The idea of starting my own business absolutely terrifies me, but I canât help but feel FOMO from all the entrepreneurs flooding my feed for you. Thousands of men pop up on my algorithm every day sharing their innovative ideas, and I canât help thinking, what about us? Why should we girls be left behind?Â
So, to help my girls out, I contacted the only founder I know personally. St Andrews alumnus and founder of Match With Care, a platform helping families in London find vetted, independent home carers, Bruno Ceccolini. Bruno is a software engineer and has worked on several startup projects since his first year at university, giving him plenty of experience with the dos and donâts of startups. Here are his top tips.Â
Find the right people to work withÂ
During our interview, Bruno emphasized that âthe hardest thing to find is a good team that will work well together in the long runâ. Startups will not generate revenue immediately, and it is really hard to keep everyone motivated when we are under pressure to find a full-time job and start earning money right out of college. If you are committed to making this startup work and you are passionate about what you are building, you must find someone who shares your ambition. This is why Bruno recommends working with a friend, someone you already trust, who will help you strike a balance between your 9-5 and the startup. This leads to the second piece of advice.Â
Be Patient
A startup will not work right away; it takes time to get to know your project and the market you are trying to compete in. Remember, âit is a marathon, not a sprint,â and it is hard work. You have to be ready to be in it for the long run and willing to work on the side to sustain your project. The best way to prepare for this is by focusing on a project that gives you purpose. Remind yourself of your why and use this to anchor you when challenges arise.Â
Find the Pain Point
One way to ensure your idea gives you purpose is to create something that helps others or solves an issue you feel passionate about. Think about the pain point: âbuild where hesitation is low and urgency is highâ.Â
Instead of thinking about a âcoolâ idea, go a step further and think about who is struggling right now, research and understand their struggle, and then build the simplest solution you can come up with. This method will ensure that you are targeting clients who want to engage with your product and that you have a clear reason for building this startup.Â
Wedge not MarketÂ
As argued by Bruno, âgoing after the whole fitness market is not a strategy. Building the recovery app for amateur marathon runners is.â Find a market that you are interested in and identify a very specific aspect of it that you want to engage with. Become an expert in your niche and then expand, for instance, Match with Care began as a solution for traditional care agencies who struggled to connect their clients with carers and is now slowly expanding to become a care agency in its own right.Â
Donât be Afraid to Draw From an IdeaÂ
Some of the most successful startups are slight variations on existing ideas. Take Facebook or Google, they are literally MySpace and Yahoo, but better! If the demand for an idea has already been proven and you think you can add something to it, go for it! Some ways to make a proven idea different are to shift the target audience, the positioning, the geography, or the delivery method. Similarly, Match with Care is drawing inspiration from care agencies and improving the live-in care model by using technology to reduce admin costs.
A Smaller Business Has Its AdvantagesÂ
âYou donât have money, brand, or scale. Big companies do. Donât try to compete on those terms. Compete on your own terms.âÂ
Large businesses usually struggle with âspeed, personalization, and building trustâ; make these your priority. As a startup, you will likely have a reduced number of clients, which will make it easier for you to deliver excellent client service to all of them. This will be your strength and can help you gain good reviews, which build trust and help you scale your business in the future.Â
Share Your ProcessÂ
Social Media rules our world, and what better way to put yourself out there than by drawing on our favorite platforms? Replace doom scrolling with sharing. Post about your process on LinkedIn, Instagram, or even TikTok. Think about the platforms your clients would use and have fun showing off your process. It is the easiest way to distribute your product without spending any money.Â
Currently, our society lacks female founders, and the gender gap in the startup industry is widening every year. This is an issue for another article, but I hope these tips are useful and give some of you interested in becoming founders a bit more confidence to take the leap. If you do have intentions of starting something yourself, applying to accelerators like Project Europe, which is led by inspiring females, can help you get off the ground, even if you just have an idea without a product!