Future founders, do this before resigning.
Too many founders quit their day job too soon. There are many simple steps you can take that can save you months of wasted time, giving your startup a headstart and saving you thousands. Here are some examples.
If you're thinking about leaving your job to start your own company, STOP.
There are things you can be doing now, in your spare time, that can give you a massive head start when you finally leave your job. Here are some obvious ones:
Pick a name for your company and buy the URL.
This can be a significant psychological step, not to mention a big time suck (we're terrible at names!).
Set up an email account and start sending emails from your domain.
If you're planning to use email for marketing (which you probably should be), your domain and email account needs warming up. Sending email marketing campaigns from brand new, barely used accounts/domains can crush email delivery ratios. Start now and avoid the Junk boxes!
Set up a web page.
It's never too soon to start talking about your product or service. Talk about it with friends, at dinner parties, and direct people to your website, where they can sign up for updates about your launch date. Start building links too - reaching the top of search engines is a long and painful climb.
Understand the problem you're solving.
Who are your users? We use a combination of personas and 'jobs-to-be-done'. Understanding exactly who you're targeting and why they will engage will save you a heap of time when it comes to audience building and broadcasting your message.
Talk to your future users.
It's amazing how many founders want to operate "in stealth". I've felt this myself in the past. You don't want to spoil the surprise, or someone to burst your bubble, or to find out it's already been done. But that's totally counter-productive. Of course you want to learn as much as possible BEFORE you invest too much time and money, so you can understand whether it's already too late, where you fit, and how you respond to difficult questions from users and investors.
Start building an audience.
The cost of advertising and costs-per-click are inflating rapidly, making these expensive ways to acquire users and customers. Many founders are avoiding these costs by building their own audiences. You can do the same: start building your personal brand by sharing knowledge, helping people who are struggling with the problem you want to solve, and building trust and reputation. This takes time, but it compounds over time. Here's a useful audience-building toolkit.
Incorporate a company?
We tend to wait until we have proof of traction, but this is another way to commit to your idea. You can leave the company dormant until you're ready, but just having it registered can help you overcome the inertia of getting started.
Doing the above before resigning could easily save 6 months of wasted time. What are 6 months of salary worth to you?
Image credit
– Featured image by Freepik.