„We are the hottest!“ – How to give founders the reality check

„This is it! Humanity has been waiting for this great. It is the app of the century. It is the one and only app that simplifies, speeds up, brightens everything – which enhances everything. The media is super excited and is exuberant in their praise of the idea and the entrepreneur.  PR is needed in order to increase sales. Virality is on its highest point. But all of this is no surprise to us of course – it is the hottest idea of the century, no, actually of the millennium!

Too cool for school – too little self-reflection

This is how young entrepreneurs often sound like in their first euphoria after a successful first round of financing. Very often they forget that the idea is already on the market or that there is simply no demand as the niche is too small. All this is hardly surprising since there were about 860.000 newly founded startups alone in 2013. And half of the founders think their idea is the best. 2014 the German Startup Monitor also found out that 71,6 percent of the founders in Germany believe that they will stay indefinitely in the company. Surely this shows that they have a grand vision, but sometimes this attitude can be very stressful.

Reality check – time to be brought back down to earth with a bang

Sometimes expectations and reality differ widely, especially in the fast-paced startup world. This fact often leads to an imbalance, which in return leads to dissatisfaction. But how do you get the entrepreneur on cloud nine safely back onto the ground without letting him feel overpowered?

1. Create a foundation of trust!

2. No empty promises, but clear and realistic goals

3. Work out a detailed strategy together

4. Create an extensive competition and SWOT analysis

When agreed on a common goal both the agency and the entrepreneur can easily pull together rather than work on completely different goals. Process transparency and open communication are in the ongoing cooperation the most important tools for a trusting and relaxed cooperation.

Photos: Rooners Toy Photography CC BY-NC-SA 4.0