Entrepreneurs are creative and inspiring people. The most successful ones have been able to change the world as we know it or become the top authorities in their industries. Clint Stinchcomb, the President, and CEO of CuriosityStream is a great example for any would-be entrepreneur to follow. CuriosityStream creates thousands of non-fiction documentaries covering categories like natural sciences, technology, history, and more.
Clint joined CuriosityStream as Chief Distribution Officer where he made deals with prominent platform owners to distribute CuriosityStream’s content. With over 25 years of digital media experience, Stinchcomb has also held positions as EVP and GM of Discovery Communications’ Emerging Television Networks, Senior Vice President of Discovery’s New Media Operations and HDTV, and CEO and co-founder of Poker Central.
Of course, you’ll need to become established in your intended niche before rising to such prominent roles. Here are some of the most important tips for aspiring business owners.
Build your presentation skills.
The most common reason startups fail is a simple lack of capital. The costs of starting a business will almost always be greater than your best estimates, and that doesn’t even include the costs of maintaining your business once it’s active. More than likely, you’ll need the support of investors, and to win investors over, you’ll need stellar presentations.
Yes, this means you’ll need to be able to create eye-catching and informative slides in Powerpoint or Prezi, but it also means you need to present a story for your business. It’s a fact that storytelling sells, and you have a great opportunity to paint yourself as the protagonist of your business journey and demonstrate how you plan to overcome obstacles (your antagonists). Use your story to show investors how they stand to profit as well to really win them over.
Create content.
Speaking of presenting yourself, a great way to build rapport with potential customers is by creating compelling online content. The practice of content marketing involves creating original content (blog posts, videos, etc.) that addresses a problem your target audience has and shows how your products or services can solve it for them. If you’ve developed a custom app, for example, you might make video tutorials showing off its more impressive functions or explaining what it does better than the competition.
Network.
As great as the internet can be, you don’t want to rely solely on it. You should also attend networking events with other business owners when you can. This will help you find potential collaborators, and spreading your business cards around is essentially free advertising. These events are also among the best ways to find great employees if you’re in need of expertise. You may even find people who have faced the same struggles you are who can offer advice.
Develop a great online store.
Even if you run a brick and mortar store, you still need a good eCommerce website. With global platforms and digital marketing, you can reach a great deal more customers and offer a standout user experience that keeps customers coming back. If you lack the web design experience to make your eCommerce store yourself, then you’ll want to work with the number one Shopify expert.
The Shopify platform helps you build a great online store that scales as your business grows. Hiring Shopify experts over freelancers to build your Shopify store gives you the advantage of years of experience guiding your site’s organization, development, and launch as well as advice on how to reach your conversion goals.
Don’t fear failure.
The odds of your first business venture working out just the way you want it to are astronomical. It’s less about if you fail and more about how you handle it when it happens. Every business is a risk, and when one fails, the only way to get better is to learn from your mistakes and build a stronger foundation for future attempts.
