He said that he pulled the trigger to start his own company because he realized that he had all the tools to succeed and saw an opportunity that no one else was trying to attack. I felt the very same way when it comes to the travel app I'm building now.
He also said that the biggest obstacles he faced involved cash and purchasing equipment. I am not having these problems right now because of the type of product I'm trying to create. The app I'm building is very low cost because I'm building it "in-house".
Bill said that it was becoming harder to start a company because the world is becoming flooded with ideas and it's hard to start something original. I totally agree with this statement. However, you don't need to innovate, you need to take readily available technology and apply it to new applications.
Second Interview w/ Bill:
- How long did it take you to get your first sale?
- "It took us 3.5 months to get our first sale. The sale was to a local plane manufacturer who use to work at McCauley aircrafts."
- How long did it take to break-even?
- "We broke even around a year in to the business. We had paid off all equipment and were doing very well at that point."
- What types of marketing techniques did you use?
- "Back in the day, we use to just sell to locals we knew we had a connection with. The industry we were working in was very small and once you knew one person, you practically knew them all."
Throughout this course, I've learned about several different techniques to approach others. These assignments have allowed me to try different types of contact between myself and others and has made me more confident to speak to entrepreneurs - I look at them as just another person now. I don't think Bill noticed much of a change in confidence level because we were speaking over the phone.
Hi Drew, great interview. It's certainly promising that you were able to relate to your entrepreneur's start-up experience. He felt that he had the resources necessary to pursue an opportunity that nobody else has seen, and that's exactly how you feel about your travel app. I also feel that I've learned about new techniques to approach others through this course, and I feel that I've gotten more comfortable with talking to new people. Good luck with your venture, and I hope that you keep pursuing it. Unfortunately, I missed this assignment, so I can't provide a link to my blog post.
ReplyDeleteDrew, great post! You did a good introduction and a great interview as well. I also think you question were short but very direct. The first question is my favorite, I just started to work as a sales representative and reading about other sales person testimony is valuable for me.I wish you the best on this venture. Hope to hear about you app soon.
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