Do's and don'ts when starting a business – get in the game

Andreas Fruth is Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Global Savings Group, operating in about 25 countries. In 2012, together with Gerhard Trautmann and Adrian Renner, Andreas co-founded CupoNation, the group’s leading online coupon platform. We caught up with him recently to get some pointers on what to do when starting your own business.

Do dare to join the game

You’re sitting in the locker room, ready to play your first game as a professional football, volleyball or hockey player. It’s the moment you’ve been working towards for years; the result of endless hours of repetition and practice. You believe in yourself, but that doesn’t mean your legs don’t feel like spaghetti. When you step onto that field, pitch or court, there’s nowhere to hide.

It can feel just like this when you’re starting a business. Even though you have a great concept and even better skills, you’ll never feel completely ready to launch. And if you’re waiting for “the perfect moment”, you’re bound to wait forever. Dare to join the game!

Don’t ignore feedback

Got a couple of good matches under your belt? Did your technique make a more experienced player feel dizzy? Feels great! So why is your coach giving you a hard time in training?

Because you’re still “a work in progress”. The moment you believe otherwise, you might as well retire. If you can’t handle constructive feedback, you won’t reach your full potential.

It’s the same in business. You need to listen to people with experience. When they give you advice, acknowledge the fact that they’ve “been there, done that”. It’s easy to become defensive, but listening to them could be what takes your business to the next level.

Do find the right players

You see it every day: football managers stuttering their way through interviews. “Why did you lose the game? Why isn’t the team performing?” They’ll often talk about tactics and their roadmap to success, but what if tactics aren’t the problem? What if it’s a combination of the roadmap and the people travelling with you?

A coach needs the right players for the right positions – and so do businesses. Without this your roadmap can be the best in the world and still fail. This doesn’t mean you should look for excellence in every position; sometimes it’s just as important to look for potential. Developing people is an important factor when building a company.

Do look across the borders

Sometimes you need to go abroad to find the right player for a specific position. The one that makes everything come together.

Hiring employees from another country brings many of the same advantages. We all have different assets to bring to the playing field, depending on where we come from, and if you want to make it in a country other than your own it’s smart to invest in employees that know the culture.

Don’t forget to motivate

Some coaches can have chess-like abilities when it comes to building a roadmap to success, but fail to motivate their team. They spend millions on the right players, only to watch everything fall to pieces in front of their eyes.

If you’re not a motivator, be confident enough to admit it. And hire someone who is. Your employees need to believe in your company as much as you do and a person that isn’t properly motivated can’t be expected to perform effectively.

Do know your competitors

Why do small amateur teams sometimes beat professionals? Complacency and a lack of preparation.

If you don’t know who you’re up against, you have no idea what it takes to win the game. It’s important that you respect your opponents. What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong? How can you benefit? Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors can be an important factor in whether you “make it or break it”.

Don’t believe you’ll always win

Everyone loses from time to time. Blaming people around you, whether players or the referee, doesn’t get you anywhere.

Learn from it! Don’t only know your competitors… know your company. Let mistakes be a motivation for growth. Winning isn’t easy, and it shouldn’t be. Learning from a loss makes you more competent the next time around. It isn’t about winning every game; it’s about moving into the number one spot over time. But first things first: get in the game!

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