurs, pairing you to share experiences and support one another.
The cooperative will also offer shared resources — from subscription services to essential products — helping reduce expenses for new entrepreneurs. Participation would require a commitment of about one to four hours per month from each member, ensuring that we all contribute to and benefit from this community.
I’m excited to build this cooperative with you. Are you ready to join and make it happen?
Join us here.
