Summary: Since we discussed flipping cars in this episode, this image of Kurt Busch flying at Talladega seemed appropriate. Both are kind of a work out. 101 No BS Business Startup Tips! In this Episode of Cars For A Living Dan and I decided to review a fantastic article by James Altucher that was posted on TechCrunch.com called The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Starting And Running Your Business. In it he outlined 101 tips that he had discovered by experience, and while the bulk of them are likely related to the tech industry (think iPhone app companies) we pulled out several that DEFINITELY apply to the automotive industry and reviewed them on air! Here’s a quick sampling…… 4) Should you go for venture capital money? First build a product, then get a customer, then get friends-and-family money (or money from revenues which is cheapest of all) and then think about raising money. But only then. Don’t be an amateur. 11) Should you build a product? Maybe. But first see if, manually, your product works. Then think about providing it as a service. Then productize the commonly used services. Too many people do this in reverse and then fail. 18) How do you get new clients? The best new clients are old clients. Always offer new services. Think every day of new services to offer old clients. 16) What do you do when a customer rejects you in a B2B business? Stay in touch once a month. Never be angry. 19) What’s the best thing to do for a new client? Over-deliver for the first 100 days. Then you will never lose them. 52) Should I give stuff for free? Maybe. But don’t expect free customers to turn into paying customers. Your free customers actually hate you and want everything from you for nothing, so you better have a different business model. 59) Should I hire people because I can travel on a seven-hour plane ride with them? Don’t be an idiot. If anything, hire people the opposite of you. Or else who will you delegate to? 73) My client called at 3 a.m. Should I tell him to respect boundaries? No. You no longer have any boundaries. 74) I made a mistake. Should I tell the client? Yes. Tell him everything that happened. You’re his partner. Not the guy that hides things and then lies about them. RULE #infinity: You create your luck by being healthy and not regretting the past or being anxious about the future. ================================= Listener E-mail 1) James J The thing that I am struggling with right now is becoming too consumed in a career where I have an ‘average’ amount of passion for. Now I do enjoy my profession (engineering/PM), but I do feel mired in red tape, culture of the job, and middle management. Work is continuously and increasingly all consuming, and retirement is quite far off for me. It is really quite ironic, when the company’s management seems to revel how they can remove life from people. …I just do not know how one can continue this longterm without getting so burned out. I just wanted to say thanks for C4AL episode #34. Rob, you already have my vote for the YEN competition and I wish you all of the luck. I’ve been a listener of TMCP and PT podcasts, and am getting into C4AL more and more. At the end of E#34, you mention flipping $1000 cars for $3000 and your ‘mentor’ in this foray. As such, I was wondering if there were any older C4AL podcasts where you detailed this flip or shared any further advice in getting into flipping cars in this manner.
