The dos and don’ts of starting an online business.
Starting an online business is never easy. While the internet space is full of “launch your business in a month” stories, our story is somewhat different.
We built 99aupairs from the need to make the process of finding the right au pair for working parents easy. As a mother of two, with no family support and both my husband and I working full-time, I have gone through the painful process myself. I’ve interviewed what felt like 99 potentials each time we needed help with childcare. I knew the pain first-hand, and none of the available offers solved this in a relaxed and hassle-free way. Being a working mother with no time to waste, I needed to systemise this process for myself – pure survival!
We talked to hundreds of au pairs, existing and potential host parents and the rejecters (a.k.a. “I will never have anyone else look after my children” mums). We had proof that there is a huge market of unfulfilled need – a $10 billion industry, growing at 12 per cent per annum. Or, the way I prefer to look at it, thousands and thousands of families who desperately need their village of support.
Here are a few of the many lessons learned. Some we got right the first time, others we have learned in a painful way not to repeat. I hope this might give you some ideas and save you time, money and stress.
Idea – what is your legacy?
Focus on the one idea that personally touches you. Ten ideas are worth nothing if none of them sees the light of day. But the ideas you have no vested interest in will die once the first obstacles arise. So it really must mean something to you to bring this to life as every business will face difficulties throughout its launch that could mean its demise. To me, this business was not a lightbulb moment – it grew on me and, like a toddler always pulling on my skirt, demanded attention. Our company is indeed my third child now.
Be the expert … but still shut up and listen
What I mean by that is that you need to be the expert in your field (the product you offer/sell or service you provide). And, especially if you are in online business, you need to sharpen your listening skills even more. Because it is tough to know what your customers think and feel when interacting with your business. Listen to all the critics – don’t just look for the “yays”, listen to the “buts”.
Do things that don’t scale
Maybe it is counterintuitive but to get up nice and close with your customer/potential customer, it helps to do things that don’t scale for as long as you can. Talk to your customers one-on-one.
“Having a business has taught me that my business needs me to be the one leading it, developing a vision and mission, so that our team can follow.”
Airbnb founders would go and stay at their first hosts’ houses to truly get an understanding of the pains and gains of their hosts. By calling your ideal clients, you will start to learn about their fears, emotions, reservations and alternatives to your service. We have learned that mothers have to face their emotional fears (i.e. dealing with guilt, self- and society-imposed pressure to do it all), while at the same time convincing their partners of the “logical” gains (financial gains, safety, mental health and more quality time) of hosting au pairs.
Tech team
Do choose your tech team wisely. Like in any project, there is a trade-off – quality, budget or time. If you go for low-budget (our case) and are not willing to discount on quality, be prepared to invest a ton of your time (plus blood and tears, lots of tears). The biggest lesson I can draw from the first phase of our start-up is that you need to have a very experienced and extremely dedicated tech team. From the first three months’ timeline, the delivery stretched out into 12 months. This delay cost us the opportunity to be first to market but also the lost time of testing our minimum viable product (MVP) early on. It has also limited our ability to be quick and nimble and respond to opportunities, which is critical for an online business. It certainly tested my patience!
Test, test, test before you build and get feedback early
Before you jump in and quickly develop a site, first try to understand what the user journey for your customers is. You will appreciate that best after talking to dozens of potential customers and doing a lot of research. Build wireframes for every single step, play them out and have their logic tested by your team, friends, family, and potential and existing customers. Even if you think it all makes sense, you will quickly realise that there are logical errors, unnecessary steps that can all impact the experience and distract from the objective of your business.
In the movie The Founder (about the start of McDonald’s), the scene that stuck with me most was the one of the “dry run” of a kitchen. Before fitting out a real kitchen, the team drew up “virtual stations” and asked staff to pretend to make burgers; they added time pressure and complexities to show the cracks and inefficiencies quickly. Then they “redrew” their kitchen. In a matter of days, they engineered the most efficient commercial kitchen layout, the foundation of their success.
With an online business, you need to do the same. And always keep the user experience (follow their journey, confirm their gains expectations while subtly addressing their fears) at the forefront of your design – always!
Delegate
The life of a start-up can be lonely and frustrating. While your idea may stem from your expertise, you will spend most of your time on areas where you are mediocre at best. This lack of competency and efficiency will demand massive amounts of energy and resilience. While you are starting up you are in no position to delegate admin work, bookkeeping, your business, revenue, finance plans, your marketing and sales, your customer service and finally your online platform, which we spent thousands of hours testing. But at some point, you will not be able to work on your business – developing the strategies, establishing partnerships, developing your go-to-market strategy – if you are stuck being your best “unpaid” employee.
As a mother, I know the struggles of delegating and asking for help. Having a business has taught me that my business needs me to be the one leading it, developing a vision and mission, so that our team can follow and are clear on what we are trying to achieve. We want to be “better mums” and spend more time with our children, but realistically we spend more time doing the laundry, tidying up the house, packing their lunches, bags, planning their appointments and activities. No wonder we feel guilty. List all the tasks you need to do and the ones that you are an expert in and want to do, and ask for help in other areas. Just be clear about areas where it’s critical to get it right (i.e. strategic partnerships, legal, accounting) or where it’s vital to get it done.
Irene Becker, co-founder, 99aupairs
This story first appeared in issue 27 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine.
