The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

“value is created when a person makes something useful and shares it with the world.”

Book Summaries are everywhere. I've spent a little over 2000 hours, reading & learning cover to cover over 250 books. While spending 4-5 hours a day reading, I always imagined if there was a place where I could read book summaries and save time. I looked at every summary website and app, but all they provide is either a computer generated paragraph, or quotes and random takeaways, or just a skimp effort extracting stories from the books. I craved a cogitated summary that's action oriented. So, I created my own Actionable, Laconic, to the Point, Pragmatic summaries of every book I've ever read.

Here's my summary of the book "The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future" by Chris Guillebeau.

What's a Micro-business?

small business operated by a single person
Prerequisites to start a business
- a product or service
- significant number of people who will buy it
- a way to get paid

“think more about what people really want than about what you think they need.”

How to come up with a Product?

Turn passion into product
Ask
- what are you good at?
- do you have any specific skills that you know you’re better at than anyone else you know of?
- what you are passionate about from this list?
- identify a problem in the market that your skill might solve
build a connection between
- your skill <—> your passion <—> market need or pain point

“Value means helping people. If you’re trying to build a microbusiness and you begin your efforts by helping people, you’re on the right track. When you get stuck, ask yourself: How can I give more value? Or more simply: How can I help my customers more?”

What's Value? What make a Product Valuable?

design something that’s desirable to customers
- what they really want | not what you think they should have
- what do your customers say they want?
- what does their behavior say they want?
- what are their biggest fears?
- what are their greatest aspirations?
streamline your service/product
- to make it as convenient as possible
- very easy to use
connect to an emotional desire
- express your product’s value in terms of
  - ✔️ Benefits it provides
  - ❌ Features it offers
- Example
  - Wedding dress shop
    - ✔️ - how beautiful and special they will help their customers feel on their wedding day
    - ❌ - quality and style of wedding dresses it offers
Value types
- getting customers what they want
- taking away things they don’t want
People want less when it comes to | stress and uncertainty
- Example | LinkedIn
- Before
- After
Articulate
- express clearly what you do for your customers
- list out all features
  - Example
    - Custom jewelry design shop
    - makes custom designs for each customer
- explain how each of these features makes the customer Feel
  - Example
    - makes each customer feel unique
- not every feature will link to a feeling
- select the most important feature that you can clearly link
  - to how your product will make the customer feel
- clarifying this connection to each customer | most important task

“As you begin to think like an entrepreneur, you’ll notice that business ideas can come from anywhere.”

Who are my Customers? Can I sell to everyone?

Answer
- Who are they?
- Where are they?
- what do they have in common?
WHO
- Traditional demographics
  - age, sex, income, race, location
- modern metrics
  - interests
  - skills
  - beliefs
  - values
- Find the ideal customers
  - communicate with them
  - anyone who is a good fit for your product
  - ask them about their problems
- People buy based on their needs
  - who has the problem I am interested in solving?
  - what characteristics can you use to identify and find people with this problem?
  - look for identifiable groups of people
    - all facing the same challenge
  - make Groups based on needs
    - Group1 | students - middle class family
    - Group2 | students - rich family - time pressed - premium resources
    - Group3 | students - poor family
    - Group4 | young children - uneducated
    - Group5 | young children - labor jobs
    - Group6 | home-bound - due to age or disability
    - Group7 | athletes - already have skills - show off their status and skills
    - Group8 .. so on
  - Position
    - position your product based on its benefits and how it solves the market segment pain points
    - understand each segment’s problem uniquely
    - position your product accordingly
WHERE
- where can you find these groups of people
  - social media - where?
  - gyms
  - coaching centers
- meet with them
- survey them
  - Test your offerings with them
    - ✔️ Make them choose trade-off choices
    - ❌ don’t just ask what they want | people say they want everything
  - explain your product and ask them what they like and dislike

Overcome Procrastination. Take Action.

pick the idea and run with it
- the idea doesn’t have to be perfect
- feedback and improve
always keep costs low
- set a budget | what you are willing to spend
  - set an initial marketing budget
  - reach 100 customers → increase budget by 20%
  - reach 500 customers → increase budget by 30%
- set milestones
How will I get my first sale?
- it will serve as a reference customer
- it will give people more confidence in buying from you
- people follow a crowd
Try to get a reputable business associated with your product

How do I Self Promote?

market your business
- start with people you know
  - send them personalized messages
  - explain to them your features
  - make it very easy for them to understand
  - ask a favor
  - an email they can forward to their friends
  - a social media post they can share
- Strategic giving
  - occasionally giving away free products to spread the word
  - make an impression on existing customers
    - give to bloggers or influencers in the same industry | people who have a following
    - make sure those people have a reach in the specific target market
  - ideas
    - double a customer’s order
    - upgrade their shipping
    - include gifts
    - hold contests and giveaways
  - maintain a schedule of communication
    - regular posts on social media
    - responses to questions
    - check-ins with existing customers
Promotion
- Word of mouth
  - send a custom message to all known people
  - let them know that this is a favor
  - if they bring people your way, make sure to give them gifts
- people, influencers
  - add them to the social media page
  - add them to the mailing list
- find the power users
  - people who bring in more traffic | people who use the product a lot
  - schedule regular calls with them
  - get their opinions on new features and feedback on performance

How do I Grow my Startup?

small changes to existing business
try
- add a service to your product-based business
  - think of something you could educate your customer
  - consulting
  - coaching, training
- or add a product to your service-based business
  - offer a product that compliments the service
  - similarly, you can also team up with other products who are looking for service to complement their offering.
- upsells
  - offer a higher level version of an item
  - or an additional item altogether when a customer buys something
  - example
    - ClearTax subscription
    - selling tax planning and tax forecasting services
  - Ask
    - is there an “elite”, “pro” and “⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” 5 star version of your product that you could create?
    - having a higher package can lead people to buy the medium product rather than the lowest one
- cross-sells
  - offer related items to customers after they buy something
- experiment
  - with raising rates over time
  - offer ancillary services bundled with your main offering

Keep reading. Keep Growing.

Read India Lead India.

Until next time..

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