See Daniel Priestley live with Ali Abdaal on 27th March, in London – tickets are here.
I was recently a guest on Steven Bartlett’s podcast, Diary of a CEO. Throughout the interview, we discussed many things that I’ve learnt over the years about business and entrepreneurship.
In this article, I’ve broken down some of the key talking points along with some extra resources to help on your entrepreneurial journey.
Starting a business is about experiments
To test your business idea and see if it will be a profitable venture, launch a waiting list first.
Announce that you’re thinking of launching something in the future and you want to gauge whether or not your audience is
If you invite hundreds of people to the waiting list, but none of them sign up then it might not be the best business idea.
However, if you get lots of interest, then it’s a solid starting point for a business with potential customers already waiting for it.
Getting to your first £100K in revenue
When starting a business, consider using the CAOS method to reach your first 100K in sales. You shouldn’t need to spend much money during this process.
Concept – Clear explain what your business does
Audience – Can you build an audience of potential customers
Offer – Craft an offer that your audience will value at a price you are comfortable with
Sales – Start having sales conversations and get people to commit
Entrepreneurial mindset
If you want to achieve anything in business and in life, you must understand the part of the brain that’s driving your decisions.
Reptile – The reptile brain is a negative frame of mind that holds you back. It’s the fight, flight freeze when something new or unexpected happens. A lot of people are in a constant state of “reptile mode” and it generally prevents you from ever being successful.
Autopilot – The autopilot part of the brain will keep you where you are. You think “It’s safer to do what I’ve always done because I know what to expect.
Visionary – You focus on your vision for the future. You bring ideas to life because you are able to push through and have a positive frame of mind. It feels like you can achieve anything because of your belief and energy.
Capstone Pitch
If you want to create a pitch that is captivating and inspiring, follow the CAPSTONE method:
- Clarity – Cleary articulate the ideas and free from any confusion
- Authority – What is your background and how does it relate to
- Problem – Define a problem you are trying to solve
- Solution – Explain the solution
- The why – Communicate why you are the person to drive this forward
- Opportunity – Define the opportunity as to why others should get involved
- Next steps – What should someone do next
- Essence/Emotion – How do you want people to feel at the end of your pitch?
With or without you energy
When pitching or asking for anything in business, have “with or without you energy”.
Rather than ask in a way that feels desperate and needy, ask in a way that means people can come along for the ride.
“This dinner party is happening (with or without you) but I’d love it if you could be a part of it.
It feels much more enticing to them when you don’t “need” them. People don’t like to miss out of something that’s exciting.
Waiting list
Deciding to buy something means you need to be 90-100% sure you want to buy, whereas, joining the waiting list means people only need to be interested to join.
- Glastonbury don’t let people buy their tickets, they ask people to join the waitlist
- Elon Musk didn’t let people buy the Cyber Truck, he asked people to join the waitlist
- Rolex doesn’t only allow you to buy a watch you need to join a 18-month waiting list
Inviting people to join the waitlist means you can:
Collect interesting data to prepare for your launch and gauge how many people are interested
Get your audience excited about your product and service
Send them regular updates and get them primed to buy when they can buy
You should never launch a product or a service without launching a waiting list first.
Supply vs demand
Before building a business you want to focus on building demand rather than supply. You don’t need to build the product, you need to build demand for the product.
You want to conduct experiments and try to see how many people are interested in what you have to offer. If you can’t build an audience based around your idea, then you may need to rethink it.
For instance, if you’re thinking of launching a fitness programme to people in your local area, you will want to start building an audience as soon as possible to gauge interest.
- Launch a waiting list
- Create a discussion group (WhatsApp or Facebook)
- Scorecard/Assessment
- Online/offline event
- VIP Dinner party
- Online course
Vitality vs Functionality
The school system has taught everyone to become component labour. This means they want to teach us to be functional at one task and to stay in our lane. Most careers and big companies want their employees to act as a cog in their corporate machine.
The people who have the biggest impact are vital, not functional.
People who bring big ideas and energy are vital, they inspire action, gain attention and can get things done on a bigger scale. Votal people are irreplaceable, unlike functional people.
Environments dictates performance
The environment and surroundings you are in generally dictate your situation and success. If you are surrounded by people who have low ambition, they’re negative and they complain, this will impact your success.
You want to be around people who inspire you and keep you moving forward.
Personal Branding
Personal branding is not about becoming an influencer, it’s about using your influence to share ideas, create movements and inspire people to be a part of something bigger than yourself.
Don’t attempt to be IN the spotlight, try to BE the spotlight for your ideas, methods and strategies that can help your audience connect with you and gain real insight.
Becoming a Key Person of Influence is important because people trust people more than they trust faceless business brands.
