1. What does your product actually DO?

Put your idea down on paper. If it takes more than a few lines to succinctly define, you need to refine your description or the idea itself. Remember, the ultimate goal is to get someone to buy something, which means you need the would-be customer to understand exactly what you’re selling as fast as possible. Long, drawn out explanations feel unreliable because you’ve crammed so much new information into the message, leaving the recipient in a daze going, “Wait, what was that again?”

The reality is that no matter what you’re selling, from elephants to electronics, you have to immediately hook a customer before going into greater detail. Therefore you’re answer doesn’t have to cover every feature, function, and benefit. Think “cornerstones,” the core of your product. Answering Question #1 for a car might look something like this:

My product is a personal vehicle that can comfortably carry several people across great distances faster than walking.

Note all the stuff I’m NOT discussing: seat colors, the size of the trunk (or even what a “trunk” is), gas mileage, the shape of the vehicle. They’re all details superfluous to the core product, which is a mode of personal transportation. Hook them on the core idea, then sell them on details once you have their attention.

If you are selling a radically new idea, take extra care to ground your it within current experience. Back to our car example: what if the automobile hadn’t been invented yet, and I had come up with the idea? Most people would respond to me by saying, “But I already have horses.” That’s why the car was initially called a “horseless carriage,” it immediately drew to mind the benefits over the horse and buggy.

Trouble on Question #1 comes in two forms: either it’s way too long, or way too short. In either case, it’s likely that your idea is not refined enough. In the web sector, I see a lot of ideas laid out in mountains of copy, but don’t amount to much more than “it’s a website that people will visit and do stuff.” Get out of the ivory tower! You have a good idea, now how can you practically apply it to the market? Find that answer and write it down.

Once your core product description is a few lines long, stand in front of a mirror and sell it to your ideal customer…in less than 60 seconds. The rules of the elevator pitch generally allow 2 minutes, but that’s misleading: an elevator pitch not only presents the customer with the idea, but also provides information on what to do next, i.e. “call my office,” “check out our website at…”, etc. In a real elevator pitch situation, you don’t get to offer next steps until the product is laid out.

The exercises made me realize that while there’s no end to “starting a business” advice, very little of it explains what you do immediately after the “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if…” moment (probably because that stuff is uninteresting and doesn’t fill a publishable book). Yet it’s crucial that you make those very first steps and not skip ahead, because the answers will rear their heads down the road, whether you considered them or not. I figured some were revving up for New Year’s resolutions, which made me realize that there’s probably others out there looking for the same answer.

So, you have an idea. Awesome! How do you evaluate the idea? What’s the first step? Come up with valid answers to these 8 questions:

1. What does your product actually DO?
2. What pain point are you trying to solve?
3. Who is your target audience?
4. How will you make money?
5. How will you reach your target audience?
6. Identify your first customer. Name the person/company.
7. Lay out your prototype – MINIMUM product features necessary to deliver to the first customer.
8. Name your competition.

Why do I consider these questions “The first step?”

Every startup is different, and comes with a lot of unknowns, doubly so if you’re a first-time entrepreneur. But for all their differences, a number of foundational characteristics remain constant. These questions represent that bare essential information necessary to make any startup successful. You absolutely MUST have answers to these questions, or your setting yourself up for trouble down the road.

I’ll cover each question over the coming days, but you are encouraged to take a shot at answering them.

MO.com interviews entrepreneurs from all walks, across all industries, and from around the world. We focus on their habits and methods; what makes them tick. The primary focus of MO.com is entrepreneurship.

M.O. is the abbreviation for Modus Operandi or Method of Operating and we interview entrepreneurs to learn about their methods and to share their strategies and business philosophies with our readers.

The interview is pretty in-depth, which is cool in and of itself. However when you look at the company I’m keeping — the likes of Luncinda Holt (CEO of ClickEquations), Aaron Wall (Founder of SEO Book), and Neil Patel (Founder of KISS Metrics and Crazy Egg) — I’m pretty flattered that they talked to me!

My favorite pull-quote:

Fwd:Vault is all about simplicity and access, so this is something we work on every day. When you build and run any kind of web service, user feedback is absolutely key. A single user can find more bugs, usability snags, and other problems in a single visit than you as the author could find with a week of dedicated review. Most developers fear and loathe dealing with customer support, however those phone calls and emails are a treasure trove of potential improvements, fixes, and new ideas.

Read the full article.

So many people have helped me get started on my journey, I was ecstatic at the opportunity to pay it forward. Apparently he actually found something of value there, and I hope you do too.

We have events planned throughout the weekend, and I’ll be chronicling them over on the Fwd:Vault blog. Keep an eye on that Thursday through Saturday for videos, pictures, and writeups.

I’ve been in event planning mode for weeks now, hopefully I can get back to the rest of my life afterward and enjoy the warm weather.

I shuddered while reading their stories. The events themselves were bad, but my awareness that a freelancer can always avoid them made it even worse. While firing a customer can be a delicate process, screening a customer and covering your butt are super-easy, you just have to bring some business mindset to the table.

If you had a disaster client or two, but still wonder why you’d ever need to do your thing “like a business,” look at it this way: how does avoiding these morons sound?

Sound good? Okay, do this…

1. Interview your client
Approach the information-gathering stage as a possibility to interview the prospective client. What does the client do? How long have they been in business? How long has your contact been working for the company? What does the client hope to accomplish with your work, both immediately and longer-term? If they ask why you’re asking such questions, tell them you want to ensure that they would be a good fit to your business style.

This line of discussion does two things: makes you look better to professional clients and makes disaster clients a little uneasy.

Let’s quickly cover the benefits for good clients. Business people can talk business to anyone in business. These types of questions will reassure a knowledgeable client. Most professional clients recognize the need for a good fit in the working relationship. In general, they show the client that you have your stuff together, making the client feel more confident in the relationship.

It’s typically the exact opposite effect on disaster clients. People who have it together are intimidating to someone who does not. Plus, the questions themselves often bring potential problems to the surface.

2. Lay out your terms in clear, plain English
How much will the work cost the client? What’s your time estimate? How much money needs to be upfront? Do they need to pay in full before delivery? Answer all these questions straight up, with no fanfare. When everything’s out in the open, everyone’s comfortable. Conversely, when you nervously dance around the “money thing,” or speak in abstract buddy-buddy terms, you’ll set off alarm bells in the mind of the good client.

I was actually burned recently for not following this one. I hired a firm to do some work for Fwd:Vault, and they were pretty vague on the payment terms, beyond the total cost. But my point-man from the firm repeatedly reassured me that we were good as long as I paid, that he would “run blocking” for me with their internal accountants. When my first check ended up in a pile and not going out on time, that blocking ended up being about as effective as a 12-year-old girl facing the Eagles offensive line. After finding the check and sending it out, I get an email a few days later saying that they had the check, but were returning it and dropping me as a client to boot, vaguely describing internal billing issues associated with my delayed payment. Fortunately the relationship was on a trial basis, so there was no real harm.

This whole mess could have been avoided had they provided (or I required) a clean explanation of their payment terms. The irony that their accountants probably consider me one of those “lousy clients” is not lost on me.

When talking money, be clear, be concise, be confident, and all will be well.

3. Always have a written contract
You DO use contracts, right? Right? After you’ve laid out the costs and services to be rendered in plain English, every one of those points should make it into a written contract using valid legal mumbo-jumbo. Contract templates can be found for free around the web, and there are some sites that sell them. Either way, you’ll need to make adjustments to suit your business, and it should always be reviewed by a lawyer. I recommend finding a template, customizing it yourself, and then submitting it to a lawyer. You’ll save a ton of money on legal fees since he’s just reviewing it, instead of writing it.

I know lots of freelancers work on verbal agreements, but they don’t hold up in court. Don’t be dumb or lazy, get it in writing.

That one’s worth repeating: always get it in writing.

4. Require an upfront deposit
I do half up front, half on delivery for modest jobs, and thirds for bigger projects. Either way, I don’t do anything beyond the contract and simple prep without a deposit. It’s easily the most effective way to eliminate riff-raff. Going along with my point on clarity, make sure the client understands that nothing gets done until the deposit is in hand.

It blows my mind how many freelance designers and developers do everything off the cuff, eschewing any concept of business practices. Reasons I’ve heard include laziness, ignorance, even rebellion against the status quo and “the institution” (looking mostly at you “rebel” designers here). Business people are nothing if not efficient. Do you think they would waste their time on these hurdles if they didn’t provide an obvious benefit? These practices exist for a reason! If you’re still unsure, I’d urge you to save yourself future grief and listen to me now, believe me later.

Fwd:Vault was also 1 of just 10 exhibiting companies (out of a possible 40) selected to give an in-depth presentation. Following the format of the event, presenters told the story of their companies: the idea, getting started, challenges, successes, lessons learned, etc. In short, get up and say anything other than your sales pitch. It was a neat departure from the way presentations typically go at such events, and I was excited to participate.

My Flip cam was in attendance, so if you ever wanted to hear about how a solopreneur with no investor capital actually gets a company off the ground, enjoy!

P.S. The camera was angled to get the whole screen, but fell a little forward once I set it up. Sorry about that.

A total of 40 companies will take part in the expo, and a lucky 10 of those will have the opportunity to take the floor and speak for about 10 minutes, sharing their experiences, how they got started, etc. This part is the most exciting for me, because the rules for presenting explicitly say that it’s not a pitch…

Tell Your Story: Provide a presentation by which the idea has either become or is becoming a reality; include the genesis of the idea and the path to bringing that idea to reality.
…
It’s Not a Sales Pitch: This is not meant to sell the product or idea to the participant; it is also not meant to pitch to any one segment of attendees (e.g. investors).

I’m hoping that the narrow focus will really encourage the speakers to dive into something more than our usual polished sales and pitch jargon. No word on which of the 40 companies have been chosen to speak, however I did apply for a slot, so we’ll see.

Update: Selections have been made, and I was picked! So come check out Fwd:Vault and 39 other awesome companies, and stick around for the backstory on how I got here.

The event is also organized entirely by volunteers, spearheaded by my friend Gloria Bell over at Red Stapler Consulting. So if nothing else, come and celebrate what passionate people are capable of doing with limited resources. That’s what being a startup is all about, isn’t it? Yours truly is even responsible for putting the site together. It’s amazing what you can do with WordPress and a little know-how these days. (Disclosure: I don’t handle site content).

The PSL Entrepreneur Expo
April 13, 2010 6 pm – 9 pm
Solmsson Court, Hamilton Hall
University of the Arts
Pine & Broad

Hopefully I’ll see you there!

Wish I could take credit for it, but at least it comes complements of fellow PSL member Eight Eleven.

Update: I complimented the author Aaron, and the following conversation ensued…

Aaron:
I’m going to end up in a lawsuit with Toyota for sure on this one.

Frank:
As a design firm, what a boon for business THAT would be!

Aaron:
Yeah, I can see the headlines already: “Japanese automaker Toyota files lawsuit against New Jersey based Advertising and Marketing Agency, Eight Eleven Inc., then mid-suit, hires them to execute a new branding campaign.”

Fantastic.

I’ve had bad experiences, but after this last trip, I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid this travelers’ hell-hole in the future.

I flew out Monday morning, which is one of the most popular days for business travelers. That’s not necessarily a problem, as these types of travelers are experienced and jump through the check-in and security hoops with relative ease. However, PHL has recently made the genius decision to consolidate their security checkpoints in the various terminals down to a single checkpoint.

Many airlines use this layout, but do so in buildings designed to handle that type of arrangement. The PHL terminals are like unique islands, without one main entry. None were intended to handle all the passenger traffic, so to force everyone go through one is pretty shortsighted. The space they chose, outside Terminal C, can only accommodate 3 scanners, and the inevitable line extends across a walkway back towards baggage claim at Gate C.

To make matters worse, they decided it would be a great idea to break convention by redefining the security lines. Most airports have a separate, faster line for first class passengers and employees. Everyone else gets into a general line. PHL breaks up the “general” line into two subdivisions: “expert travelers” and “newbie/families” (my terms). The difference here? Absolutely none: anyone can get in either line. However the “expert” line layout is shorter, so it typically goes faster, but you can’t see that until you’re in line, since the expert one sneaks around back of the snaking, Disney-ride-like “newbie” line. I learned this the hard way.

Let’s put this silliness in perspective: My destination, Denver International Airport (DEN), has a massive entrance atrium with no less than 12 security positions, and they separate the waiting lines into the usual “Employees/First Class” and “Everyone else.”

I fail to see the efficiency improvement, how about you?

Fast forward to my return flight, which was completely painless up until we landed on the tarmac at PHL, at which time the pilot told us that our gate was “occupied.” He put it best: “I don’t even know what to tell you about that, folks.”

Anyone who’s flown anywhere other than PHL knows that this is a prime situation for a fancy technique called the “gate change.” We were slated to go into Gate C28, but I could see from my window that C27 and C29 were available. I’m pretty sure they can make the same observations from the control tower, seeing as how it’s, y’know, a tower. With huge transparent windows.

Instead, we cruised the tarmac, past untold empty gates, for about 30 minutes. Again to put it in perspective, 30 minutes after my arrival in Denver, I was in the car, out of short term parking, and on on the highway with my sister.

Oh, but they saved the best for last.

If PHL is generally lackluster, they become out-and-out incompetent when it comes to baggage claim. Let’s start with the comparison up front: Denver had my bags on the carousel within 15 minutes, including oversized ski gear. And I had to take a tram to get to the baggage area.

PHL made me wait 70 minutes for my bags.

Let that one sink for a moment.

Fun with math: My entire flight was 3.5 hours, or 210 minutes. That means my bags essentially “flew” an extra 1/3 of the flight I just finished.

It seems almost non-sequitor to even mention the fact that the newly-installed LCD’s over each baggage carousel weren’t updating the flight numbers, instead showing flights from hours earlier. Hey guys, that fancy new technology is only cool if it’s actually working. Oggling flat screens simply because they are flat stopped being cool 5 years ago.

It’s a damn shame that natural market forces are unable to correct this problem-child of an airport. In a sane world, PHL would be bankrupt and/or under new management. Instead, regulation and lack of competition have allowed this wreck of a business to limp along, disappointing passengers and providing a horrendous first impression to Philadelphia visitors. Between this place and Newark, an airport located in South Jersey or northern Delaware would do awesome business.