A young entrepreneur from here in Nashville, Nicholas Holland, spoke to my entrepreneurship students yesterday. His business is called CentreSource. CentreSource is a full-service provider of custom software development, web solutions and digital marketing services with clients worldwide. Nicholas started the business four years ago when he was 24 years old. He is a fourth generation entrepreneur.
After college Nicholas had no clear idea on what business he wanted to start, so he took a corporate job in the energy industry. Then "Enron" happened, and he found himself out of work.
He decided to re-start the computer repair business he operated when he was in college.
He offered two lessons from this start-up. His first bit of advice to our students was to think about the time of year to start a venture. He started the business in the month of November, when no one seemed to be needing computers fixed. Know the seasonality of your business and time your start-up to take advantage of the rhythm of your industry.
Second, young entrepreneurs need to understand the importance of sales. The first part of a good sales technique is to know what makes your offering better than your competitors and lead with that strength. For many pricing is their biggest advantage. The second part of the sales strategy for a start-up in the service industry like his is to do whatever it takes to build a credible client list. He found the non-profit world to be the place to make this happen quickly. He offered free service to several prominent non-profits -- and non-profits rarely can say "no" to free services.
Third, young entrepreneurs need to understand that even with their meager means, they need to build some sort of buffer to live on when their business is growing.
His computer repair business soon became a web design company. This is his fourth piece of advice -- no matter what your business plan says, listen to your market. Your customers will tell you what they really want and how you can really make money.
