Last night was our monthly event for The Lunaticks Society. The topic was *Think like a Tech Startup*. We had encouraged all of our clients to come along to the event or if time permitted listen online. Now not all of these clients are in the Startup space or even the Technology space.....so why would we encourage something like that?

It's simple really.......Learning

The technology sector is certainly growing at rapid speed. The number of startups in this sector is also off the charts in terms of growth. We are all using technology more and more in our businesses and in our daily lives. Our businesses (including traditional non tech businesses) are growing and changing faster than ever before. Its so easy to be left behind. So surely we could all learn something from this crazy sector!

So these are my key learnings from last night that apply to all small businesses.....

• Business is really hard work. It's up to you to make it fun.
• Partner with people - your team is one of the key things to a thriving business.
• Understand the skills your people need including attitude.
• Be hands on in your business. Don't let things get away from you.
• Be human in your business & ensure you have a sense of humour, stop being such a grown up.
• As you grow make sure you are conscious of the change in attitude & behaviour - stamp out corporatism
• Use tools like Yammer in your organisation to build your culture online and lower the tone in the organisation.
• Brand - its really important from the start - you need to ensure that this encompasses all of your values.
• You dont have to do it all yourself - collaborate with other ecosystems around your product.
• Always be moving forward.
• Ensure you are not stifling innovation.
• Run small cells in your business. Run a flat organisation not a hierarchy that makes it too hard to make decisions.
• Treat entrepreneurship as a series of steps
• Get started, get some money and get some partners
• Ensure your partner(s) has complimentary skills - these skills need to be both technical as well as personality etc
• Connect and build relationships...with your industry, with other industries, with key players in your area & with potential new team members
• Build a network of people you enjoy working with - that will allow you to stand on the shoulders of giants
• Brand is a magical thing - its intangible - it allows you to have a personality in company - it allows people to ask questions & be interested in your product.
• Every business needs a good channel - align yourself with the right people
• See problems as opportunities - ask yourself the questions - what can you fix
• Always be on the lookout for good people
• Start raising money well before you need it
• It's vitally important to research your market.....and keep that research going
• The Key is to START - procrastination is your worst enemy