I’ve written a number of pieces for work, mostly around ecommerce and customer support. Recently, Instagram has taken the spotlight, so we’ve developed a few articles on Instagram Stories, hashtags, the algorithm, getting followers, and making money on Instagram.
The other topic our readers struggle with is finding a unique product, and positioning the product in the market. We’ve tried to address this with a list of trending products, and an overview of what makes for a strong unique selling proposition (and what doesn’t).
Last but not least, to prep new store owners on some of the more challenging aspects of starting up, we’ve shared a few marketing ideas for ecommerce, ways to come up with a brand name, and a few tools to edit your photos, all of which affect the polish of your online store.
Make every word matter
First, let’s talk about your first experiences with entrepreneurship. What were (individually or together) your first endeavors in the entrepreneurial world? Was starting your own business something that you always saw yourselves doing? What inspired you to head in this direction?
I was always a tinkerer growing up, and really enjoyed to take things apart to find out how they worked.
I’m pretty sure that’s where my first feelings towards entrepreneurship developed, and of course did the typical entrepreneur’s first start selling lemonade, cookies, or whatever to the neighborhood.
I did always dream of owning my own thing, however I didn’t expect it to be at such a young age. Funny side note, my dad actually had saved articles about starting your own business since I was 5 years-old, he said he could always tell that that would be my path.
Greg: What about the co-working space interested you to start a business in this sector? What about the opportunity interested you enough to invest the time and money it took to start?
The co-working space was actually second venture, we had formed a branding & marketing firm about 9 months earlier.
Not so hard to forget
Working out of our apartments, and only having the typical networking events, we found it quite lonely and often searched to find groups of folks that were “like us” (new in business, trying to grow a portfolio, and not afraid of trying something new).
We often traveled to other cities to find this type of atmosphere, and it wasn’t until I saw an article in October 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine until we had learned about coworking.
We searched around and found nothing of the sort in my hometown, so instead we decided to check out the coworking space in Philadelphia, Indy Hall.
After visiting we knew this was something the area needed, and if we could pull it off, it could also help show what we could do as a marketing firm.
One thing that I think stops most would-be entrepreneurs from getting started is what seems like the first “mountainous” hurdle of actually taking the first steps to begin.
That being said, let’s talk about the earliest stages of the space, specifically in regards to:
- identifying a need in the market
- raising money (if it was necessary)
- getting your first customer
Around the time we had started to flesh out the idea of a coworking space, we had also stumbled across the Lean Startup process of constantly making and testing hypothesis.
We began by listing out all the risks or pitfalls that we could think of, and from there we set out on how to eliminate/mitigate.
Some of the solutions included getting meetings with other well known entrepreneurs, learning best practices from other coworking spaces, holding meet & greets at coffee shops for potential members, happy hours, finding partnerships, growing a strong digital presence, and getting city support.
We never fully committed on getting a building until we had seen a strong sense that we wouldn’t be the only two people working in the space.
At each time we held meetups or happy hours, we added those folks to our potential customer list.
The best part that I’ve found about getting started with any project is that the failures are not nearly as scary as the seem to be.
There’s still need for plenty of concern, but largely, failing is just apart of the process at getting good at what you do.
If you had the chance to advise yourself back when you began, what advice would you give? What mistakes would you be sure not to commit this second time around?
There were a couple of things that hampered us in the early days of the business.
(1) we were under funded (we had anticipated some other funding that never went through)
(2) we had potential members sign up for what type of membership they would be interested in, however because there was no commitment we saw a bit of a drop-off in conversion
(3) most important, we would encourage members to become active in the community (this is something we work very hard at now, and has definitely helped us grow into the community that we are now)
When it comes to traits & skills that entrepreneurs should have, what do you feel are the most important?
What are some sources folks can use to be more knowledgeable about marketing, financial management, and the overall operation of a business?
Any books or resources that you swear by?
I think some important traits to have are resiliency, leadership, communication (ability to communicate vision), a strong willingness to learn, and patience.
I think the best book to get anyone started would be ‘Business Model Generation’. I also like reading anything Lean Startup oriented, as well as Seth Godin stuff.
No interview is complete without getting to know the owners a little more! Outside of work, what takes up your time? Any other passion projects or hobbies of note?
I’ve been teaching myself programming over the past couple of years, so I am always tinkering on something.
Aside from that I enjoy golf, snowboarding/longboarding, riding my bike, and the Baltimore Ravens.