From Conception to Commercialisation – the lessons we’ve learnt along the way

Recently it struck me that raising a start-up is akin to raising your first child. With SushiVid still in its infancy we are learning all the time; sometimes through trial and error, sometimes we just nail it. 

Having survived our first (almost) two years, we thought it was time to reflect on everything we have learned along the way.

Traction 

When children are teething nothing else matters. And in our first year, there was not much on our radar beyond traction. We felt constant pain and anguish - did people really want this? How could we find ways to sell our solution? How could we ease the pain felt by brands and influencers alike?

What did we learn? 

That we need to refine our approach and work with our loyal customers to change our ways. We learnt that pain relief would come through negotiating a different pricing model that is acceptable to all parties. 

We also learnt that our time is better spent clearly defining what our role is, rather than spoon feeding our customers. 

Role models

Last year we had competitors in the EU and US that we were following. They were who we wanted our start-up to be when it grew up. And so as we worked on raising SushiVid, we also tried to mirror their visions. 

What did we learn?

That for all the handbooks and blue prints, they’re never written with your child in mind. It was a truly defining (and liberating) moment when we realised our start-up has its own personality and we need to foster its uniqueness. We are on our own and we are finding our own path.

Our approach now is to tell others in the start-up that what matters is execution, not competition. Forget sibling rivalry. Our results will speak for themselves.

If the freedom to explore excites you, come along and try your hands in our space. It won’t be easy. In fact, it’s a marathon (no matter how successful your child is, they will always be your child).

Staff

Like a parent wracked with sleep deprivation, last year we took any help we could get. In truth, we were desperate for manpower. 

What did we learn?

That people want to be part of the SushiVid family now (woop woop). And that with greater demand, we can afford to be pickier.

This has been one of the toughest lessons for us. As parents will understand, you have to accept that some people will only enter your child’s life for a season. So it is with SushiVid. We have parted ways with some of our founding members this year. Their contributions to SushiVid were phenomenal but the winds of change mean that we aren’t quite on the same page at this stage of the journey. 

Jim Collins put it best when he said in “Good to Great” business leaders need to know where their bus is headed, have the right passengers in the right places and enough gas (cash) in the tank to reach the destination. 

CEO

So too, I personally have had some learning to do. And part of learning is letting go - SushiVid no longer needs to be fed, burped and bathed.

Last year I was the typical start-up entrepreneur, constantly pitching, ideating and product managing. This year I am taking on more of a coaching role, and streamlining our processes. I’m building handbooks, setting the company culture and core values.

The next step is to ensure that our staff live and work to these values. I have learned that I need to set clear goals so we can avoid backlogs of work. I have learned that we need to track more on our metrics and analytics.

Takeaways

The last year has been epic. We’ve lost sleep. We’ve cried. We’ve celebrated SushiVid’s first steps into the influencer sphere.

Like any ‘parents’ we want the best for our protégé and that’s what we’re striving for every day.

We may be exhausted but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We also know that for all the lessons so far, we still have a lot to learn – guidance will be needed to avoid the terrible twos and all those toddler tantrums! If you have any tips, please speak up…

*Of course our child’s best is sales. Parents of real children, however, should never try to profit from or sell their children because a) that’s illegal and b) morals