3 do’s and don’ts from Dialægt/Citatplakat
Barbara Karen
In 2015 two groups of guys each went on a journey to start their own webshop of various humorously designed posters. Now, 5 years later, the poster shops have come together in a merge following their appearances on the hit tv-show Dragon’s Den. We touch base and get the tips that they wish they’d received, when starting their businesses.
3 things you should try to do
#1 Don’t be shy – just try!
The first important tip from the entrepreneurial couple is to try out your great ideas. Worst thing that could happen is they just won’t succeed – big whoop.
It’s no secret that Dialægt is a product of great eagerness to become entrepreneurs. A strong urge to have their own playpen to try out the hundreds of aspects of having a thriving business with all that it entails: Both the greeted successes and more importantly their failures – without these being too expensive.
Now they have gained massive success but actually still see their own business as a playpen for new methods with trial and error.
So don’t knock your idea ‘till you’ve tried it! Should you let your idea come to life and either gain success or fail miserably, you are at least one valuable lesson richer.
#2 Get together with skilled associates
Do you want polished off projects that don’t slow you down on the long run? That’s probably a big yes. According to the Dialægt/Citatplakat guys you need to partner up with associates that are a lot more skilled than yourself and give them responsibility quickly – either by hiring them full time or outsourcing.
Had someone given them their own advice sooner, things might have been easier when they started scaling their business.
Also, if you want to get better either professionally or personally you need to surround yourself with people who are a lot smarter than you at other perimeters than you’re familiar with.
#3 Keep focus
How long should you stay with a project before you should call it quits? Of course, the answer is that depends. The guys at the poster webshop wanted to try several ideas before becoming the well known success they are today.
But then every day started looking the same: New poster, pick, pack, and ship it and it became… trivial. They even considered selling their business to try something completely different. But nothing exciting occurred and they (luckily) ended up sticking to their concept.
Ask yourself why that special entrepreneurial spark is now on a low burn or why every day is starting to look the same. Maybe you need to make small adjustments to your setup such as rethinking your product.
3 things you probably shouldn’t do
#1 Don’t overestimate yourself
When starting your business it can be so tempting to just handle everything yourself, from product assessment to website buiding to shipping. But let’s face it – your time is valuable. So try not to overestimate yourself or for that sake your skill set.
As mentioned above, you should try to ally yourself with key players who know their stuff on the subject.
#2 Forget to scale your business sooner
A lot of beginning businesses easily forget about their whole purpose. Write down your goals and KPI’s and achieve them. The partners from Dialægt/Citatplakat also warmly recommend the AirBnB-exercise so you can stand out from your competitors.
When you start thinking in ways that you can optimize your business, you can affect customers almost instantly. Ask yourself: If your business was to get rated with 5 stars, what would the reasons be for this? What unique concept can you implement to get rated 10 or 20?
#3 Forget to celebrate!
The guys at Dialægt/Citatplakat still forget to really celebrate their successes when they happen. You work hard to achieve your goals, and you deserve a break to reflect and celebrate those achievements. So grab a piece of cake and high-five yourself!
Want to know more about this customer, Citatplakat & Dialægt?
Read the case here.