[GreenYes] Re: Surviving Startups..

["Amy Bauman" <abauman@no.address>]

I absolutely concur with Curt - depending on the work environment you more
recently experienced, it can be a real shock to go from 'highly interactive'
(as I did) to sitting alone in an office trying to figure it out for
yourself.

1) Book lots of appointments for yourself and ask the questions that are
most pressing.

2) Don't forget to _ask_ for the business.  If you're not sure about your
pricing structure, ask people in the industry what they might be willing to
pay for it.  I'll never forget spending hours refining my pitch presentation
... setting up meetings, and facing one outcome I hadn't anticipated:
success.  I didn't have business forms, and I was still struggling with
pricing structure.

3) Do your version of the 'Boston Commons survey', where you get out into
the public with a brief list of questions and keep asking until you have 200
sets of answers.  It's a great navigational tool that will give you
invaluable feedback.

4) Know what motivates you.  Keep yourself in an environment that works for
you.

5) Find non-competitive businesses that pitch services to the same customers
and offer an alliance ... either through shared marketing, a shared booth at
a trade show, or a simple referral arrangement.  This has allowed me to
offer more comprehensive services to clients and get a few more people in my
corner who had similar motivations and start up issues.

You're right ... there are a lot of stories out there.  Finding a
professional organization that suits you might help a lot.  Also realize
that any time you want to have more security, you can probably do what
you're doing for a larger company ... it depends on what your personal goals
are and your tolerance for risk.

Best of luck, and I know I'm not alone on this list when I say that we're
all pulling for you

Regards,

Amy Bauman
greenGoat
www.greengoat.org
617-666-5253

-----Original Message-----
From: GreenYes@no.address [mailto:GreenYes@no.address]On
Behalf Of M.Simons
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 7:02 PM
To: GreenYes@no.address
Subject: [GreenYes] Surviving Startups..




We've got a lot of people here with lots of different experiences, ways
they got into this field and interests.. hobbies, professionals, local
organizers, educators, etc. etc.

My question is more towards the people who have made this their life's
work..

How do you survive during the startup phases? How did you make it
through?

I've heard from people who have been working towards recycling and reuse
efforts full time for whatever reason (personal drive, madness,
motivation, dedication) and some who haven't had it pay them for thier
efforts for years and years until it finally can..

How did (or do) you do it?  (And please don't just tell me "I'm frugal" or
"I grow my own food off of compost" -- these sorts of things are clear.)

Does that make sense?  I've been working on my project for many years now
and am feeling stressed. :(

--
MS


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