The battle with your partners
Associates must certainly be like-minded people willing to share both good times and hardships with you, even endure great adversity, before deciding to join you in starting a business with limited capital to pursue ideals and turn big dreams into reality. However, disagreements, doubts, conflicts and competition over benefits will certainly arise between you and your colleagues, who may be co-founders, investors, outsourced agents or internal staff at your company. Can you therefore win people over, gain their trust and persuade your colleagues? Sometimes the answer is no, but that does not mean you cannot succeed. Billionaire Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, shared: “Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my home to discuss the business opportunity. After debating for 2 hours, they were still very unclear about my idea. I must admit that, at that moment, I myself was still very unclear about it. In the end, 23 of the 24 people in the room told me to abandon the idea, giving many reasons such as: ‘You know nothing about the online world, and more importantly, you do not have enough capital to start a business,’ and so on. Only one friend (who worked for a bank) told me: ‘If you want to do it, just do it. If things do not turn out as you expect, you can still return to your old profession!’ I thought about what this friend said all night. The next morning, I decided to pursue my idea to the end, even if all 24 opposed me.” This once again shows that success or failure depends largely on you. What you consider right or wrong, whether your own opinions or those of others, will greatly determine your startup's business results. In addition, many other problems can arise among colleagues, such as competing over benefits and rights, stealing ideas, or even fraud and destruction of property. Therefore, when starting a business with limited capital, you cannot rely solely on money to retain talented people and satisfy every colleague. Even large companies with more capital cannot rely on money alone to do so. You need heart and dedication, a genuine commitment to your colleagues' fair interests, regular encouragement and positive influence, and a willingness to help and support them consistently to earn a place of respect in their hearts and minds. Conflicts will then become easier to resolve, and even people who no longer work for you will later speak well of you and your company, and may even refer good connections and opportunities to you and your company. These are wonderful and well-deserved rewards for your efforts to take thoughtful care of your colleagues.
The battle to win customers
Businesspeople often say, “The customer is king.” Or, as billionaire Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart, said “The customer is the true boss. That boss can fire anyone in the company, from the chair of the board downward, simply by spending their money somewhere else instead of Walmart.” That is precisely why winning customers in an economy where large corporations have increasingly far-reaching influence is so difficult for startups and businesses with limited capital. Disadvantages in facilities, staffing, experience, market reach, reputation, technology, market knowledge, and relationships… are common barriers that prevent small-capital companies from caring for customers and providing value as well as powerful competitors. Customers naturally have no obligation—and certainly do not believe they are obliged—to support poor, low-quality products or services. Despite numerous fairs, promotions, and government support encouraging Vietnamese people to buy Vietnamese goods, their preference for foreign products is certainly not entirely blind admiration or habit. It can arise from informed awareness, knowledge, and experience of domestic and foreign products and services. Consumers choose foreign products because they suit their needs, budgets, and desire to demonstrate prosperity, sufficiency, and smart spending. So do your products, services, and company provide enough satisfaction and fulfillment to earn the trust and loyalty of a customer base large enough to sustain the business long term? What strengths allow your small-capital company to do things for customers that others cannot, or find very difficult? Naturally, there are target customers and customers outside your target. Focus on winning your target customers’ affection and fully use your strengths in your niche before a competitor takes it. Remember that customers pay you and are among the key people who decide whether your company should exist and in what form. With today’s rapid progress and development, customers’ requirements and standards inevitably rise: in other words, they become increasingly demanding and selective. Products and services are ever more abundant, similar, and interchangeable. So dare to be distinctive and different. Use your small scale and flexibility to adapt quickly, becoming interesting and unique in the appreciative eyes of the customers you serve.
to be continue…..
Chương trình liên quan tại YUP Education: X-Startup – khóa học khởi nghiệp «Khởi Chánh Nghiệp» · The Journey – lộ trình phát triển doanh nhân
