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Below is an extract from a recent
interview. It covers some of the questions that I
regularly get asked:
What
advice would you give someone who was thinking of
starting up their own business?
Do it! Do it! and get good advice. I have been around
the block a bit, SimplySwitch was my third business but
I knew there were other people out there who knew more
than I did and I'm not afraid to ask. There is no such
thing as a dumb question as far as I'm concerned. You
don't need to know all the answers you just need to know
the right questions to ask.
Where can I go for advice about starting
a business?
Everything you want to
know about setting up a business is there on the
internet. There is an absolute wealth of information; in
fact there is probably too much information so you have
to hone it down a bit. I would say a good first port of
call would be to go to Business Link. In the early days
of setting up SimplySwitch, I regularly rang them. My adviser
was great, he was very supportive, he read through my
business plan and gave some really good constructive
feedback on it. The input was of really high calibre and
completely impartial, he didn't have his own agenda so I
could trust him. And it was free!
How can I tell if my idea is a good one?
It's obviously important to have a good idea, but I
believe that people put too much emphasis on the idea,
the idea isn't everything, and they say that there is
nothing new under the sun. What you need is a unique
slant on what you are doing, your USP, as that is what
will make you special. What then counts is being able to
put your idea into action because you can have a million
good ideas but unless you actually do something that’s
all they remain - ideas.
How can
I overcome the fear of failure when starting up a
business?
I think
a lot of people fear failure. They're afraid that if
they set up a business it is going to go wrong. Do what
I did, look at the risks and think what would be the
worst that could happen? In my case it would mean I
would need to get a job.
What are the key
attributes I need when starting up a business?
I think you need to be a bit of a rhinoceros and have
really thick skin because one of the key attributes of
successful entrepreneurs is the ability to see a problem
as an opportunity and to really charge at your goals and
to be determined. Of course you're going to meet
problems, of course there are going to be
disappointments and failures. That's not the issue. It's
how you deal with those. When I was setting up
SimplySwitch I had to raise finance and I got a lot of
rejection, a lot of refusals, but I didn't let it bother
me. You go out there, you get your nose bloodied, you
pick yourself up and you carry on but eventually you
will find somebody who will invest in your business if
that's what you're looking for.
I firmly believe that
attitude is everything and you are the person that you
choose to be. People say to me 'Karen how is it you're
so confident and so positive and so optimistic?' I say
what's the alternative? Should I be negative; does that
get you far in life? It doesn't.
How did you go about identifying your
market?
I tend to think of it in terms of people as opposed to
markets and I put myself in the customer's shoes and ask
myself would I actually buy the product or use this
service?
Do you get your business ideas from your
market research?
Not so much dry market research, I was more intuitive
than that. I treat business ideas as a game. Whenever I
come up against a problem or something that is
frustrating or annoying, I think, 'How can I have a
business that will actually solve that problem?' I come
up with really crazy ideas for businesses every day of
the week.
How long did it take you to get the idea
for SimplySwitch off the ground?
The idea took about three months in the making, and then
I had to write a business plan which I found quite
difficult because I hadn't done one before. I then had
to go out and try and find some finance for it and that
took about six months. After we were offered the
finance they took another three months on due diligence
to see if they wanted to invest in us. So from conception to actually trading it took us about nine
months and it was a year before it really started to
take off.
Do you think you have sacrificed anything
to achieve your goals?
There is always a sacrifice in
terms of time. To set up a business you have to really
commit, you can't just play at it. I had young children
and I did have to spend time away from home focusing on
the business but luckily I had a support structure at
home and I have a husband who cooks which certainly
helps! There are always going to be sacrifices, but you
have to keep a balance. In financial terms it can be a
struggle too but when you have that belief then you can
continue. Of course 'necessity is the mother of
invention' and if you really must make a success of it
then that is a really big lever.
If
you would like to ask Karen a question,
click
here!
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Recommended
reading... |
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...I'm featured in
both books! |
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