An idea you could actually see landing as a business strikes one day. After the light-bulb moment you think about getting it off the ground.
In many cases when these things happen they are normally are left as just that, shower thoughts or ideas.
However, what do you do when ‘the one’ you can actually see yourself doing happens?
Do you spring into action and create the next iPhone or Facebook? No, instead you stress about the details of life, how will you fund this, how will you spend more time on developing this idea, who will support you when doing so, how will you divide your time and earn a living too?
Soon enough the stress of ‘how to live’ takes over and you’re left between being so inspired to give it a go and just giving up because life gets in the way. Often enough the anxiety of how you’ll earn a living soon enough kills any joy you had in the first place.
If the thought of quitting your job to start a company causes you some level of anxiety then rest assured, it is entirely normal to feel this way. The reality of having to pay bills, buy food and live often prevents people from taking the leap. Very few people have enough savings, external funding or someone that can support them while they stop earning. Especially if they live in an expensive major city.
What if you do have an idea that is the one, and you want to start a company and are no longer prepared to settle for the traditional 9–5.
In short you have an itch you want to scratch. What can you do?
Before looking at the options, the first thing you need to do is understand your chosen market and more importantly the customers you intend to serve. Before you quit your job you should have some degree of certainty that there is actually a problem that is looking to be solved? Many people try to find a problem for their solution. Don’t fall into this trap.
The best way to find out is not sitting at your laptop but by talking to people. Start with people you know and then look to find people you don’t, ideally the people who could become your customers one day. There are cost effective ways of doing this, for example Facebook groups, LinkedIn, asking your network to talking to strangers. Unless you are inventing a new drug to cure an illness then don’t be afraid to talk about your idea. The risk of not getting feedback is far greater to you than the small risk of someone stealing your idea. Remember a good idea is nothing without execution. Execution is the hard bit.
How do you practically do this? The simple answer is work hard and be prepared to sacrifice. There are no shortcuts. Find times when you can squeeze in 30 mins or an hour here and there. You will need to be ruthless with your time. No more scrolling through Instagram or Facebook mindlessly or watching back to back box sets. You may need to sacrifice going out as much as you do, that said, you do need to keep some balance and keeping up with friends, family and doing some exercise should never be neglected.
If it helps then set small milestones and try to achieve them, eg. this week I will write a blog post. Make them achievable and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t hit them all. Then you can move onto the biggest tasks such as market research, customer development and creating an MVP.
If you work in a professional, corporate environment, you’ll be tempted to research the hell out of the market and solution before doing anything else. Whilst market research is relevant, speaking to potential customers and getting feedback and adapting is priceless. You won’t get anywhere with metrics and stats if you’re not actually doing anything with them.
You have to maintain a diligent approach and separate your corporate day job self from your entrepreneurial self. That means dedicating a day or two out of the month (at the weekend of course) to go out and get talking to people! Attend events, network, survey passers-by on the street, whatever it takes, make the first few months count to validating your idea!
If you want to succeed you also need to read and learn. You have almost no chance if you don’t. Read blogs, listening to podcasts, go to networking events, follow people you like on social media and try to form a relationship with them. Your success will be driven by many things including, luck and timing, but one thing you can do to increase your chances is build your network. Make it diverse too. The benefits of interacting with people who are older or younger, from a different background, country etc are enormous.
If you find that after your initial research and you have spoken to at least 20 potential customers, there is something in your idea, then you are ready to start. Assuming you don’t have a pile of savings or investment and your partner can’t support you both then what are your choices?
Option 1: Incubators / Accelerators
Apply to an incubator or an accelerator. The difference between the two, which is often confused, is that an Incubator is an immersive space dedicated to exploring new concepts and ideas.
Accelerators are built to enhance existing businesses, usually assisting to scale and grow those businesses. There are plenty of viable options that companies regularly post about all over Europe, Google is your best friend in this instance!
An advantage of getting accepted into one of these is the doors it may open down the line. They are often well connected to other investors etc.
Be aware you may or may not get any funding with these. It depends on the offering.
Option 2: Angel / Seed funds
There are a number of funds out there that purport to invest in very early stage companies. While this is their stated aim, it is quite rare they write a cheque based on a few powerpoint slides to someone on their own who is still in full time work. They will usually look to something a bit more developed. This causes a challenge as you are working to pay the bills, you can’t afford to take the time off work unpaid to develop the idea sufficiently.
Option 3: Friends and family
The easiest source of capital is from people you know. They are also not likely to ask for any preferential terms. They are investing in you first and the idea second. If you know people who can afford to lose their money then this can be a great source. The extent of your network will dictate how plausible a scenario this is. If you can raise money this way then it’s a good option but you make sure you are fully committed. Taking money from people you know adds a level and stress and responsibility that some find hard to accept.
Option 4: Side hustle
Keep your job and build it on the side. Use your lunch breaks, holidays and sick days. This is a really good way of exploring it. There are lots of ways to get prototypes out there. Your prototype will not be what you end up with so don’t worry too much if it is not perfect. There are plenty of people that have done this and proved it works. The benefits of this are significant as you keep your job and can pay your bills, but you get to prove the concept and if it works then you will find it much easier to raise money. The limited time makes you more focused too.
The downside is the added amount of work on top of your day job. You need to think about this and whether you can really cope or not.
Option 5: Side hustle and go part time
While we advocate you speaking to lots of people as you develop your idea. One exception may be your current employer. You need to think about how this may be perceived. If, however, you do get some traction then it may be worth asking for part time, even if you don’t explain exactly why you want to.
You are likely to be good at your job so they will want to keep you. You should consider this when you start to get some traction eg users, revenue etc…
Ultimately, there are more and more ways of building a low cost MVP and trying it out today than there were in the past. There are places to get affordable freelancers too to get stuff done for you.
There is, however, no substitute for good customer research and make sure there really is a problem to solve.
We have developed founderspayforward.com to help people like you. You are not alone.
Join today for free to meet others in the same boat as you or are just ahead and can give you valuable tips and help.
Good luck.
___________________________________________________________________
Co-authored by Kamini Naik — Founder of RentHaul — @wearerenthaul@gmail.com / knaik141@gmail.com
