10 Things Not To Get Wrong When Building A Technology Business...

At the i-techpartners academy event at Daresbury, Richard Veal from New Mind reflected on what he had learnt (the hard way!) in building his business, a lot of which resonated with my own experiences:

1. There isn't a shortage of work to go around - collaborate, build on the work of others and stop your techies insisting on reinventing the wheel.
2. Ideas are cheap and surprisingly plentiful, it's implementation that's hard. It also helps to focus on one idea, so select the right one!
3. Don't believe your own hype: success is not necessarily replicable and equally if you fail at first, try and try again.
4. Being an MD is a lonely place - you need advice, mentoring and an external perspective.
5. Generic business advice is useful, but specific advice is invaluable from someone who really understands your market/technology.
6. Get your organisational structure right as soon as you can. An average employee in the right structure (and motivation) is better than a good employee with the wrong one.
7. Build in scalability into your business model from day one; it's hard to retrofit.
8. You will need twice as much time and money as you thought you would!
9. Networks are important to long term development. External focus is needed to understand the wider picture and assess impact internally.
10. Success is specific, run your own business - it's your story, write it.

See also my top ten tips on raising investment!