创业中最重要的20件事编辑本段回目录
创业中最重要的20件事
Christopher Steiner and Brett Nelson, 06.17.10, 06:20 PM EDT
克里斯托弗·斯迪纳 布雷特·尼尔森 2010-6-17 6:20发布
Ignore them at your peril.
忽视这些问题将是非常危险的。
Entrepreneurs can't completely inoculate their businesses from the vagaries of the market. What they can do is wrestle with the fundamental questions that govern the fate of any enterprise. We've done our best to compile the 20 most important ones.
创业者不能完全让自己的事业规避市场中难以预测的行为。他们所能做的就是和决定任何一家企业命运的那些基础问题搏斗。我们已经尽力提炼出了20件最重要的事。
Digging for those answers is a grueling exercise--one that takes serious intellectual and emotional honesty. With any hope, the process begins long before money's been spent, products are built and customers are lost.
挖掘这些答案是一件让人精疲力尽的尝试——需要认真理智和情感上的诚信。不管有没有希望，金钱一被投入这个程序就开始了，产品被制造出来并被消费者购买。
The real challenge, though, is to keep digging. As businesses grow, new opportunities and threats emerge, and yesterday's answers probably won't suffice. Relentlessly asking the tough questions is how the Microsofts ( MSFT - news - people ), Wal-Marts ( WMT - news - people ), Hewlett-Packards ( HPQ - news - people ) and Googles ( GOOG - news - people ) stay on top.
但是，真正的挑战是持续挖掘。当公司成长的时候，新的机会和挑战出现了，过去的方法可能无法再满足现状了。残酷的问一个尖锐的问题，就是微软、沃尔玛、惠普以及谷歌是怎么保持领先的。
With that essential struggle in mind, we present the 20 most important questions entrepreneurs need to answer--and keep answering--to build thriving businesses. Some highlights:
经过大脑的战斗，我们提出需要创业者回答、持续回答并建立起兴旺事业的20件最重要的事情。重点如下：
What is your value proposition?
你的价值导向是什么？
If you can't explain--in three jargon-free sentences or less--why customers need your product, you do not have a value proposition and thus, you do not have a business. Period.
如果你你不能解释-控制在三句行话内—或多或少—你的顾客为什么需要你的产品，你没有一个价值导向，因此你也不会拥有兴旺的事业时代。
Does your product address a viable market?
你的产品有可存活的市场空间么？
Seinfeld's Kramer was convinced that the Mansierre (a bra for men) was his ticket to riches. Not that he did any research to confirm that there was a viable market, let alone one large enough to attract investment capital. Never assume you can create demand where it hasn't already been expressed. Don't hawk the next Mansierre.
Seinfeld's Kramer曾经深信Mansierre (一种男士胸罩)是他通往财富的车票。 并不是他做了任何研究去证实确实有市场空间，更别提他吸引了足够的投资资本。永远不要假想在还没有表述的时候你可以创造需求。不要叫卖下一个Mansierre。
What differentiates your product from the competition?你的产品和其他竞争者有什么差异化？
It's true that Starbucks ( SBUX - news - people ) made people believe they wanted $4 caffeinated concoctions, and Louis Vuitton lulled people into shelling out $1,500 for denim handbags. But marketing alone won't cut it. If you want to win in business, you need to deliver tangible value where other companies don't. Examples: rock-bottom prices (Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people )); ingenious product design (Apple ( AAPL - news - people )); extreme convenience (FedEx ( FDX - news - people )). Find your edge and hammer on it.
确实，星巴克让人们相信他们需要4美元的咖啡因混合饮料，路易威登欺骗人们掏出1500美元买一个布手包。但是仅有销售是没用的。如果你想成功，你需要去传递其他公司没有的有形价值。比如：最低价格（沃尔玛）；精巧的产品设计（苹果）；极大的便利（联邦快递）。找到你的独特之处。
Does the business scale?
事业在升级么？
The difference between modest wealth and obscene riches is "scale." Scalable businesses are those that can produce the next widget at a fraction of the cost. Think software: Once Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) shelled out to develop the code for its Windows operating system, the incremental cost of printing each additional copy was next to nothing. What models don't scale? Think service businesses, where the need for people grows with revenue.
好的财富和坏的富裕之间的区别在于“升级”。升级的公司就是那些可以用很小的成本就生产出新产品的公司。想想软件：如果微软投入去开发windows操作系统的密码，另外印刷而增加的成本基本为零？哪些行业（事业）不能升级呢？想想服务业，人们的需要和收益成正比。
How committed are you to making this happen?
你怎么去创造？
You have a family and two kids. Are you ready to burn 100 hours a week for the next two years to get your start-up off the ground? Fair warning: If you want to run the show, get ready to give everything--and then some.
你有一个家庭和两个小孩。你打算一周花100个小时为未来的两年重新起步么？客观地告诫：如果你想去做，做好准备去付出一切——然后是一部分。
What price will your customers pay?
你的顾客会付多少钱？
Why will people pay twice as much for Clorox as they will for generic bleach? Who knows, but nailing the upper limits of what customers will pay, be it for an iPhone or a bottle of bleach, is one of the biggest levers in any business model. Consultants get paid handsomely to help companies arrive at the right price. For more affordable advice, check out "The Six-Step Guide To Pricing Your Product." Wannabe consultants should read "How To Price Your Consulting Services."
当需要一种漂白剂的时候，为什么人们会花两倍的价格买 Clorox？ 谁知道呢，但是分析顾客支付价格的极限时，不论是iphone或是一瓶漂白剂，是一种在任何商业模式里有存在的最大杠杆。咨询家们气派地拿到报酬帮助公司制定争取的价格。想要更多的可支付得起的建议，找到“为你产品定价的六步指南”。想要达到目标的咨询家门应该读读“如何定价你的咨询服务费”。
How much power do your suppliers have?
你的供应商有多大力量？
The fewer number of suppliers, the more sway they have. A knotty-pine grandfather-clock business may sound great, but what if there's only one source of knotty pine? Answer: You're going to pay. On the flipside, beware getting hooked on hungry, low-cost providers who don't keep an eye on quality.供应商越少，他们就越有控制权。一种knotty-pine 的落地大摆钟听上去不错，但是如果knotty-pine只有一个来源呢？答案：你要花费。从另个角度讲，如果为饥饿所累，低成本的提供者是不会关注质量的。
How should you sell your product?
你怎样卖出你的产品？
Dell ( DELL - news - people ) Computer bypassed retailers and sold directly to customers, with limited tech support. General Motors and Coca Cola ( KO - news - people ) rely on distributors to move their cars and cans. Clothing companies like Ralph Lauren ( RL - news - people ) work both internal and external channels. And Apple keeps adding more of its own airy and fashionable outposts, complete with live product tutorials and throngs of geeky customer-service agents. Whatever sales method you choose, make sure it aligns with your overall business strategy.
戴尔电脑通过零售商直接卖给顾客，同时技术支持有限。通用和可口可乐依赖分销商去运输他们的汽车和罐子。服装公司如拉夫·劳伦同时运用内部和外部两个渠道。苹果公司继续保持增加自己虚幻时尚的前沿，同时通过产品渠道和一群客户服务代理人。不管你选择什么样升级的方法，要确保始终服从你的总体商业战略。
How should you market your product?
你应该怎么样定位你的产品？
Getting the word out about your company--without going broke--is no mean feat. In the mid '90s, America Online spent so much money flooding the planet with free trial software that it tried to mask the bleeding by capitalizing those expenses on its balance sheet. (Regulators later nixed that accounting treatment, wiping out millions in accounting profits.) For a host of innovative and affordable marketing techniques, check out "16 Must-Try Marketing Maneuvers."要宣扬你的公司——不要去破坏——是得不偿失的。在90年代中期，美国在线投入大量的钱开发了频道并提供免费软件，试图通过成本资本化在资产负债表上制造假象（监管者后来禁止了那种会计计算，减少了上百万的会计利润）。在广泛的变革和可负担的销售技巧中，找出“16中必须尝试的销售技巧”。
How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
初期你需要多少现金去生存？
For those who slept through the previous section: Again, mind your cash. Plenty of entrepreneurs boast hockey-stick-shaped financial projections but turn out their pockets before the good times have a chance to kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Hold back on the Aeron chairs and mongo Mac computers until more cash is flowing in than out--and then add plenty of extra cushion.
对那些忽视前面部分的人：强调，在乎你的现金。大量创业者在好的时代提供进入机会之前，就放大hockey-stick-shaped 金融工程的作用掏光自己的口袋（记得技术泡沫时期涌现的网络公司么？）三思而后行，直到现金流入大于支出，然后就增加了大量额外的缓冲。
What is your end game?
你的结尾游戏是什么？
Looking to flip your business to the first guerrilla that comes along? MySpace did, Facebook hasn't. Different end games require different strategies. Always be mindful of yours. Not sure whether you want to build the next great empire or just make a decent buck? Ask yourself the following 13 questions.
想要让你的事业抓住来临的第一个机会么？MySpace做到了，而Facebook没有。不同的结尾游戏需要不同的策略，也许是充满了你的想法。不确定是要建下一个大帝国还是只要一份正式的工作？问你自己下面的13个问题。
