Getting Started at Building My Own Business
Do I need a college degree? Do I need a lot of cash in my bank account? Do I need 15 years of experience in the field that I am going into? Do I need to be a good salesman? Do I need marketing experience? Do I need a business partner?
Those are just a fraction of the questions I ask myself when thinking about entrepreneurship and when I dare to visualise the business idea that I have in mind. Let’s be honest, that feeling is overwhelming and it is a lot easier to let it be a thought in the back of my head.
You must put your head into the lion’s mouth if the performance is to be a sucess
Winston Churchill, 19 February 1900, South Africa, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, 1900.
Entrepreneurship seems to have become very easy lately. My social media feeds are populated by claims of how to get rich quick, passive income, 4 hour weeks and so on. Through such ‘schemes’ internet has also made entrepreneurship very fashionable, although these social media stories only seem to talk about the results and show very little interest in the process.
What people don’t talk about is the amount of time dedicated to developing a business, along with the failures and hardships. I think it fair to say that it is more difficult for an entrepreneur to realise this because if you are really living your passion, it doesn’t feel like working, does it?
When I think entrepreneurship, I sometimes think long hours, weekends, loneliness, pressure, doubts, struggles…
Does this mean it is all bad then? Surely not, but it requires a robust plan and a fantastic amount of drive to see it through.
1.Examining My Motifs
Am I willing to commit my social status, my time and my money to advance that cause?
I see ambition as the big car, the nice house, the holidays. I understand drive as the hard work, the commitment, the challenges, the patience and most importantly the state of mind to see it through.
What is in it for me? It really comes down to my WHY – why is it that I do what I do?
I talked about my reasons, my why, in my introduction post. The funny thing is, there are so many reasons that make staying where I am the most sensible choice. That said, there is one little thing today that could have a disproportionate amount of weight later in my life. It is regrets– how would I feel 10 years from now if I did not try? Would I blame myself? Would I be okay living with it? I do not want to be crippled by regret.
In 2013, I left my job as an Operation Supervisor, which I enjoyed, but there was no the prospect of promotion in sight. I resigned, I followed something I loved which was sales, and I became a Sales Executive for a different company. I really loved sales and was 100% certain this is what I wanted to do, but guess what? After 12 months, I realised that I wasn’t getting what I thought I would get out of the role.
Did I influence my luck or not? As it happened, I was then offered a job at my previous employer and they were prepared to give me an Operation Manager role. I was absolutely thrilled, and whereas previously I had given my employer 100% of my energy, when I returned I was a changed man and I gave them 150% as my head was now clear of doubts. More importantly, I had learned an invaluable amount of new skills having been in such a different role with a different company. Would I do it again? Yes, definitely.
Fast forward to now and I clearly understand what I want. I want to build the business I want to run. A business where customers and colleagues come first.
2. Finding the Business Idea
Almost everyone has great ideas but only a few are capable of finding the courage to execute them.
Have I got a disruptive technology? Can I fix someone’s problems? Have I got a new approach to an industry or just doing something better, quicker and cheaper?
I feel like what I do today is still very much connected to what I did as a teenager. Buying and selling stuff. No secret formula here; the shipping industry is fragmented and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. One haulier will offer a good value proposition for that domestic full truckload to Manchester, another company will be doing it to Madrid, another to Berlin, and so on. Other businesses will specialise on 1-5 pallets to Europe with up and down in-service levels depending on the strengths of their network and the country of destination. Some hauliers will offer groupage from 5 pallets up to full loads (FTL) based on delivery countries, also known as market specialists. One network handling pallets might not be able to handle parcels or non-palletised products. One haulier will offer 5 days lead time when another offers 3 days lead time. Transport is complicated by nature and customers’ supply chains are getting increasingly more complex. Just-in-time manufacturing, time delivery management, Brexit, driver shortage, consignees wanting it quicker, tracked, on-time, in-full etc. These are just a few of the challenges the industry faces daily.
I have spent the past nine years putting the dots together between haulier’s strengths and customer requirements. It is about offering customers the best possible service while maximising value, capacity, opportunities and enabling growth.
More than ever, customers require agility and flexibility from their logistics partners. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. I will learn about my customer’s goals and pain-points in order to establish if we can be a great fit for them. I will use my personality, resilience and passion to raise the bar of success. Over time, I will build a team, I will create an environment where people feel safe and can be their best selves. I will create a cause that people will stand for and believe in. That culture will, in turn, deliver the best possible experience for our clients.
3. Finding a Name
Finding a business name can be long and painful. My business name is not just a name – it is my brand, a concept that will be associated with me and my services. Getting it right can be extremely helpful in marketing and branding effort, while getting it wrong will spell failure in connecting me with my customers.
This step felt easy for me, since I have spent the last few years interacting with businesses such as Spotify, Shoptify, Shiptify. Those companies are known as SAAS companies (Software as a Service). My business doesn’t qualify as such but I feel aligned somehow with their goal, which is to offer something unique to customers while delivering the best customer experience on the market.
I wanted the name to be Logistify but the domain was just too expensive. However, my second choice was up for grabs and Transportify was born. It might not be a SAAS company but could qualify as a JPAAS – Jean-Philippe as a Service.
4. What is My Unfair Advantage?
My unfair advantage is my set of skills that over time have become my unique selling point (USP).
Passion: Interestingly, people often put passion as a side hobby, or something being done at the weekend. I see passion as the amount of energy I put into whatever is in front of me. I feel energised when I find solutions, when I speak to clients, when I talk to my team and when I read books. This energy is my unfair advantage, it is what makes me continue when others want to give up.
Expertise: I started as a Transport Operator and progressed through each job level to where I am today. I learned a great deal from each promotion across multiple lines of products and I know better than anyone else what it takes to create transport solutions that customers will value.
5. My Business Plan
A business plan is a written document that describes my core business objectives and helps me achieve them over a set period of time.
I built my business plan over a month; it wasn’t easy but it was worth it. Firstly, it provided me with a platform for organising my thoughts and clarifying my ideas. Secondly, it helped me to set out my goals and break them down into manageable blocks. Finally, it aligned my strategy and my goals, and it is an essential document in order to secure some financing.
Here are the key sections of my business plan:
Executive Summary:
A brief description of the market, the business, its service and the problem it resolves.
Market Potential, Players and Target Customers:
A summary of key insights that demonstrate my understanding of the market and what the industry looks like.
The Business Model:
An overview of the opportunity along with a description of the company, profiling of myself and my skills in regard to the market.
The Company Strategies:
An overview of how Transportify will attract customers, its description of its value proposition and how it will strategically grow.
Finance:
How the business will survive and what revenue it will generate – this is done with the creation of a profit and loss report alongside a cash flow statement.
You can download a free copy of my business plan here.
6. Make it Official
Getting all the legal aspects out of the way early helps while making it real and exciting.
- Register your company with Companies House
- Register for VAT
- Open a bank account
- Get your domain name
- Secure the financing
7. Building Website & Branding
In today’s world, if you are not online, you don’t exist!
Easy bit? Not so easy when you don’t have marketing experience and you have never built a website before. Thankfully, I really enjoy learning so after hours of YouTube tutorials and a steep learning curve, I developed a website that gives me credibility, that reflects my company, my values, and a place that gives me visibility. In the business of service, this place is my shop window and I want it to be perfect.
There will be a follow-up post as I continue toward my goal of creating a company that will start in March 2020.
Yours faithfully,
Jean-Philippe Guérin
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