I was recently helping a good friend with some logistics for an event she was organizing and I got a little frustrated, because I knew I could have contributed more if she would have asked for my help earlier. This inspired me to say: “Emmi, I am going to write an article about how to ask for help!” In any business endeavor when resources are tight (e.g. money, time, sleep, etc), one must know how to ask for help or a favor.
Best practices in lean business operations, technology, and other areas pertinent to success of startups, small, and mid-market businesses.
Category Archives: Best practices
How to ask for help
How Freecycle helped me bootstrap
I have a confession to make. Thanks to having worked for only customer revenue funded startups, I have become somewhat of a frugal nut. I love free stuff and I cringe at paying asking or retail price for anything. Anytime I pay MSRP, I feel like I have committed a sin. Whenever I would run operations in a startup, my most common response to many purchase requests was:” and with what revenue are we going to pay for that?” To me (and many others) cash is king, queen, emperor, and the whole darn extended dynasty. The only way I like cashflow in our books is incoming.
How to build your startup core team
Let’s start by debunking one common analogy – building a team is not like putting a puzzle together. The number one rule I’ve learned from the best startup teams is that one trick ponies need not apply. In the early to mid-stage startups, generalists should compose the majority of your team. There are two kinds of generalists: those who are Jacks-of-All-Trades and masters of one or two areas, and those who are masters of none (general management, which you don’t want).
Customers, not shareholders, pay your bills
I had to get several insurance quotes last week, since my current agent was not living up to my customer service expectations (especially considering the amount of commission they receive).
I’m sure of one thing, archaic strategy of 9-5 customer phone-only support from agents who can not deviate from their scripts is live and well, but the companies practicing this strategy are on their way out. Why? We focus on maximizing the “shareholder value” and forget who pays the bills – the customer.
Subscribe
About THE FOUNDER
Apolinaras is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of building scalable and capital-efficient operations for technology and professional services companies.Read More About Us »