The $100 Startup Book Cover The $100 Startup
Chris Guillebeau
Business & Economics
Macmillan
June 1, 2012
320

This is a practical guide to launching your own business. Many people dream about starting their own business, but without a plan, it remains a dream. If that’s you, read this book!

The most important consideration is to follow your passion. You’ll want to merge that passion and skill with something useful to people.

What is useful? What do people really want? People want MORE: love, money, acceptance, free time and LESS: stress, conflict, hassle, uncertainty. With that in mind, you’ll want to market a core benefit, that addresses these emotional needs – not the physical.

Craft a 140 character mission statement (core benefit, not descriptive feature). Example: I help busy owners feel at ease when they are not able to be with their pets. Not: I walk dogs.

Ask, how can I help people more? Think about convergence – what you love to do and what people are willing to pay for. Remember the core needs are emotional, relate to a benefit not features (Be a cowboy! versus Ride horses!).

Give people what they want – give them fish! Hustle and produce a launch event. Get that first sale as soon as possible, then tweak as you go.