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How Taking Non Scalable Actions Can Get Your Startup Off The Ground
“Hey, hey!” Our VP of Sales yelled across the office to me. He was excitedly running around the office. We had done a “soft launch” of our first product the day before. Our VP of Sales was celebrating because we received our first order.
What was the amount of that first order? $13.
Now, I’m going to let you in on a secret. There are only two people in the world that know this secret, and now you are the third.
I had asked a friend at another company to buy the parts. So, I was using my network to help generate some sales and momentum. Now, why would I do something like this?
I just wanted to prime the pump.
And priming the pump is what the early selling days are all about when you are starting your company.
When you’re starting out, you quickly realize (unless you get really lucky) that customers don’t come banging at your doorstep for your products. No one knows you exist!
I think that lack of brand recognition was what surprised me the most when we were starting. The crazy thing was I knew we weren’t going to have any brand recognition before we started. Yet the lack of brand recognition still startled me.
