The mentality of starting a business

This is a friend's personal experience, because the friend insists not to expose name, so had to use code m to replace.

I met my friend M 20 years ago on the Internet, and have been in touch with each other for 20 years. When I was in Google, M was in charge of the software department as a subsidiary of a group, and M and his team developed a set of products designed specifically for the enterprise, and I was just apps,m the Google team to develop a product that would complement Google Apps, So I lobbied M to persuade the company to join Google Apps Special dealers, in this opportunity, also know his company's vice-president, also help arrange to Kings View headquarters for educational training.

However, people are not as good as the sky, back to Taiwan not long, M told me his parent company to buy another software development company, the merger of two companies, the original team to carry out the plan must be completely abandoned, at the mercy of the club-which means: layoffs may also be one of the options.

First year: The first failed product

After the last m discussed with the team, refused to be at the company's decision to decide the fate of their own business, and very brave to start a team completely did not touch the technology and field. One months later, it was fantastic to launch a start-up.

However, unfortunately, the financial turmoil, the market reaction is not as expected. At the beginning of his career, he and his team members invested 5 million NT dollars as a start-up fund, but they spent 80% of their money on the first year because of their focus on research and development, but only 200,000 of the revenue.

"Does the company have to go on?" M's company began a heated discussion, after several arguments, walked one or two members, but after some thinking, after discussing with family, M boldly decided to take the house mortgage, borrowed a sum of money to pay the company's second year of operating costs.

The second year: the first miracle

The second year began, M's company began a lot of entrepreneurial team will encounter the problem: to eat bread first, feed themselves, or to embrace the ideal, adhere to the development of the original product.

There is always a distance between reality and ideal, when the economy is bad, it would be difficult to find the right investors in Taiwan's capital markets, which were so indifferent to the software industry, and the fundraising would take a long time to discuss, paper work, not to mention lengthy negotiation processes, and the possibility of facing internal members-yes, It's all slow.

As a result, the first product has been transformed, and some projects have been picked up to survive the global downturn.

"But I still run the bank every day." "M said" one time the company's accounting told me, ' M, fifth to pay, today is second, but we have no money in the bank account, what to do? ’”

"What to do, it's a big problem ... In fact, sitting on the pain is useless, money will not fall from the sky, all day, the members will worry, back home, the daughter also can see out ... So the worst way to think about it is to have no harm. It is better to relax the heart, or continue to try to run business more really it "so, M to Taipei continue to visit customers."

At the beginning of the second year, M tried to use the spirit of Coolie, one by one to visit clients, from the middle and Taipei several times, one was still in Taipei MRT station platform tired faint, send medical treatment.

And then, by chance, M found a Japanese business, it is a famous big company, spent a lot of time with the company's project manager to open countless meetings, only hope to have the opportunity to promote their products, and finally gain the trust of each other, into the company's product line. All this has nothing to do with the coolie, and it has nothing to do with unsullied, I think the biggest factor is m believe in the positive thinking of luck.

"In fact, we have been with the customer for eight months, and this eight months we have not made a dime from this customer, but I know they are important." ”

So he opened his mouth, "I'm embarrassed to open this mouth to you, but I met a difficult problem, had to be thick-skinned, see if you can help, my company's account is no money, three days after the pay, I am everywhere asking if there are manufacturers can help turnover. ”

The other apart, immediately dial the phone, please adjust the cost of other projects, first payment, remit 500,000 to M of the company account, solve the month's payroll problems.

"Another time, seeing is really going to die, and the same situation, suddenly payday two days ago sent a cheque, is we do two months of a project costs." ”

The following year, his company's annual performance grew 10 times times.

Third year: Believe in luck, good luck will find you

"In fact, including our first investment in venture capital, and I later took the House mortgage borrowed millions of, we still owe the bank a lot of money, but at least in the good direction of development." "Sometimes you don't think good, good luck won't get you." If we just whine all day long, maybe the team has collapsed. ”

"My wife and I are all optimists, my wife is more nervous than me", M went on to say, "I risked my life to ask my wife to borrow money from my house, and I did all the worst things: the house was gone, the whole family had to go out and rent the house, the worst was all, and I didn't think my wife said anything." ”

The second year, in the rally, decided to continue to fight, M's home in fact, a little thing, every month to pay a large amount of medical expenses, but also hospitals, companies, homes, clients, everywhere-I believe that many people at this time have probably given up, choose to solve the problem of the private domain first.

Third year, 2012, as of the end of October, the results have been four times times the second year, they have reached a single year profit and loss two flat. "Only by choosing to believe in luck, good luck will find you," said M. "It is particularly tempting to say it from his mouth," because you believe in luck, so you think on the bright side and look for answers from the good.

The opportunity will only be for those who are prepared.

There is a saying: "Opportunity is for those who are ready."

The opportunity is really only to find the prepared person, I do not know, but certainly will only find the prepared person. "Ready" is difficult to define, but if there is an opportunity to find you, but you are completely unprepared, do not know how to identify, grasp, then a good opportunity may easily drift away from the side.

The drafters of the American Declaration of Independence, and also the third president, Thomas Jefferson, had a famous saying:

"I ' m a" believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it "

I believe in luck, and I find that the more I try, the more luck I have.

-Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

I've seen a lot of entrepreneurial teams, product launch less than one months, on the revision changes everywhere, anxious to transform (pivot), but did not think that their own products, in fact, like a newborn, many still have to gradually, have not learned to crawl, expect to run, is completely unrealistic. Or not two months, and then watching the whole team on the project to survive, completely abandoned the original want to do.

I often think, is not they are too optimistic at the beginning, with the wrong look, or the product came out is completely pessimistic, not how long will immediately back the result of it? I don't know, just feel a pity.

However, no matter what kind of difficulties you may encounter, the only thing you can be sure of is that good luck will come to you only if you believe in luck.

Add. In the second half of this year, M accepted my proposal to repackage the original venture and prepare to launch it to the international market!