One of the biggest adjustments for an early entrepreneur to make is that of suddenly not having a team. For those who have been in corporate environments before, suddenly, we are reliant on our efforts and productivity even if we have a co-founder. We become the epicentre of that business and now represent the sales team, the management, and even the head of product and innovation. Of all the roles in the start-up business, there are some key ones: the in-house finance team, the outgoings, and the incoming revenue as sales.
We all know about the significance of this in theory but one of the challenges as an entrepreneur is where to put our time. What is the activity or aspect of all of the many things we “Must” do that we can’t afford to de-prioritize? Well, that would be the customers and the sales. As with less income, we risk the future of our business and any employees.
Similarly, when an entrepreneur sets their pricing, ensuring that they have enough margin is key. If we price too low, we are competing on price & reducing our profit. This affects our cash flow and also places more pressure on us to sell in larger volumes. There is plenty of available training for business owners and this creates a challenge of evaluation and review time to ensure that we are choosing the best course. There are several key courses we may need to take to rapidly upscale.
As we prove our concept and establish our customer base and market fit we have less time than we may be used to, to learn and also establish our business and foothold in any industry. Today there is a multitude of automated tools to support sales efforts. But this is the time when the entrepreneur who does not focus on improving commercial and sales skills and negotiation will see less profitable deals and fewer new customers. Building reliable sales and revenue are other crucial aspects of preserving and supporting our business.
Why don’t more business owners take sales training when they set out in business. Over the years I have worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs in manufacturing. There are so many different skillsets to develop and many aspects of the business to improve at once. Plus, lower budgets for everything.
So why should more early-stage start-ups take sales training? Well, arguably the lesser known the business and the newer the product or service, the more challenging the sale. This is due to less brand awareness, little prior market knowledge, customer base, and much more.
It is staggering to think that on average 4/10 start-up’s are successful, as many as 42% of start-ups miscalculate market demand which would be the sales made in the market with 75% of VC-backed start-ups failing. With odds like these, founders and start-ups must work to build their selling skills as quickly as possible. Finalizing their go-to-market plans and their sales messaging too.
I founded Awesome A Team Sales Ltd. earlier this year to provide rapid training for founders and business owners. I identified with entrepreneurs that were struggling as sales training is often focused on the mid to large corporate sector. As an entrepreneur, I have created a complete way for start-ups and founders to rapidly build and apply processes and best practices in selling. Awesome A Team Sales Ltd. is a company focused on supporting business owners to apply sales techniques to situations they are faced with. So that they can get the best result and sales for their business with new behaviours.
It is key that business owners and professionals can pivot and bring best practices to sales situations but remain true to their brand, integrity, and authenticity in doing that. This is a selling system that fits into the comfort level of those who seek to be emotionally evolved impact makers in addition to deal makers and business owners with sophistication. Far removed from selling stereotypes and not solely transactional sellers.
Camilla Hasler – www.awesomeateamsales.com/app – @camillahasler IG
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/camillahasler
Podcast – Aim High Awesome Leaders on Itunes and Spotify