Dedicated to entrepreneurs who want their companies to be successful

When the reading of a biography (that of Steve Jobs) offers food for thought to also help lay down good practices.

I Focus Concentrating on a single product/service or a limited range of products/services represents the point of departure for every successful business strategy. But since choosing what not to do is as important as deciding what to do, it can be useful to determine the 10 most important things to do for your business. Write them down. Once you’ve come up with 10, eliminate 7. Realistically, you will be able to achieve only 3. The moral of the story: learning to filter “distractions” is the first step on the road to success.

II Simplify Make your products/services easy to use. Simplifying does not mean ignoring complexity, but overcoming it. You need to make your product/service the customer’s friend, and not a challenge. Of course, simplifying requires a lot of work, because you have to understand the real problems and solve them. Start with the question, “is it really necessary?” for every component of the product/service.

III Responsible from start to finish This requires that your product/service integrate with everything that could be used by the customer along with it (printers, headphones, webcams...). Consider the interactions that your customers will trigger by using your product/service together with other product/services: what problems will arise? You need to anticipate these by making your product/service fully compatible. This may mean having to drastically change your business model, since you will have to take on the responsibility of directly manufacturing or promoting the complementary product/service, which in the short term entails lesser economic results, but in the long term, makes the difference between success and failure (think Apple...).

IV If you’re behind, jump ahead The distinguishing mark of successful concerns is not just the capacity to churn out new ideas, but also recovering lost positions by taking a leap forward. If you product/service has been left behind by the competition, instead of wasting time covering the gap, you will have to decide to create something completely new and different, forcing your business to push the envelope.

V Product/service first, profit later Your primary objective should be: make your product/service “useful and innovative”. You can’t expect to become a successful enterprise by putting profit first. Profits are a natural consequence of a “useful and innovative” product/service, not the other way around. Your entrepreneurial passion needs to be that of building a concern that can last over time, where the people are motivated to create great products/services.

VI Don’t be a slave to focus groups Henry Ford said, «If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses». Steve Jobs always said that customers don’t know what they want until we show it to them. This does not mean that listening to the customer is useless. On the contrary, in some sense we should be their slaves. But truly valuing what the customers want is different than asking them about it; it means walking a long stretch in their shoes and looking without pause for that which, for them, is the true utility/innovation. To this end it is necessary to awaken that gift that so many entrepreneurs share: namely intuition.

VII Leave a mark Just as a book can also be judged by its cover, the image that a concern projects on itself (but this goes for the product or service as well) contributes to forming public opinion. You need to make your product/service attractive, in addition to useful and innovative. For example, delivery of the product/service should respect a ritual that impresses affection for your concern in the customer’s mind. This does much more than 1000 advertising campaigns.

VIII Aim for perfection If you’re not convinced by the product/service you are launching on the market, stop and start over from the beginning. If you’re convinced that something in your concern is not perfect, change it. Do not stoop to comprises, which are a one-way ticket to failure. In this respect, you should encourage your partners to constantly improve by rewarding them and involving them in your decisions.

IX Deploy first-class players Always seek out collaborators that are “better than you”. Always be open to selecting new personnel, even when you don’t need any. Hiring a first-class collaborator even when the work does not require one is a distinguishing mark of a successful concern. Investment in people should take priority over those in facilities and equipment, because they will guarantee success, not the machinery.

X Communicate face to face Meet in person with your most valued collaborators, customers and suppliers. Technology helps, it’s true, but nothing generates positive energy, fuels creativity or brings out promising ideas and encounters like a meeting face to face. It is important to equip your business with spaces capable of hosting visitors, and these should not feel too isolated. Organize an informal meeting every 15 days with all employees, with no order of the day. Listen, learn and ask. Sometimes the idea that can transform a business is closer than you might think.

XI Keep in mind the big picture and the details There are entrepreneurs who have a fantastic understanding of the concern or market as a whole, others who find God in the details. But it is necessary to find a balance between the two points: aiming to have a comprehensive business strategy, while at the same time minding the details of a product/service.

XII Combine scientific and personal approaches Mix technique and emotion in your products/services: it’s a winning combination. Combine humanistic and scientific culture, creativity and technology, art and engineering.
Finally, think of yourselves always as a start-up. You need to always be the “beta version” of yourselves, a project that is never complete but constantly updated: in my opinion, the essence of the successful entrepreneur lies in this attitude.

A cura di Eleonora Gallarotti e Marco Randazzo
By Eleonora Gallarotti and Marco Randazzo
Network & Knowledge Parma
[email protected]