Startup Diaries: Get Techy, Get Financial, Go Mobile & Automate ...

It is an exciting time to be in business ? the ideas being created online are shaping the future of the Internet and how we consume.?

I started my business 2 years ago by putting up a single poster in a shop which attracted my first clients and today I am still trying to translate that idea of the local in the wider world of the Internet. ?

The single most important route to market is through word of mouth advertising, and this is where one begins.

I run a childcare agency called Nanny Network, connecting parents in London with nannies and babysitters.? We offer a wide range of services, and most recently added a new ?emergency childcare? helpline, which is keeping me on my toes.? I have also started another company ?Book a?Babysitter? which is still being designed but is already very popular.

I started my business with no funding and no money at all while I was working myself as a nanny - ?this gave me a great head-start and meant I could really offer value to my customers right from the beginning.?

I created the business in the area I grew up in so I know it really well and this hyper local element meant the business had some authenticity online.?

I also did thorough research into my competitors ? I was offering the same service as them but I wanted to deliver it in an improved and more modern way.? I posed both as a nanny and a parent online and also in person to really understand what competitors were offering and how I could do it better.

Creating my website was in two important stages. The first step was in the design of my website ? I wanted it to be fresh and aesthetically pleasing rather than just a holding page with some random information.? In order to offer a decent website you have got to get techy ? you have got to understand what goes behind a website and how search engine optimisation works.? Once you build the correct front and back end of your site, the second step is to engage properly with your customers.? You won?t be able to do this unless you know very well who your customers are and where they hang out online. ??Once you are sure, you need to monitor what is happening in their world, and listen to them.? Find out what bothers them and offer a solution. ??

The more you know about your customers, the more you can offer them.

I wanted everything we do online and offline to be simple and transparent for our clients.? By simple I mean easy to use and convenient ? both for the clients but also for me as I didn?t want to be drowning in a sea of admin every day.? In making everything transparent ? in terms of how we recruit and who we recruit I was listening to my customers and I was adding honesty to the business which some other agencies have neglected to do.?

Marketing is something I find fascinating and especially now with the power of social media you can have really cheap marketing because other people are doing it for you! Today the dissemination of information means everybody has a voice online and if you can manipulate that song so they are mentioning you then are on to a winner.? Social life has migrated online and so you really need to get tuned in with the flow of online marketing and how to manage it. ?

In the beginning I felt like I was making everything up as I went along and I just said yes to every customer.?

Now I still say yes but the difference is I now know how much work is involved and how to price accordingly.? It is really important to get a tight business model in place as soon as possible so you have a map in your head to work with. You also need to know where those roads lead to as being an entrepreneur you must think innovatively and always be prepared to change the route if necessary.

An interesting theory is the ?Lean Startup? I find this type of work exciting ? reading about this made me see how I can experiment in my business and I love doing this ? it is a great progressive way to business ? constantly changing how you operate or offer a service and measuring the response.?

Sometimes you never know how people respond to something until you test it and this is fundamental to being successful.?

For example, after one year of running Nanny Network I decided to create a new website, one that could offer more information and certainly do more for the customers.? The new website was also cleaner, slicker and much more professional.? When I launched it - the phone stopped ringing and I couldn?t work out what went wrong.? It seemed that people were responding well to the old website which although looked patchwork, made customers feel at ease and emotionally they felt at home.? The new one was almost over the top and I had suddenly lost the simplicity and the sentiment of the old one.? However, I stuck with the new version, old customers came back and the new ones loved it ? they loved that you could view nanny profiles online and that you could book and pay online.? There was no point in putting back up the old one ??business and entrepreneurs need to be progressive and reinvigorate old ideas.?This is the ethos behind the ?Lean Startup? theory.

I am inspired by some big websites out there.? My favourite is Airbnb.? This is such a wise idea, creating a simple and beautiful website, which relies on people sharing their thoughts on places to stay.? In the chaotic world of todays Internet, this is they key to standing out.? If people can enjoy looking at and using a site and they can interact with it by sharing information or thoughts - they will spread the word for you.? Airbnb absolutely nailed this idea and created a website which is stripped down, and is a simple pleasure to use.? I love their use of huge dreamy visuals on the homepage with a very simple search box to find what you need. ?Makes you want to book a holiday there and then.? Far too many websites are too text heavy ? makes you want to fall asleep !

Mine still needs a lot of development but I am seeing it as a work in progress.?I see my whole business as a work in progress.?I am still responding to what customers need and I am certainly still learning how to go about it all. ??

At times it felt more like a project and at other times it was a real struggle financially and I felt like I was interning in my own company.

I am very into the idea of growing my business organically ? I am still looking for investment for a new idea, I have had some offers but they weren?t good enough.? I?m still shopping around for the best deal.

Networking is very important no matter what your business ? I shied away from these kind of events for ages but it is actually vital to being an entrepreneur.? I was once at an event and a woman was on at me about her cosmetics company and she certainly gave me my ?lightbulb? moment.? I had been playing around for a while with an idea in my head about supplying babysitters to top hotels in London and she said when she was struggling, she simply took her tiny bottles of smells to a few 5-star hotels and asked if they wanted to stock them.? The idea was simple ? I just approached the top hotels in London in person and asked if they wanted our babysitters ? now we are close to signing contracts with some very big hotel conglomerates.? I would not have seen the simplicity in the idea if I had not got talking to that lady over a free glass of wine.?

Sometimes you can over-complicate an idea in your head and you just need somebody to point out the obvious.?

Here are some of my (perhaps obvious) tips:

• Do not ever be afraid to pick up the phone if you want something whether it is simply information or a potential new client.

• Surround yourself with people who inspire you.

• Clean up your act online ? are there Facebook pictures available publicly of you drunk in first year? Get rid of them.

• Smarten up ? A big chunk of what I do is recruitment.? I can tell you first impressions are everything.? Get a haircut, polish your shoes, do what it takes to appear smart and fresh always.

• Be friendly, polite, and savvy but never gushing.? It?s over-bearing and puts people off.

• Always follow up, always say thank you.

• Get techy ? you can?t afford not to.? Same with financials.?? Get to grips with this ? if the numbers don?t add up ? you don?t have a business.

• Automate every possible corner of what you do so you can free up your valuable time.

• With every opportunity there is ?risk? so don?t get too excited at each hand shake.

• Realise what you are good at and also what you are bad at.? Hand over the things you can?t get your head around to somebody else and pay them for their time.? You will save tons in the long run.

• Have a ?power hour? every day, twice a day.? I learnt this from my old boss.? Productivity goes through the roof.

• Is your site ?mobile friendly?? It has to be.

• Look at video marketing ? 90% of all traffic is through videos, I?m missing out ? we are all missing out on this and it?s the future.?

Lucia Borraccino, the Director and founder of Nanny Network is 27 years old and is from Hackney, London. She launched Nanny Network two years ago and has also started a new project,?Book a Babysitter.?Lucia has provided nannies and babysitters for many families across London and also for some celebrity clients for whom she offers a discreet and simple service. Lucia currently works in a co-working office to keep sane and is hoping to start a part time MBA in September.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2013/03/28/startup-diaries-get-techy-get-financial-go-mobile-automate

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