Founder and entrepreneur, Kelli Jones has been on a start-up crash course for the last 2 years while she’s launched her DIY repair patch business. While she’s leaned on experts in business, manufacturing, marketing and finance and others who did it before her, she has plenty of tips of her own to give out. This is the second of two blog posts where Kelli reveals the deep, dark secrets of the start-up world! Not really, she’s just trying to help you avoid mishaps. Missed the first one? Check it out here.

ONE. Enlist your community.

Plan & attack your “Go to Market” strategy. If you need feedback in the early stage of biz development, invite friends over for pizza and wine parties, call your mom, call your sisters, go on walks with your girlfriends, strategize with your partner. Your community will think of things that never even crossed your mind.

TWO. Open up and say ARRRGGGHHHH

Use your voice and know what your product stands for. If you don’t know your voice, get help identifying it. Journal, talk to a therapist, get your star chart read, consult a biz coach, see a medium. Find a method that works for you. Practice your pitch on hiking trails, backcountry ski trips, or even sing it in the shower. Yes, I do all of these things.

THREE. Little help?

Ask people for help, don’t do it all. Hire the most talented people you can find and then let them work their magic. Find out what you like doing the best in your business and delegate the rest.

 FOUR.The Fine Print is important

Make sure to have contractors and employees sign formal work for hire agreements or service agreements. Ignore the eye rolls and hand them a pen. Protect your company and your reputation.

FIVE. Is there anybody out there?

Many entrepreneurs start out working by themselves. If you work by yourself all week, make sure to schedule lunch dates, and mandatory happy hours… they don’t always have to be cocktails.  Other kinds of happy hours = yoga, walks, or bike rides/ski dates with friends.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Working Girl (yes, the 80’s movie) “You want to be taken seriously, you need serious hair.”

XO Team NoSo

P.S. NoSo just found out that Kelli has been nominated as a Wyoming Woman of Influence by the Wyoming Business Report. Read the full story here. RAD!