Build a Blueprint, Form Connections, Then Build a Product

To build a successful company you need three things, a business blueprint, Connections and a product.

Before beginning to create a company in the real world, create it on paper. Make your mistakes and your alterations on paper where it is free. In the real world, a mistake comes at a cost and during initial stages of a company, money is a very tight commodity. I agree with Daniel Finley's passage Blueprint Business. All companies need not only a business plan, but a business blueprint. One that is in-depth and full of all the answers. Think of a blueprint like an opportunity to have a trial run with the company. You have unlimited time and resources on paper and you shouldn't take this with a grain of salt. You should embrace this fact because to build a company, you need a thorough plan capable of withstanding anything thrown at it.

Stacy Cowley writes, "Connections with other individuals is an extremely important aspect to the success of a company" and I couldn't agree more with her. Connections in the entrepreneurial market are a must. Who will buy your product if no one knows about your product? I don't mean this in a sense that you need to go out and market your product with all the money you don't have. I mean you should communicate your ideas to strangers in the market and form a relationship with them. Ask them for advice or suggestions to make your product better than it already is. Ask them what they want you to do for them because in the end, that is what they are paying for.

In more cases than not, having successful relationships with those who use your product develops an impenetrable trust. Trust is a very powerful thing in the business world. One who trusts another will be consequently more apt to buy the product even if it costs slightly higher than another product. Also, trust within a customer is not only good for you because you get their business, but in many cases that customer will tell others to buy your product. This develops a domino effect in which your company's profits grow.

Lastly, and probably most obviously, you need a product. You need to turn that already accepted idea into a tangible service or product. Nandini Hirianniah makes a strong argument that your initial product doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to work. I cannot find a flaw with her statement. The MVP (minimal viable product) doesn't have to be aesthetically appealing or contain all the features that you want in the final product. You just need to have a product that is presentable to your clients. From this point on, you should take the advice of your future users on how to make the product better because in the end, their opinion is all that matters.