The ups and downs of a grassroots entrepreneur, this is the real "Maker Voice"

See this topic, is not feeling "words wind" suddenly changed? Yes, Maker Voice is trying to make some changes (see article), such as inviting some entrepreneurs to talk about entrepreneurial experiences and product ideas, inviting investors to talk about hardware ventures and investment ideas, inviting readers to take stock of their favorite products. Welcome everyone to contribute, posting mailbox is syq#36kr.com.

The author of this article: Huang Jinlong, founder of Easy technology. The following is the text:

Today see Group of Liu Yan classmate's article "The Heart has Bodhi hand has the knife, wants to Chengsheli but becomes the demon" After, the feeling is very deep. I believe that as a senior failure entrepreneur, there must be a lot of different feelings with the general audience, this is also I think it is necessary to write about my entrepreneurial failure of some experience. Because Liu Yan classmate and Liangning woman is very deep, I do not know "way", so I put the article plainly called "The ups and downs of grassroots entrepreneurs."

My business is entirely unplanned and unexpected, and it seems like my life, entrepreneurship is the result of my inability to choose.

I believe, holding the junior high school graduation certificate, I can not knock open the door of any enterprise.
From 2002 to 2006, when the old club from customer service to software development to hardware development, I had a hunch that I might be a lifelong programmer, I chose to resign. After the resignation also did not find a job, a friend know that I resign, he asked me to help him write a part-time software, but one months after the end.

Later I began to develop a MTK mobile phone brush machine software, in that era of the original chargeable software I went out for free, which also brought me a good reputation in the industry and users. But free software after all is free, need to commercialize or must sell hardware products, fortunately, in the early years I learned the electronic circuit development, when the development of products the only problem is money.
At the beginning of the accumulation of less than million, to find a sales partner invested tens of thousands of yuan then began to produce, the first product produced 200 units, do not anticipate failure. At this time because the partner set up a new company, I also proposed the split, the earlier investment when the loan, promised to add interest return, and then to other friends to borrow tens of thousands of yuan, then began to develop a second edition of the product. The plot of the story starts here, the product sells, I personally obtained nearly tens of millions of profits, began to expand business, investment factory, buy a car, self expansion, that year I 22 years old.

Chaoshan has an old saying, called "Juvenile blossom, the door unfortunate." Sure enough, on the eve of the 2008 Olympic Games, foreign trade business plummeted, domestic business, and the slow rise of smart phone, I judge the function of mobile phone brush machine business will die, so choose to change careers.

I invested in my dream of the internet industry, set up a network of things 56.hk, silly force I made a life the first biggest wrong decision, career change! Career change means abandoning old business, starting new business, from the combination of soft and hard electronics industry, the combination of soft and hard and network logistics industry, from the research and development of production and marketing to promote all the personnel, almost all replaced, this span not only to the egg, but also to cross out the foot of the tear, other people's arm, I amputated, No More Heroes.

Since then, just hear someone say a career change, I will definitely oppose, and for example: "Which industry is not easy, you enter a new industry to face the challenge is those who may have been 10 years and 20 years old guy, why do you compete with others, people do not need to use technology, brand, capital, You can be beaten with experience. Besides, you can't do well in this industry right now, how do you know you can do better in the new industry? ”

Entrepreneurial success in many factors, experience is very important one, and experience is not to learn, must be accumulated slowly, in the beginning of your entrepreneurial dream, please ask your experience accumulated for how long?

Then, in 2010, I got married and moved to Shenzhen to start my second venture, to find another partner, in Huaqiang North, the dyeing from the simplest selling iphones and accessories, and later acting as a trade agent for some products.

After keeping a few months of the stall also slowly realized, I before the marketing of this course almost 0 points, a few years ago the product can be sold so well because there is a total agent in the pan, now I do, just know marketing is also a door technology. A person who does not understand the market to make any marketing decisions, is wrong, marketing decisions must be heard to see the fire people together, otherwise the market could not be carried out. Professional things for professional people to do, I am a technical person is not good at marketing. The right person must also be placed in the right place, the position does not match as vacant. So I threw the marketing job to another partner, and I found another technical partner, and began to develop mobile phones and peripherals, take the route of the independent brand.

In fact, the product is right, I even think the Virgo people should do products, and the kind of fastidious characteristics, the pursuit of perfect attitude exactly match. Then crashed a year to cast a lot of products, although there are one or two to make money, but the other several losses have been offset to make profits, more than 2 years down the funds are also nervous. It also leads to a vicious circle, slowly discovering that every month is losing money, and when you are working hard, still can not change the status quo, continue to product development input may make the cash flow more tense, this time to increase sales strength is no use, then clean up the inventory, cut down the expenditure of personnel is also inevitable road, to the final , has been completely unable to find the direction.

If your career stops you from loving, you should stop and think about what the problem is. When I can't find the honor and achievement, I choose to give up and let myself be quiet in the future when I don't know where I am.

These two unsuccessful startups took me 8 years, of course there are many details not written out, but I think the experience of success is meaningless, the experience of failure is valuable. Everyone's success has its contingency, so success must not be replicated, but failed experience can be used for reference. (against the idea that a doctor's success can be replicated)

The first time I failed to start a business, it was all because of my mental arrogance, in a new industry, no resources to help, did not do a comprehensive investigation and analysis, only with their own feeling in advance, product development came out, met the brutal market only know to strengthen marketing promotion team, but in fact it is too late. So marketing and promotion, like money, must first in the product, the product is the horse, and marketing promotion is like fodder, a stop is the soldiers panic.

The failure of the second venture has more of a component of luck, compared to the first lessons, coupled with my father, I have been a lot more mature, but the second failure is still in the product and marketing, in fact, the failure of any company is a marketing failure, if sales have income to maintain operations, Other deficiencies can be adjusted.

Products on the failure, I also summed up a few points, the appearance must be done exquisite, function must do subtraction, do small and beautiful products than do all-inclusive product success probability will be greater.

The first version of the product, the impact of the perfect experience of the function or module resolutely cut off, must be in the design phase of 100 points, such as production and then to the hands of consumers may be 60 points, barely pass. You are at the design stage of casual and will, then produce to consumers hand, must be a failed product. You should not dream of a better function in the second edition, in fact, most of the products in the first edition is already dead. Products like life, there will always be many opportunities, but from the beginning not perfect, you may not have the opportunity.

Here are some of the points I have summed up, of course, because of the level of knowledge, probably incorrect,

The most important thing to start a business is 3 points, money, people, products. And the money is in the first place.
Now entrepreneurship, especially the mobile internet industry, are popular venture capital financing, but I also contact mobile gaming and application promotion for several years, but also a half foot into the mobile internet door. Plus recently in the smart hardware, there are contacts with a lot of investment institutions, but if you and I do not have a large company background and the experience of making a good product, I advise you to forget. I have at least a few big investment companies about to meet, if not the above experience estimated BP will not reply, let alone an appointment. You think, Luo so brilliant eloquence so good people, is also about 50 rounds to talk about the investment Ah, I think the crosstalk ability not old Luo good. Those who think that a single idea can get a lot of investment is Gillian, silly very naïve. Therefore, if you do not have enough start-up funds to do the planning (at least 1 years of wages + rent + product costs), I would advise not to venture out.

In the entrepreneurial mentality, I am proposing to spend their own money, the time is ripe to take the investment company's money, you spend your hard-earned money and spend the investment company, completely two different flavors. Besides, the guys in the investment company are spermatogonial, and it's always icing on the cake. When you get the money chain broken, go to change to show you this person is very unreliable, this time a bit of bargaining chips are not, so I agree with Lei and Ma Yun's argument, in the best time to change money, in a lot of time to look for cash, than you have no money when better.

I say money is more important than people, many friends are against this point of view, that people are more important than money, in fact, I also agree, but the prerequisite is that you do not need to worry about money. If you don't have the money to spend like Lei, believe me, money is more important than people. Besides, millet company and Lei so rich, recently also seek foreign bank loan 1 billion dollars, you can say money is not important? The company has no money will die, the company no one can recruit, can please, partners can also slowly find, slowly cultivate, think that the outstanding talent you share the right to retain talent is also a matter of natural.

But looking for partners must be cautious, recently read Xiaoping's article, I agree with old classmates and old colleagues to find partners, but do not agree with seven aunt eight aunt casually find a partner's things can not casually, a casual career is dangerous, this world can with GAN can not bitter people too much, disaster came two in-laws may divorce, Not to mention a corporate partner. So don't find partners before the location of the empty, but long-term development company must have a shareholding system, your heart and the pattern must determine your career height.

Of course my experience is to find those who have led the business and then failed to cooperate, everyone's failure has a reason, are valuable wealth, so the chances of success is higher.

About products, how far a company can go, in fact, by those people do those products, so sometimes the choice is more important than the effort, the choice of products on the tuyere needs vision and opportunities, of course, I agree with the opportunity.

But always remember that any one of your products is your brand symbol, the brand is determined by the quality + time accumulation, only "brand" products have a premium ability, any one hit your logo small products, please pay attention to it. My experience tells me that if you want to do an electronic product, the most important thing is the appearance, packaging and user experience, the success of Millet is the user perception to achieve the ultimate, all users can touch to see, are perfect. If you're working on a software, then please do the UI, user experience and customer service well, listen to Fu Shengli said, the cheetah in Google Play has 12 million evaluations, each of the 1-star evaluation They have tracking response, and in the user's language response, Spanish dozen 1 stars in Spanish back, Arabic 1 stars in Arabic, to know that customer service is the largest user perception and experience.

This is my summary of entrepreneurial discipline:

1, the first goal of entrepreneurship is to live, and any decision must be guaranteed to survive.

2. Cash flow must always be positive. A company with a negative profit will not die, and a company with a negative cash flow would die immediately.

3, Unity is the strength, must unite partners and executive team, divided management is a time bomb, explode.

4, have a stock of the industry, must strictly control inventory, just like control your cash flow! Remember that stock is not dead, inventory is rubbish.

5, please memorize the above points, simple summary is alive, money, people, goods.

A few suggestions to the founders:

1, the founder's work is not the technology, not the market, the founder's work only 3, change, find someone, looking for, that is, financing, with the team, the strategy.

2, the relationship is very important, do not believe that Ma Yun said "the most unreliable is the relationship" and so on, I gave him this sentence pit for 8 years.

3, when the internal and external problems at the same time, I believe that President Chiang's words, resisting must first Ann, deal with internal relations and then deal with external things.

4, do not forget beginner! The purpose of entrepreneurship is to realize the dream, by the way to make some money, big rich expensive is the fate of things, you can not be forced.

5, do not ignore the details! Never overlook any minor problems that have disturbed you, it is not superstition, and it is a belief that many sciences cannot explain.

6. Read more books on religion and philosophy and less on management. Founder's loneliness few people can understand, failure is the normal, as long as the peace of the.

7, the impact of entrepreneurial success and failure of too many factors, I call it out of control, since the uncontrollable, then let it be natural good.

8, please be convinced, and practice: Life first, career second.

All I have said is wrong. Because I thought so, but I failed.

Yes, you're right. We're looking for you, manuscripts.

Maker Voice has been three months since May 19. It was originally intended to be a column for friends who focus on new hardware, every day an article, combing sum up the day down each media new hardware industry essence content, may be an interesting product, may also be a thought-provoking point of view, the goal is to let friends in the shortest time here to browse the real worth of attention.

Thanks to the feedback from enthusiastic entrepreneurs, investors and readers, we've been trying to make some new changes recently, such as Maker Voice into a Maker Voice.

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