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Andrew & I, sat down and had a chat about what it means to call yourself an entrepreneur and why so many people are reluctant to do so, even when they're already doing entrepreneurial things. Check it out if you want to hear Andrew's a-ha moment when he was ready to call himself an entrepreneur, and why he's certifiably unemployable now because of it... What do you think? What did you call yourself before you called yourself an entrepreneur or was it a title you wore confidently right as you started your venture? Let us know in the comment section below:
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Today, Andrew Button wants to say you shouldn't fall in love with your business idea. What!? That’s right. Move beyond telling your business idea to just your friends & family who love you. Meaning, they’ll love it too and probably, just lie to you because they love you. What Andrew wants you to do is go out and find yourself some potential CUSTOMERS because they won’t lie to you. They want to know how you can solve THEIR problems and why you deserve THEIR hard-earned cash. Figure out if you’re great idea is worth actually putting your time and potentially, even your money into! We’ve got a Dream Business Pitch Night happening on February 6th where folks have discovered ideas that they’re ready to get out and do! And, we’re accepting another round of applications for our next cohorts of entrepreneurs in February, apply here: http://www.mashuplab.ca/dreambusiness.html For those of you who think your ideas aren’t good enough and are scared to share them. Just remember, your ideas ARE GOOD enough!
Andrew Button always thinks that a lot of business opportunities are missed, and a lot more problems could be solved if we just shared them. Don’t feel like you shouldn’t share your idea because you believe you may not have the technological skills to do it. Andrew is CONVINCED that if you’re passionate about the problem you’re trying to solve and committed to doing what really matters, you will attract the RIGHT people (co-founders, employees, customers, investors) to help you build the best solution possible! Come out to Mashup Weekend: Annapolis Royal on January 26, and get a team that wants to work hard alongside your great business idea! Register here: https://youtu.be/LMSLTtppaHA This Monday, we here at Mashup Lab encourage you to not let the “Busy-ness” of business get in the way of doing the work you need to do to get an idea off the ground. What we’re saying is, don’t overplan your year! If you’re spending all your time working on your “planning journal," at some point you’ve got to face the music, and actually do something! For Andrew, spending a lot of time in his ‘planning journal’ was his method of procrastination and was only a symptom of his fear of failure that was stopping him from doing the audacious things he wanted to do with Mashup Lab. In the #DreamBusiness program, there’s all kinds of people in the same stage you are with your entrepreneurial adventure. If you’re interested, apply here: http://www.mashuplab.ca/dreambusiness.html We at Mashup Lab have a New Years resolution for ourselves & for you: Never put your goals or aspirations aside for anyone! Life is too short! We’ve got an exciting new year ahead of us to achieve amazing things! You can always figure out a way to incorporate what you’re trying to achieve into the bigger plans for your life! If you want to work on a goal that’s about your business in the New Year, check out a few great things we've got coming up. On January 26, we have our first one-day accelerated Mashup Weekend happening in Annapolis Royal. Also, we're looking for the next 20 entrepreneurs from rural Nova Scotia to go through our (FREE!) #DreamBusiness. Folks from Cape Breton start on February 12 and folks from mainland Nova Scotia start February 14. Apply here: http://www.mashuplab.ca/dreambusiness.html This Monday, Andrew wants to say that what you’re doing as an entrepreneur, whether the business is big or small, it will always MATTER. The people around you are seeing what you’re doing. They’re seeing you having the courage to work on an idea and start to take action! You don’t realize the impact that has on other people! They may see what you’re doing and it may inspire them to work on something they’ve been wanting to. More importantly, you’re teaching your family/kids that no matter what the circumstances, it’s always worth it to be courageous and follow what your passionate about. They see you taking a chance and going for it! So, to say what you’re doing isn’t being noticed because the cashflow you were hoping for isn’t there yet; it’s the unintentional impacts that you don’t see where your entrepreneurial courage matters most! This Monday, Andrew wanted to talk about the Fear of Failure and the self doubt that comes with doing anything entrepreneurial or innovative. Anytime you're pushing the boundaries or doing something new, there’s a lot of self-doubt that comes with it: -Will the business work? -Do I have the customers right? -Do I have the Marketing Channels right? -Is this the right thing for me to be doing right now? Being an entrepreneurs is a constant roller coaster of "This is never gonna work" to "this is the best idea ever" Tim McGraw framed this best when he said: “Anytime you do something, it’s always peppered with doubt but it’s also peppered with belief. It’s your job to NOT let the doubt win.” Someone asked Andrew: Mashup Lab’s process must really eliminate that fear of failure? No, no, no… Our job is not to eliminate that fear of failure... Our job is to give you the COURAGE to do it anyway! This Thursday the 13th, six new entrepreneurs are going through our Dream Business. Maybe seeing someone else bust through those fears of failure will inspire you to do something audacious! Why would you pitch if you’re not doing it for money? By going through the process of developing a formal pitch, it forces you to be CONCISE about your business. You don’t have to tell EVERYTHING about the business. Allow the person you’re speaking to ask you what it is that most interests them about your business. What you’re trying to do when pitching is figure out how YOU want to tell YOUR story. You can use this when you: -Bring a new partner on board -Hire your first employee -Try to get your business connected a channel partner/association Seeing a recent Dream Business graduate walk in to CO3 and another entrepreneur asks them what they do and they nail it in 3-4 sentences, and the people get it? The power of that is huge! Want to see this in action? Mashup Lab will be hosting a Celebration Night for our most recent Nova Scotian cohort of the #DreamBusiness program at CO3 on December 13th at 7pm Halfway through the Dream Business program, Andrew starts to really see those broad initial business ideas begin to take serious shape. Getting sales for your product is one thing, the real value for your company long-term is understanding what drove that customer to buy your product and the clarity that creates for you & your business. You understand the value proposition of your product, you need to understand what piece(s) of that value is the true motivating factor to drive a customer to purchase. What his tells you, is how you should market your product. If you start marketing your product based on Value proposition X but in reality, people are buying it for reasons Y&Z you may be marketing your product in a completely convoluted way. Let the market speak to you! Also, keep a close eye on @WorkEvolved Facebook page this Wednesday, Andrew has something to share you may really want to keep your eyes open for! This week, Andrew just wants to remind you to get out of your own head! Seriously, stop overthinking things and stop making things too complicated! A lot of times you can get too caught up in thinking of the next few thousand steps of the idea or get lost in all the nuance of how it would work that, it may not even matter in the long run! For Andrew, just walking into a coworking space and getting around new people and breaking that routine is all you may need to reset and bust through those barriers that you may be coming to! Get outside, share that idea and let someone else ask you about it or articulate it differently. You'll be surprised by what sort of clarity this offers! |
Rural PerspectiveWorking with over 1,000 Entrepreneurs starting and growing businesses from rural communities gives you perspective. Here is where I share the things I'm learning through my work with Mashup Lab. This is my Rural Perspective; I'd love to hear yours. Archives
May 2019
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