Karandeep Singh Dhillon100293792Frederica JensenBUSM 111524 January, 2018Lessons Learned in Guillebeau’s The $100 StartupChris Guillebeau’s The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future, provides numerous lessons for individuals intending to harness their passion into entrepreneurship, and others looking to create their own products and services. I have learned that it is best to execute a marketable idea immediately through instant test marketing. Also, I have discovered that hustling for my idea needs me to constantly create and connect with different personas in the target market.
Instant test marketing and hustling facilitate the growth of microbusinesses through real-time engagement of products with the intended market, thus providing feedback on value, satisfaction, and quality of the product.INSTANT TEST MARKETINGOne of the most important lessons I came across in Guillebeau’s book is the necessity of testing the market when starting a business. At this critical point of conception, he explains that it is imperative to start out with whatever marketable idea one has in mind, noting that it is paramount to have a stronger bias towards action, rather than towards planning since certain ideas may never get executed (Guillebeau 223).
While planning helps to identify and set strategic steps for the execution of any project, it needs action to ensure that the said mission actually comes to life. Therefore, instant market testing comes in when an entrepreneur decides to actualize their idea in the market, and helps to create more strategic plans that are more functional and executable as the business grows (Guillebeau 223).To this, Guillebeau provides seven steps to successful instant market testing. First, the entrepreneur should care about the problem that is going to be solved and find out whether there is a substantial number of persons who also care for the same issue (Guillebeau 224). This has been termed as the lesson of convergence; the point at which an entrepreneur’s idea comes to interconnect with the things and events that external people value (Guillebeau 224). Secondly, one must test the size of the market to ascertain that it is large enough. This can be done through a digital search of the number of Google keywords one would use if trying to find the said product or service (Guillebeau 225). Third, the product should create a focus on dealing with a problem that the market already knows it has. In simple terms, Guillebeau explains that it is much easier to sell a product to an individual who is already convinced that they have a problem that needs a solution rather than trying to convince them that they have issues that need addressing (Guillebeau 225). Fourth, one should note that about everything being sold today is a remedy to hidden pains or profound desires (Guillebeau 225). Therefore, the entrepreneur should show people how a given pain or desire can be removed or reduced. This can help draw customers naturally to the product without increased marketing and persuasion. Fifth, it is imperative to think in terms of solutions. Guillebeau explains that the solution must be different and way better than what is in the market, and not necessarily cheaper, an aspect he terms as differentiation (Guillebeau 226). Next, one should ask the potential target market about the idea. A simple tip is to create a persona, the one type of person who would greatly benefit from the solution, and focus on detailed discussions about the idea and the problem (Guillebeau 227). Lastly, the entrepreneur should create an outline for their idea and test it with a subgroup in turn for their feedback. Giving out test products builds trust and value, and helps to make the subgroup evangelists’ of the product (Guillebeau 227).HUSTLINGAccording to Guillebeau, a hustler is an individual who creates a product, talks about it but also does the work to back it up (Guillebeau 336). Because a small idea is just growing to become a microbusiness and further, the best type of hustling comes in the creation of a product and then getting people to talk about it (Guillebeau 336). The bottom line, of course, is to have as many of the right type of intended customers as possible. So as the entrepreneur creates the product and service, he or she must also stay connected both directly and indirectly to the market. Guillebeau states that it does not necessarily have to do with the idea at hand, but supporting other people with their hustle creates plenty of connections for future use (Guillebeau 337).Notably, during the critical stage of the conception and execution of an idea, one should ensure that they create something worth talking about (337). Begin this talk by reaching out to the people that are close and telling them about the product as it launches. Guillebeau provides a simple tip, instructing entrepreneurs to create a list of fifty people and dividing them into necessary categories depending on the type of relationship existent (Guillebeau 337). Note that, this is not really selling’ the product to them, it is letting people know and inviting them to participate if interested. Once this is done, hustling should then be incorporated into daily work with the previous contact list as a starting point (Guillebeau 339). Guillebeau writes that the creation of the idea is the first half while hustling for the idea is the second half of the equation to success (Guillebeau 340).ConclusionI have learned that with a marketable idea already in hand, it is much better to pick action over planning in most cases, a fact that may seem contradictory but actually has a strong impact in Guillebeau’s point of view. Starting out immediately with instant test marketing, an entrepreneur can avoid the lengthy planning periods to ideas that may never be executed, and rather, can learn and plan accordingly through the test marketing period, and further as the events of the execution unfold. With the notion of a hustler in mind, the conversation around the idea can then be started as the product is being launched for the first time, and further incorporated into regular work. Guillebeau importantly explains that creating is one half of the equation while connecting with the market on a daily basis is the remaining half. Ultimately, instant test marketing and hustling works to facilitate the growth of businesses through the collection of feedback on value, satisfaction, and quality of the product. Work CitedGuillebeau, Chris. The $100 startup: Reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and create a new future. Crown Business, 2012.