A lot of people dream about having more money. When you’re an entrepreneur, this is especially true because it always seems like there’s more money going out rather than in the bank. This weekend, I was thinking about how I might do this start-up differently if I had investors involved.
As I worked through this exercise, I started with $100k more. If I had that extra cash, I would be going through the design process faster. As of now, I have hired a local uni student to get my ideas into CAD so that I can communicate better with my potential manufacturers. This will hopefully save me more money down the track. Still. this is a slow process.
If I had the extra cash, I also wouldn’t be so worried about which product to build and launch first. I could do all three simultaneously because I would have the cash to build the moulds. It would allow me to offer the customers a complete package for their needs immediately.
I then did this same exercise for if I had $1 million more to invest. The funny thing is that I really had no idea how to spend it effectively. In other words, I didn’t need it yet.
Instead, I first need to prove the concept and demand before I sink anymore money into this venture. Then if all went well, I would use the money for inventory, customer service support and marketing – maybe even some warehouse space instead of renting generic storage space each month.
Beyond that cash, I certainly have growth plans in my mind. However, this is still something where money cannot necessarily make things go faster – at least not without the risk of paying for huge mistakes also.
I need to give myself enough time to both: 1) learn; and 2) bring on the best possible people for the next phases of work. These are largely experts in areas where I lack knowledge, but will be hard to find in Canberra.
This exercise didn’t take that long to do, and it was kind of enlightening to know that I couldn’t necessarily just throw money at this start-up to make it successful. Creating a sustainable business is a marathon, not a sprint. So, I just need to have some patience right now as the path I’m taking is a bit slower, but also less risky overall.
