Easy and Not Easy

They are 2 sides of the same coin.

Is it easy to start a business today?

Some people say it is easy because you may harness the power of social media and get instantaneous results. We have seen so many people sell things ‘Live’ and churned outstanding results. This trend started since the Covid19 lock down period and has never slowed down. In fact, we have seen more solopreneurs going online to sell their products.

Recently, I watched an interview of a young boss who owns a huge bread factory in China. He intends to scale from 5,000 stores to 10,000 stores countrywide in the next few years. The boss is only 25 years old. The interviewer asked how did he come up with the capital to set it up and why he has the ambition to do this?

This young boss still does his ‘live’ 3 times weekly to sell bread. When asked why he still does this even when he is already a boss? He replied this era give entrepreneurs the opportunity to to get in touch with his customers directly via social media. As I watched it, I found it interesting to learn his mindset.

Some also say that it is not easy because not many people look good on camera. They may stutter and do not know how to use lighting to their advantage. They can’t focus on selling and looking at the live comments at the same time. It’s too difficult.

What is the trend of young startups?

There are so many start ups nowadays, and we are over supplied with conflicting solutions. Most founders are simply trying to make it. They are focusing a lot on branding to pitch that product to their prospective investors.

Most start ups require funding and the only way they can get that is to create or attend events, where they invite some heavyweights to give free talks to pull in the attendees. They foster credibility by association. That is generally the trend as we see many events held with a lot of self promotion.

How can Someone become successful?

A lot of branding experts will tell you to 'fake it till you make it'. Many will encourage you to sign up for their courses/ services and post content daily to create your brand. Some even advise you to show your vulnerabilities to win more likes. These strategies are not wrong, but it can also be a waste of time because readers and buyers are looking for solutions. Sure enough, they may resonate and relate to your vulnerabilities or challenges, but what is the message you want to express?

A better way is to refine your craft firstly.

Get high quality customers and let them speak for you instead. 'Word of mouth' is the best kind of marketing.

Should you attend events and network?

Yes, if you are looking for like-minded people to journey together with.

No, if you just want to get new business.

During a networking event, I do not scour around to collect name cards, I talk to the person next to me to get a genuine connection. If a need arises, we discuss collaborations, or we connect the dots so their needs can be fulfilled.

I have encountered instances where someone tried to impress by sharing with our group about her father’s vintage car collection. Seriously, that is not of any interest to many of us and certainly not the way to connect.

Another thing I noticed is after a networking event, most people fail at follow-up. They do not drop a courtesy message to thank the person the talked to. This is why people don't remember you.

Therefore it is not about attendance, but rather what you do there that determines the meaning of it.

Is it necessary to post content?

Yes, because you will find people who resonate with you. And if you don’t get any responses, it either means you were blocked by the algorithm, or your content is not interesting, or your rightful audience hasn’t appeared yet. Whatever the case, it is still fine because you are still active.

What if you joined a group/ community to 'like' each other’s post? Will that boost your visibility? Maybe it does, but it may not get you your right audience too.

As a result, you may end up feeling exhausted and lose your motivation in the end.

That was what happened to many sharers who already disappeared or gone MIA.

I have seen so many wonderful sharers who started during the Covid19 period but now I don’t see any more of their valuable content.

How can you smartly use social media and get results?

Start with identifying your uniqueness and what you can do for others. E.g. I can sell property faster than others at a higher price. That is one of my value proposition.

Using the value proposition, think of ways to outreach people who may need to sell their property fast. Where do they search?

After you have found the target audience, create opportunities to put your services in front of them. Sometimes, it is about posting a certain content, which can be in video form, blog or even sharing a short post.

In highly competitive markets, the differentiation must be greater.

When you get an enquiry, what do you do?

Consultants tend to jump into solving the ‘problem’. This is very dangerous because you have not yet known the person or even understood what is the actual ‘ask’. You may think the enquiry is similar to what you have encountered before, but often that is not the case. Whatever you advised are based on assumptions and limited knowledge.

In my experience, most people aren’t sure what they want and can’t verbalize their requests clearly. Hence, the right thing to do is to re confirm the question.

Hence, a proper system to track enquiries, handle customers, follow-up with leads is important. You only have limited time and cannot spread too thin.

Is it easy or not easy to run a business?

Many entrepreneurs will tell you as long as you love what you are doing, then it is no longer a chore and everything you do is enjoyable and fun. But is that true?

I have a friend who specializes in setting up marine and nature aquariums. His projects are quite notable, inclusive of tourist attractions. He is so good at aqua scaping that he gets a lot of invitation to build projects. He told me he has been doing this for the last 20 years. In the start up years, he was very enthusiastic and hardworking. As he told me this, he showed me his photo album catalog of all the work he has done. He told me he has rejected some big jobs and referred it to others because he is physically tired now and no longer has the initial fire.

For businesses that require a lot of manual work, it gets ‘not easy’ as we grow older.

A friend in the real estate industry who currently runs a team of 500 agents finds it easier to run his business as he has built up a team over the years. His work is no longer about going out to get new business, but primarily about team management.

For businesses that is structured, it may get ‘easy’ later on. Although you may also argue that managing people can give you a headache as well. :)

Easy or not easy is just a different side of the same coin

Every business goes through good and challenging times. It is like a cycle of life.

During up cycles, when your business is doing well, you will feel it is easy.

When you encounter business challenges, hard to solve problems, you will then feel it is not easy.

All these emotions come from within and it is derived from how you think. Essentially, you are the same entrepreneur but experiencing different states of being, either in 1 or 0.

I like to encourage you to train your mind from now onwards.

Train yourself not to be too happy when you get a deal, and not to be too sad if you lose one.

From experience, once you learn how to handle matters calmly and readily, you can see more opportunities and solutions.

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