Comment by Joel_Mckay
15 days ago
Most people start side-businesses for tax reasons, and those that seek others to solve their problems for them... usually don't last long in business.
I've witnessed many firms run the gauntlet with varying levels of success, and would suggest the following:
1. sell what the customer already wants, as people with loss aversion stick with what they already know.
2. sell what makes customers feel good buying, and reward them with actual functional utility in their life
3. Never compete, focus on service with a novel niche product. Stupid people by their nature destroy everything around them regardless of long term benefit.
4. Never hire people unless absolutely necessary, and contract with tax responsibility clauses when possible.
5. Never buy equipment unless absolutely necessary, or lease when possible
6. Never enter legal or subscription agreements even with your own legal specialists feedback
7. Never become a poser burning $170k/month on labor in a vestigial office
8. Position your firm to leverage tax and grant programs
9. Stay quiet (especially online in a sea of cons), and only talk about the distant past when people try to goad you into telling them how you make revenue
10. Avoid bums in suits as many are dangerous well practiced thieves. Never let technical staff talk with the customers, or vendors. Some people go crazy when they see a bit of money, and do not behave rationally.
11. There must only be 1 president, and all agreements must be in contract form.
12. Never risk more than 15% of annual revenue on ANY deal. Customers lie and disappear on rare occasion... Large firms can grab your firm like a dog with a rag doll, and may still stiff you on the contract knowing the legal and fiscal power asymmetry
13. Chasing customers means your business model still needs work. If people are happy with what you are providing, than growth should naturally happen every year
14. Go to trade shows to see what other people are selling, and ask yourself what else does the customer need
15. Cash is king, as long as the money flows most other problems are irrelevant
Best of luck, =3
Thanks for sharing. Would you mind expanding on a few points?
> 2. sell what makes customers feel good buying
What did you have in mind? What would make a purchase feel good or bad for a customer?
> 3. Never compete, focus on service with a novel niche product. Stupid people by their nature destroy everything around them regardless of long term benefit.
I'm not sure how the second sentence connects to the first - could you clarify what you mean there?
> 9. Stay quiet (especially online in a sea of cons), and only talk about the distant past when people try to goad you into telling them how you make revenue
You mean staying quiet about the specifics of your current products and strategy, as opposed to sharing general advice like here, right?
> Never let technical staff talk with the customers, or vendors.
Could you elaborate on the reasoning behind this?
Thanks again.
>What did you have in mind?
Whether computational efficiency for traditional problems on a bizarre Neuromorphic computing architecture would remain feasible.
>What would make a purchase feel good or bad for a customer?
An intangible asset heavily associated with brand reputation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill_(accounting)
The business reasons deal with pricing fluctuations and human behavior.
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_surprising_science...
>could you clarify what you mean there?
Difficult to put a thesis on a road sign, but in general people make mistakes when building a business:
i. desperately grasping at low hanging fruit in a fragmented market. Where people burn enormous amounts of cash to bid down their own sectors perceived value.
ii. trying to innovate their way out of a bad business plan, instead of studying the market for what folks actually wanted.
iii. cognitive offloading, and premature labor cost-minimization using LLM isomorphic plagiarism to poison public discourse
https://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidi...
>You mean staying quiet about the specifics of your current products
One wants to limit contact with potential competitors/cloners, and focus on paying customers in a sales context.
>Could you elaborate on the reasoning behind this?
Flagging a "liability" is part of managing good workmanship standards:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26184/26184-h/26184-h.htm
Some people are ignorant, some are evil, and some are naive... One can't afford to make a distinction when restructuring divisions. =3
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.