This article summarizes a discussion with Gua Mo, offering guidance to an aspiring entrepreneur (referred to as Yuan Po) facing critical decisions. Gua Mo shares personal experiences and insights on whether to pursue a startup full-time or part-time, and how to attract initial users with limited funding.
Yuan Po's Dilemma: A Budding Online Platform
Yuan Po has developed an online platform while working a full-time job with a good salary and flexible hours. Now, they face a significant choice:
-
Full-time entrepreneurship: Dedicate all their time to developing and promoting the website.
-
Part-time entrepreneurship: Maintain a stable income while slowly building the platform.
Yuan Po's savings can sustain them for approximately two and a half years. They also lack connections and struggle to attract initial users to the platform. Friends are skeptical, citing insufficient funding, connections, and time, leading to occasional doubts about whether to continue. Despite these challenges, Yuan Po believes in the concept and its market potential and is determined to give it a try. Yuan Po asks Gua Mo for advice on: 1. If the direction of their entrepreneurship is right. 2. If they should continue to work while starting a business, or give up their job and start a full-time business. 3. How they can attract the first batch of users to start promoting the product without funding.
Gua Mo's Perspective: Experience and a Dose of Reality
Gua Mo emphasizes that there is no single "right" answer to entrepreneurship. The following provides insight by sharing related experiences. Gua Mo's journey includes leaving a secure job at "Company A" to pursue their own ventures after the company faced financial difficulties.
Leaving a Comfortable Job
Gua Mo had a positive experience at Company A, enjoying the work and colleagues. However, when the company's financial situation deteriorated, Gua Mo began considering alternatives. This led to the idea of starting a business, leading to a resignation and full dedication to the new venture. They shared this experience with the CEO, who was supportive of Gua Mo's decision.
Early Entrepreneurial Days: Hustle and Luck
Upon leaving Company A, Gua Mo and partners pooled together a modest $1.23 million NTD to start their business. They acknowledge the risk involved and emphasize the importance of luck in entrepreneurship, sharing stories of individuals who succeeded by being in the right place at the right time. Luck played a significant role in the success of their venture, as they were among the first to discuss film stories online.
Retrospective Advice: Less Planning, More Action
Reflecting on the past, Gua Mo jokes that it might have been better to stay silent. Giving past-self the current knowledge and advising on detailed financial planning might have led to inaction. Instead, Gua Mo emphasizes two core principles:
- Just do it: Taking action is crucial.
- Problem-solving: Addressing challenges as they arise.
Gua Mo's approach involves identifying a promising product, forming a company, and tackling problems like manpower and funding shortages as they occur. This includes renting shared office space to save costs and gradually upgrading as needed.
The Unending Entrepreneurial Journey
Gua Mo points out that the entrepreneurial journey is a continuous problem-solving process. Even after achieving success, challenges persist. Gua Mo's final thoughts on the topic are exhaustion, indicating a need to consider the constant demands before starting.
Recommendations for Yuan Po
Gua Mo hesitates to recommend a specific path. Instead, the suggestions include personal stories as a reference.
The Creator's Path: Balancing Work and Passion
Drawing from their experiences and stories of other creators, such as drawing artists who initially worked full-time while pursuing their creative passions, Gua Mo suggests a similar approach for Yuan Po. The suggestion involves continuing the current job while developing the website in their free time. Only after the website generates substantial income should Yuan Po consider switching fully.
Attracting Initial Users Without Funding
Gua Mo emphasizes that finding low-cost, high-impact marketing strategies is a universal pursuit. While no guaranteed solutions exist, Gua Mo suggests starting with free methods such as:
-
Joining relevant Facebook groups: Sharing the website within appropriate discussions.
-
Engaging on news websites: Contributing to discussions and subtly referencing the website.
-
Participating in forums: Providing relevant recommendations.
-
Using social media: Commenting on trending tweets.
Gua Mo highlights that the effectiveness of these methods varies. The next step is to get real data from any of those methods and optimize from it to save more money.
Investing in Marketing: A Gradual Approach
Gua Mo advises against spending a large sum on marketing without prior experience. The suggestion is to start with basic, low-cost methods to gain experience and data, gradually increasing investment as understanding grows.
Gua Mo concludes by encouraging Yuan Po to maintain confidence in the website and to believe that there is a market for it. As an example, Gua Mo introduces the product they sell, the VEVONS 2, and describes its unique functionality in that market.