Be a better entrepreneur every week.

Hey, Creators!

Happy National Unicorn Day! If you think unicorns are just rare mythical creatures, like the two people who are actually from Austin, TX, then think again.

In business, it's a term used to describe a startup with a value of over [Dr. Evil voice] $1 billion. With that in mind, let's dive into tips for getting you to unicorn status yourself.

Office reboot

(Photo courtesy of Rapt Studio)

As a leader, one of the biggest things to consider when asking employees to come back to the office—even if only for a few days a week—is design. While the flexibility of our current work-from-home situation is pretty great, studies show that some of our best collaboration happens when the office supports social connections, learning, and cooperation.

For some ideas, we spoke with Ashlynne Camuti, a strategist at Rapt Studio, an interdisciplinary design consultancy that specializes in workplace environments.

“Over the past couple of years, our work has been heavily focused on helping clients navigate uncertainty,” said Ashlynne. “It’s constantly evolving, but it’s ultimately about how to shape the space to support the workforce.”

Hybrid work will take some practice and Ashlynne says purpose and equity are leading the conversation. Why are we even here and how can we make sure everyone gets the same experience?

She challenges leaders to put people first, asking their team for input on a new space. Are they craving more focused work time? Then try designing quiet zones. Will your team members be geographically distributed? Then create high-tech-integrated suites for brainstorming so that colleagues (no matter where they’re located) feel included in decision making.

(Photo courtesy of Rapt Studio)

As we continue to define what work means, companies are finding ways to take care of their employees' physical and mental health. This looks like a lot of different things, but a few ways to make a space feel more conducive to wellbeing, says Ashlynne, is natural light, good ventilation, upright furniture, and healthy plants.

And what would work be without the proverbial water cooler? Ashlynne recommends finding ways to facilitate spontaneous connection with communal spaces. Think of a central zone with couches, or a pantry full of snacks. These environmental cues encourage people to stop and chat, which can lead to some of our best ideas.

At the end of the day, it’s all about tuning in. “To arrive at the right approach, we need to listen to what’s changing,” says Ashlynne. “It’s a huge period of flexibility, and we need to be open minded about failing and adapting.”

What separates a superstar salesperson from a salesperson? Richard Miles says it's all in the follow-up. He got his start in sales going door-to-door and cold calling—which ain't easy! But knowing how to properly follow up made all the difference. That’s why he built a company to make circling back a breeze.

What’s the name of your company and how does it help entrepreneurs build their business?

CLOSEM. We offer an easy-to-use system that automates the process of following up with leads, prospects, and customers via email, text, voicemail, and postal mail.

Tell us about a noteworthy challenge you faced as an entrepreneur.

While we have features that no one else offers in our competitive space, we do include a commodity feature that others in our space also offer. We made ours twice as good and promoted it heavily. But at the end of the day, people didn't value the "extra" as much as we thought they would. It ended up making us seem higher priced when we were in fact offering more value. It was a challenge to let go of our cherished idea, but in the end we did it.

What is the most actionable advice you could give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

I try to keep an attitude that we often don't really know what we're talking about. We're making educated guesses. Try to gather real evidence and make a decision based on facts, not opinions. And admit when you're guessing. One of the most highly functioning teams I've ever been on had a slogan, "Strong opinions, lightly held." Meaning we could debate fiercely but let go easily.

Finding your customer base

Prep Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour (per task)
​Yields: Customers’ eyes on your brand

It’s time to get your product in front of your actual audience. Not everyone will be a part of your niche, so focus your attention on the people who are. Once you find them, you can initiate the first step of the sales funnel: awareness.

Awareness is the key to building your customer base. On average, it takes a minimum of 6–7 interactions with a customer for them to remember your brand.

1. Identify who your customers are: Know who you’re looking to find before you start marketing. Create customer personas that outline everything your ideal customer has going for them: age, location, education, occupation, interests, etc.
    
2. Find out where they hang out & interact: Once you know who you’re looking for, you’ll have a better idea of where they are. Identify who they follow, what they read, which forums they browse, and what communities they’re in. You can join LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, Discord, and Slack groups and post actively in each to get recognized.
    
3. Go B2B: Don’t limit your customer base to just consumers—reach out to other businesses as well! This is a powerful way to get your product in front of your target audience. Find businesses in your niche using directories like CitySquares or Yellow Pages, and suggest ways to collaborate.
    
4. Create opportunities for customers to find you: Don’t leave it up to chance! Sell on marketplaces like AppSumo, Etsy, Amazon, or Creative Market; participate in industry events; post to social media (try a social scheduling tool like Sociamonials); sign up to HARO; and list your service on Google My Business.
    
5. Ask for referrals/shares: When you do find customers make sure they tell a friend. Chances are the people who like your stuff know more people who would, too. So email, DM, and put out an open call on socials—let your audience know you’re looking for more people just like them. You can incentivize them to share by building referral rewards programs using tools like Prefinery.

Click to expand thread.

You may not catch us in your inbox next week. We’re taking a brief pause to re-imagine what’s next. Questions? Reach out at mindyourbusiness@appsumo.com.

—The MYB Team

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