Council Post: Start With Your Story To Build A Successful Business

After working with startups for the last decade, I decided that I wanted to create a movement that would help women in a big way. I wanted this to be my contribution to the world.

Working with startups in Silicon Valley was a great way for me to understand business lessons, wins and failures. I learned how to manage a team and build a business from scratch. I learned who not to hire and how to prioritize chemistry when assembling a team. I knew that I wanted to work with people who also hoped to make a difference and contribute to the world. Without that, I couldn’t have succeeded in my career.

When I was younger, I built a company called Global Marketing Tactics that didn’t do well. In fact, it was an epic fail. I tried working with many business coaches to save a sinking ship, but that didn’t work out in my favor. However, I saw this as a huge lesson in the trajectory of life. There are many lessons to learn when situations don’t work out.

With those lessons in mind, I started a new company in the chronic illness space. Here is what I did differently, and what you can learn from my journey:

1. Don’t start with a product; start with a story.

Many companies start with a product. Founders are likely inspired by the famous “if we build it, they will come” mentality. I wish that were true, but in my experience, the companies following that adage are the same ones that have no customers show up on the day of the product launch. It’s important for companies to take a different approach when it comes to product development.

I started out with my story. For the first time in my life, I felt that I needed more people around me with whom I could personally connect, so I began putting my story out there. I had no expectations. I just felt that I could build connections with other women facing similar struggles, and maybe I could even help a few of them.

After I put my idea out there, to help women in the chronic illness space, I started advertising it for $5 a day and brought in over 700 women in less than a month. I was so happy because it was my birthday month, and I couldn’t believe I got the best gift of all: being able to help other women. I had demand before I even knew what I would build for a product, and I believe this is the key to a successful business idea.

2. Take a deep dive into consumer challenges.

Eventually, the demand for my group was so high that I knew I had to do something to help these women. They had all started sharing their struggles, and it touched my heart. With my passion and my startup background, I knew that I would be able to turn this idea into a company of real value.

When you begin to build out the different components of your offering, start with your target audience’s challenges and what results consumers are hoping to achieve. Ask them questions about the value they want to see and what they have spent their money on in the past to address their challenges. When someone tells you about past purchases, it gives you an idea of what they are willing to spend and how much they know about similar offerings already.

In talking to the women, I realized that they had been given general advice to address their health problems. I’m not a doctor, but I have worked closely with professionals for autoimmune conditions. I decided to call up those doctors and ask them if they could help the women I had built this group around. Most of them were more than happy to help, and it was mutually beneficial because it gave the doctors greater discovery.

The doctors started with a deep dive into gene mutations, possible infections, and viruses that were caused by environmental and genetic factors. When they applied treatment on that level, the women saw a difference in themselves and in how they were feeling.

3. Turn your story into a business.

What’s the most important lesson? Turn your story into a tool for driving your business. I learned this by sharing my idea within other groups; people became fascinated and ultimately joined my group as well. One of the main reasons I started my movement was to be able to work with powerful like-minded people. Remember, power is huge when you’re building a business in a specific niche.

Consumers look for businesses that can help them, but there is a personal component beyond this as well. Say you’re a real estate agent, and another agent tells your client they can get them a better deal. Who do you think the client is going to work with? That’s why it is important to have a powerful story that connects with your target audience. You aren’t hoping to build an audience; they are already there because they’ve been with you on the journey.

Build trust to take your business to the next level. Consumers will question a startup that has no community behind it, which is why your story matters.