Where are you with your business right now? Maybe…

‍

You’ve had a great idea.

‍

You’ve shared it with your close friends and family who all love it.

You may have even built it already.

‍

Now you’re probably wondering how you’ll succeed in selling it into investors, press, future partners and customers so that they not only listen but, most importantly, act. Ideally straight away.

‍

I’ve been working with startups and scale-ups for many years and, whatever stage they might be at, many still struggle to tell their story well but, when the penny drops, it is their Eureka moment.

‍

So how do you do this?

‍

1. Storytelling is a fundamental experience that unites people and enables the narrator to build a deeper connection with the listener.
2. People spend money on solving their problems so, in every communication, focus on the problem you’re solving for them.
3. And knowing what to say and when is essential to getting your point across. Pragmatism over-enthusiasm is key here. I will go through the different messaging for different scenarios to help you map this for yourself.

People spend money on solving their problems. Every time you communicate, focus on the problem you are solving for your audience.

‍

Most entrepreneurs have their own founder story of why they came up with the idea. Why they left their safe, corporate role for the rocky road of start-ups. And the most common reason is that there was a personal problem they needed to solve which they couldn’t find a solution for elsewhere.

‍

By personalising your narrative, you can make it simple for your audience to quickly identify and relate with. They will relate with the situation you were in and therefore understand quickly how the solution can help them.

‍

For me, the problem I found when I spoke to founders was that they needed growth and brand strategy that would make a tangible and immediate impact to their business but they were yet to be at the stage to afford the price tag of the full-time employee. My solution was to offer my services as ‘the part-time CMO’ to a range of start-ups, from 1 day a month to 2 days a week. And for those that were pre-funding, to offer them the tools to build the strategy for themselves.

‍

Articulating your founder story

‍

The problem/solution model helps to clearly tell your story.

‍

• The more accurately you articulate the problem, the more valuable the solution will be.
• Solving more than one problem is great — but for now — you need to choose the most important one (for this, consider the most easily deliverable to the most open audience)
• Try to stick to a single sentence for each.
• Practice saying it out loud, does it roll off the tongue? Would someone outside of your industry understand it?
• By taking out unneeded jargon, you will humanise it. We don’t use acronyms when we’re chatting with our friends, or at least I hope not, so we shouldn’t use them here either.
• And remember to make it relatable through your personal story.
• In the words of Technotronic: “Pump Up The Jam”. Dramatising the problem can make it more interesting (without
• becoming ridiculous!)
• ‍

Try to put pen to paper now:

‍

1. What was the problem you identified?

2. How does your product solve this problem?

‍

Let me know what you came up with or ask me a question by dropping me a line, and check out my blog, for some examples of <Founder Stories>.

‍

For growth tools sent to your inbox every month, sign up to my newsletter here.