GovSight Diaries: How we started a company — and how you can too
GovSight is a non-profit technology and news company which was formed in 2019. In our weekly GovSight Diaries series, we share the stories of our challenges and successes in hopes that others can learn from our accomplishments and struggles.
This article on GovSight.
Building a company is hard. Building a successful company is even harder. Building a successful company with no capital, experience, or guidance — well, that’s a trial by fire.
The idea
GovSight started as an inkling in my mind almost three years ago. It was later in my college years. I had too much time on my hands and too little to do — I was a junior at George Mason University studying IT. My curriculum was good, but I discovered that I had already learned all the bits of information which were critical to what I wanted to do, and that the advanced classes were just an expensive reiteration of security principles and networking protocols. In between monotonous lectures and grey-scale PowerPoint presentations, I spent a lot of time thinking about politics and government — a stark contrast to the subject I would earn my diploma in.
Both technology and civics were — and are — passions of mine. And at some point while staring out the window of a third-floor dorm room, I decided that there was negligent attitude toward the potential of integrating technology and civics (have you looked at a government-backed agency website recently?). This was especially true when it came to technology that could help citizens understand and participate in the American governmental process. Yes: There are countless points where technology intersects with civics in a way designed to influence people or make money off of the civic process. Very few platforms, however, have been created with the objective of educating society about the democratic process and promoting involvement — let alone ones that do it in a way that is user-friendly and inviting.
GovSight’s mission is to fix this.
In 2018, I pitched the idea that I had for a “civic information platform” to a good friend of mine from high school, Miguel Pineda, who was a budding journalist en route to the Big Apple to pursue a career with CNBC. We were both deeply interested in politics. I spent a lot of time writing about all my civic-centric ideas, the vast majority of which were sent his way for viewing — probably to the point of annoyance.
Miguel loved the idea. We talked about it intensively for a few days, and then promptly dropped the subject cold for six months.
But then came the day I got the text that would change the course of my life. “Hey, remember that idea you had? Yeah, we should actually do that.”
Miguel is now — rightfully — the the co-founder and vice president of GovSight.
Turning an idea into a business
Ideas are fun, but putting them into action is exhilarating. It involves a lot of elbow grease — and frantic Googling.
The double-edged sword of the internet is that while endless information is at your disposal, it’s hard to hear the best advice through the noise. When we first came up with a blueprint for our future company, it resembled the blue-ink drawings of an inebriated finance professor explaining the yield curve on a cocktail napkin after teaching class to 40 disinterested students.
Yet here we are, on our way to make citizenship simplified, many months later. And although our process was far from perfect, there were a lot of key lessons I learned along the way that helped us get to where we are.
First step? Build a business plan.
It’s different for everyone; make it as big as your idea — from a paragraph to a dissertation with appendices. But no matter the length, it should answer the following:
1. How are we going to make money?
This applies to for-profit and non-profit companies. We’re a nonprofit: We need to make money to pay staffers, keep the lights on, and afford to help the people we aim to in our mission. If this is a hard question for you to answer, then maybe what you have in mind isn’t a business.
2. What kind of company do we want to be?
We didn’t get this quite right on the first go (tune in next week for more). For-profit and non-profit companies are fundamentally different. In short, a for-profit company is owned by one or more people, and these people have the opportunity to directly profit from said company.
A nonprofit is totally different — often misunderstood and overlooked. A non-profit company does not mean it doesn’t make money: It generates a lot of revenue; at the end of the day all of that revenue must be reinvested into the company, be it through salaries, research and development, and more. The United States government doesn't tax nonprofits, and throws in a bunch of other incentives as well.
Do your research and determine which type of business best suits your mission.
3. Is our idea feasible and competitive?
A successful business needs to fill a void in the market. Figure out if what you are planning is going to meet a need, be competitive, and even be possible: One such way to do this is through a feasibility study.
Sometimes an idea has been done before, but perhaps not as well as you could do it. Distance yourself emotionally from your idea to tell if it would be successful or not; not all ideas are worth pursuing, and that’s more than okay.
4. How will we actually build our company?
Most first-time company makers can’t leave their day job and work on building their new company for no pay; most people at GovSight still hold full-time jobs or are in school.
Try seeking financial aid if you are a nonprofit or investments if you are a for-profit company to cover your costs until you can turn some revenue — or a profit.
5. And how long will it take?
Time frames are important, especially when you're working with other people’s money. Think critically about how long it will take to hire staff; develop your product, solution, or service; and get it to market.
You should have some solid experience already with building the thing that your company will rely on to thrive. If you don't, then you need to learn how to do it before you embark on this journey.
Revisit your plan — often
Answering the above questions initially is important, and it’s something that every company leader must come back to. A lot.
As you learn from your mistakes and successes, your business will evolve. Frequently take a step back and look at the bigger picture to ensure you are still moving in the direction you want to go in. Don’t be afraid to change your ideas, and fail quickly so that you can adapt and move on to more effective things.
And remember that you’re not alone. There are plenty of other people embarking on similar missions — and plenty of articles like these to help you on your way.
Come back next week with more advice from GovSight’s team.
Questions? Ask us at contact@govsight.co.
Follow GovSight on Twitter @GovSight1, Instagram @govsight and Facebook @GovSight. Listen to The Insight Podcast by GovSight on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Podbean every Monday. Go to govsight.com to see how GovSight is making “Citizenship. Simplified.”
