Category: Entrepreneurship

I want to like Google.

They have all those free services: search, Gmail, Analytics… what’s not to like with those?

And I’ve been a customer of Google’s for a long time, too – spending money on their AdWords ads since February 2007.

Google does a lot of good things and I’m sure most people who work at Google are good people.

But the way Google’s UK & Ireland AdWords team has treated me in the last four weeks has underlined to me how much power they have over small businesses and how little care they exercise when wielding that power.

Google Permanently Suspend My Account With No Warning

Four weeks ago, I’d created two AdWords ads. They’d been shown a grand total of zero times.

Then I read something that suggested my ads might be in violation of Google’s ad policy. Not wanting to violate that policy and preferring to play it safe, I cancelled one of the campaigns. And I tried to cancel the other one.

To be clear: I had no intention of breaking Google’s rules. And when I suspected I might be breaking a rule, I tried to correct it as soon as I could.

At this point, I assume Google looked at my ads and decided they did indeed violate their policy.

[I have subsequently reviewed Google’s ad policy and can’t see any way the ads were in violation. From what I gather, Google AdWords penalise anything that looks like affiliate marketing, though don’t make this at all clear in any AdWords policy documentation I’ve managed to find.]

Instead of alerting me to the fact that my ads were against their policy and not running them, Google decided the appropriate course of action was to permanently suspend me from using Adwords. Forever.

This came as a bit of a surprise!

“Not to worry,” I thought. “Those folk at Google are smart and reasonable. When they hear what’s happened, they’ll realise a permanent ban was a bit heavy-handed and re-enable my account.”

I Try to Contact Google

So I politely tried to reach out to Google’s UK & Ireland AdWords team.

I called them.

I wrote to them.

I wrote again.

And again.

In return, when they did reply, all they did was to send me template emails that didn’t seem to address any of the points I’d tried to raise.

At one point I did manage to speak to an AdWords customer support person on the phone. They were friendly enough, but their only authority seemed to be to pass a message on to someone else. Nevertheless, I hoped this might do some good. A few days passed. Then I received it … yet another template email. Grr.

I filled out their online complaint form, asking for a more human interaction. Again, nothing but a template reply.

Despite several weeks of me trying to contact someone relevant, Google refused to engage with me in any meaningful way.

Charming.

Barred from Accessing 91% of UK Search Traffic

So Google have barred me from accessing what amounts to around 91% of the UK’s search traffic with paid search. And they don’t even bother to properly respond to my queries about it. Great.

Google’s UK and Ireland AdWords has refused to discuss why they’ve taken this action. I suppose this is always a risk when a company has the kind of dangerously monopolistic market share that Google currently enjoys.

I know there are good people at Google; people who want to do the right thing. Sadly, Google’s policies no longer seem to be letting them do that. Now when I call customer support, the people I speak with tell me that there is nothing they can do: the policy people have spoken and they must be right. It seems policies are now in charge rather than people.

Google’s Different Rules for Different Sizes of Customers

What’s especially upsetting about this is that I know full well that Google do not treat everyone the same way.

Google treat larger customers with more respect.

I used to work for a company that was (and still is) an extremely large AdWords buyer. When they screw up and violate a Google advertising policy, it’s a different story. A quick word with their account manager and Google turn a blind eye. Their account isn’t suspended. They don’t have to wait days for a response. And they don’t have to put up with condescending template emails.

It’s the small business that gets the raw deal. It’s the small business that gets automatically penalised for a mistake, then ignored by Google.

Conclusions

If you work for Google: we both know your organisation can be better than this. If you’d like to sort it out, you can contact me here.

If you don’t work for Google, please recognise how little Google’s policymakers seem to care about treating their millions of small business customers fairly.

If you can figure out a way to depend on Google a little less, then you might just want to do so.

Further Reading

• Google’s Love/Hate Relationship with Affiliates
• Google’s Affiliate Network
• Google Adwords Fooled by Scammers
• Google Pays Record $500m DoJ Fine Over Drugs Ads

photo credit: airinnajera

You’ve started your business, but money’s tight. You haven’t got much cash to play with.

Here are 23 tactics you can use to be frugal and save money:

1. Use Lean Startup Methodology

Credit: quinet under Creative Commons license

Make sure you’re building something people want and will pay for. Don’t spend time and money building it before trying to find out. Talk to them first and make sure you understand the problem you’re trying to solve.

This is one of those things that sounds obvious, but that most people only really learn too late. Read more here.

2. Use Quick and Dirty Prototypes

Credit: juhansonin under Creative Commons license

As part of the Lean Startup ideas above, test out your ideas and assumptions with potential customers. Consider using Powerpoint slides to describe your ‘product’ before you build it.

3. Build a Minimum Viable Product, Nothing More

Credit: robad0b under Creative Commons license

To start with, build a minimum viable product (MVP) — be ruthless about leaving out everything that you possibly can.

4. Keep it Simple

Credit: dno1967b under Creative Commons license

The fewer the features you try to build and the simpler you can keep your business, the faster you can move and the cheaper it’ll be to run.

5. Don’t Hire Until You Have To

Credit: Idhren under Creative Commons license

Don’t hire too soon. Only do so when you and your cofounders really cannot manage any more.

6. Hire Interns

Credit: avhell under Creative Commons license

A job in a startup can be exciting and provide great experience for someone just getting started in their career. Offer a great learning opportunity and, especially in a tough economy, you can get help from talented, enthusiastic people for much less than you’d pay more experienced staff.

7. Get Cheap Help from Business School Students

Credit: Samuel Mann under Creative Commons license

Business school students are often keen to apply what they’re learning to real-world companies and may be willing to do projects for you for free or very cheaply.

8. Get Free Help from Local Universities

Credit: University of the Fraser Valley under Creative Commons license

Universities are keen for their students and staff to get involved with industry. Some offer schemes where they’ll do projects for businesses either for free or for very subsidised rates.

9. Hire Talent Over Experience

Aim to hire people with talent who haven’t yet got the experience to command high salaries or rates.

10. Use Google Apps (Free Edition)

Credit: quinn.anya under Creative Commons license

If you have 10 or fewer employees you can use Google Apps Free Edition for your email and intranet.

11. Join Microsoft BizSpark

Credit: Microsoft Sweden under Creative Commons license

Microsoft’s BizSpark programme supports startups in a variety of ways. An important one is that they’ll give you access to free Microsoft software (Windows, Office, etc.)

12. Use Free Trials

Credit: waitscm under Creative Commons license

There are lots of web-based tools that can be handy for different things during your startup’s life — market research, website load testing, keyword analysis, and more. Often you can get a free trial of these tools, and the trial period can be long enough to get a lot of value. Later, when your business grows, come back and invest in a paid subscription.

13. Get to Know Your Customers Even Better

Credit: Wonderlane under Creative Commons license

You can’t get to know your customers too well. The better you understand them, the more effective your paid marketing will be and the less you’ll need to spend to get the same results.

14. Set Up Reciprocal Marketing Deals with Related Businesses

Credit: PolandMFA under Creative Commons license

Find a business that targets a similar demographic. Promote their business to your followers in return for them promoting your business to their followers.

15. Set Up Revenue-Sharing Deals

Instead of paying up-front, negotiate with publishers to market your business in return for a cut of the profits they bring you.

16. A/B Test Continually

Credit: Gamma-Ray Productions under Creative Commons license

A/B testing can improve the effectiveness of the key conversion funnels of your business. Many small, incremental improvements over time can translate to a huge improvement in the long run.

17. Do Your Own PR

Credit: Gonmi under Creative Commons license

Instead of hiring a PR consultant or agency, do your own PR. Journalists prefer to hear from founders anyway. If you’re based in the US, subscribe to Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to connect with journalists writing relevant stories.

18. Hire Freelancers Over Agencies

Credit: banditob under Creative Commons license

Save money by hiring freelancers instead of agencies. Freelancers typically have lower overheads than agencies and can be more flexible about the rates they charge and the way they work.

19. Attend Local Industry Events to Get Free Advice from Experts

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If you live in a major city there are probably events where you can find experts in different areas. Don’t abuse it, but you’ll often find people willing to give you some free advice over a couple of drinks. Some events are more structured and directly tailored to startups, for example BootLaw in London is a great way to learn about law related to startups.

20. Work From Home

Credit: Iain Farrell under Creative Commons license

If it’s just you when you’re starting out, work from home. Save the money you’d otherwise be spending on rent.

21. Ask Suppliers What Special Deal You Can Get

Credit: Danny Nicholson under Creative Commons license

If you don’t ask, you won’t get. Being a young company is a great reason to ask for special deals. You won’t always get them, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

22. Keep Tight Control of Spending

Credit: sovietmole under Creative Commons license

Consider having just one credit card for the company so that all the money goes through one person with an overview of the company’s finances.

23. Champion Frugality

Lead by example and cultivate a culture of frugality within the company. Make it clear that a frugal attitude is valued.

(Thanks to Julian Hearn for tips 18 & 20.)

 

People sometimes ask me if I’ve found having an MBA helpful in starting businesses.

So is it?

If you’re thinking of starting a business, here are seven reasons why you might not want to do an MBA first:

1. MBA Costs are Potential Startup Capital: Doing an MBA is expensive. If you’ll be putting your own money towards it, you might want to use that money as capital for your business instead. Even if you lose it all, what you learn by having a go may well be an even better education.
2. Drive is Important: If you’re itching to start a business, that’s a good sign! Entrepreneurship takes passion and energy. You may have the hunger now and less of it later.
3. Timing is Important: A large part of successful business is good timing. If you’ve got an idea and you know the time is right for it now, waiting may not be a good move.
4. MBA Students May Not be the Right Partners: MBA students can be smart and analytical, but they’ve often grown used to corporate environments where lots of day-to-day chores are done for them. In small businesses, you need people who’ll pitch in and get their hands dirty. That’s not always a good fit. So your prospective fellow MBA students may not necessarily be the best people to team up with. (It depends what sort of business you’re looking to build.)
5. Learning Isn’t Doing: The stuff you learn during an MBA is interesting, but it’s always going to be more theoretical than practical. There’s nothing like doing something for real to really learn about it.
6. Large Companies are not Small Companies: The truth is, most MBA courses are geared mainly towards producing executives for large companies, management consultancies and investment banks. Learning about complicated financial modelling and the challenges of large companies can be great fun, but it’s also a far cry from the implementation skills you need when running a small company.
7. Employer Lock-In: If your employer is willing to fund your MBA, lucky you. Many people would envy your position. But beware: ultimately, your time is what matters the most. Think carefully before you get into a situation where you have to work for a company for a certain period of time after your MBA. You’ll be postponing your foray into entrepreneurship even further.

There are, of course, good reasons to do an MBA, too. For me personally, I think having an MBA has been useful. I’ll say more about that in a future post.

How about you? Are you thinking of doing an MBA? How are you weighing up this question?

Or have you done an MBA already? What advice would you give to someone following in your footsteps?

Leave a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 photo credit: mark.hogan

 

If you’re setting up a web-based business in London, there are lots of resources that can come in handy once you know about them. I thought I’d share some of my favourites here in case there a few you don’t yet know about.

This is a selection of everything from interesting events to attend and good books to read through to tools to boost your effectiveness. Some of them will only be useful if you’re based in London or often visit here; the others are more widely applicable:

1. BootLaw – free events where you can get your legal questions answered (and be entertained, too!)
2. Microsoft BizSpark – startup community offering free Microsoft software
3. DrinkTank – drink beer with startup founders and occasional investors
4. Launch48 – meet potential co-founders and try to start a business in a weekend
5. Startup Weekend – meet potential co-founders and try to start another business in a weekend
6. Minibar – see entrepreneurs pitch their startups while you drink free beer
7. London Business School Entrepreneurial Leadership Lectures – hear experienced founders talk
8. UK Business Forums – get nuts and bolts advice from owners of small businesses
9. SeedSummit Term Sheets – see how the investment terms you’ve been offered stack up against ‘standard’ ones.
10. Don’t Make Me Think – learn how to make your website easier to use
11. Visual Website Optimizer – run A/B tests easily and get more from your website
12. Google Apps (free edition) – host up to 10 email accounts for free
13. Ajax Whois – quickly check whether domain names are available
14. MailChimp – send mass emails and track what happens to them (and get UI inspiration!)
15. Viral Marketing – a nice article on the Maths behind viral marketing
16. Super Conversion Button – create good call-to-action web buttons [no longer available]
17. Load Impact – easily run load tests on your website
18. Linode – get cheap, reliable hosting in UK or US data centres (but set the servers up yourself)
19. Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords – learn how to run Adwords campaigns
20. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – understand how to nudge people into doing what you want
21. TechCrunch Europe – read the European bit of the blog that every startup person reads
22. Fiverr – get small tasks done for $5 (try this out for fun at the very least!)
23. Pingdom – get an alert if your website goes down while you’re at Minibar drinking beer
24. Lean Startup – methodology to help figure out whether you’re starting the right business
25. Mixergy – learn from interviews with successful entrepreneurs
26. Hacker News – read what technically-minded startup people are finding interesting at the moment
27. Hacker News London – meet technically-minded startup people in the flesh. Drink beer with them
28. Business Link – find official government information about business regulations
29. WordPress – build all sorts of websites quickly and cheaply (definitely not just for blogs)
30. Woothemes – get a great-looking theme for your website
31. Clicky – get realtime analytics for your website (and impress your co-founders with their very cool ‘big-screen’ display)
32. SurveyMonkey – run surveys easily
33. SendGrid – make sure your emails get delivered
34. TechHub – work surrounded by fellow entrepreneurs at this startup-centric office space
35. OpenSoho – have drinks with startup and digital media folks
36. Facebook Developer Garage – find out the latest goings-on in the world of Facebook (update: no longer running)
37. Mobile Monday London – find out the latest goings-on in the world of mobile
38. LRUG -meet smart Ruby developers and learn clever coding tips and techniques
39. Moo – order yourself some cute mini business cards
40. TweetDeck – track lots of things at once on Twitter
41. Magento – set up a powerful e-commerce website
42. Bit.ly – see how many times people click on the links you share
43. Starbucks – get fairly reliable free wifi almost anywhere in London
44. Le Pain Quotidien – hang out in a nice cafe environment with free wifi
45. British Library Business & IP Centre – get free access to market research reports
46. Out-law.com – find legal information about IT and e-commerce
47. 99designs – get a logo designed
48. SeedSummit – find seed investors
49. The E-myth Revisited – learn why you should create a system
50. Seth Godin – learn why you should forget your system
51. Getting Real – read how to build web apps faster and more easily
52. The Ultimate Sales Machine – read ideas about how to sell more effectively
53. Appsumo – save money on stuff for your startup
54. Google Alerts – find out whenever someone mentions your startup online
55. SEOMoz Search Ranking Factors – learn what’s important for appearing high up in search engine results
56. The Four Steps to the Epiphany – read the original bible of the Lean Startup movement
57. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development – read the cheat-sheet version of the Lean Startup bible
58. Ogilvy on Advertising – understand advertising better
59. Google+ – get dabbling. It could become important for SEO
60. Twitter – follow fellow entrepreneurs to pick up some great tips
61. Paul Graham’s Essays – pick up entrepreneurial wisdom from the guy behind Y-Combinator
62. Futuristic Play – learn more about online marketing
63. A Smart Bear – absorb entrepreneurial wisdom from an experienced founder
64. Adwords Keyword Tool – find out how many people are searching for something
65. oDesk – hire people on the other side of the world
66. PickyDomains – challenge people to find you a great domain name or slogan
67. Enternships – hire entrepreneurially-minded interns
68. Seedcamp – get money and coaching in return for a share in your business
69. UserTesting – find out whether anyone can use your website
70. PSD2HTML – convert that slick PSD your designer created into CSS and HTML
71. Sedo – buy a decent domain name
72. VirtualBox – run a virtual Windows machine so you can test old and annoying versions of IE, even if you have a new and shiny Mac
73. Dropbox – share documents with your co-founders
74. Google Docs – share documents with your co-founders and edit them together
75. ProductTank – hobnob with product managers
76. London Startup Digest – get a curated email of London’s startup-related goings-on
77. Social Innovation Camp – do something good with your talents
78. Toastmasters – become more confident talking in front of an audience
79. Enterprise Finance Guarantee – get backing from the government to help you get a loan
80. The Gary Halbert Letter – improve your copywriting
81. PatternTap – web UI design patterns
82. Technology Strategy Board – enter funding competitions and apply for grants
83. The Equity Kicker – read views from Nic Brisbourne, a London VC
84. Dragon’s Den – entertain your friends and family by pitching your business on TV
85. OpenCoffee – attend weekly coffee meetups and mingle with budding entrepreneurs

Last, one bonus resource [something I’ve set up]:

• PaymentBrain – compare online payment processors

I hope that’s helped you discover at least a few new things that will come in handy.

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Photo by Lillais.Burke.

Patrick over at Micro ISV on a Shoestring has a fantastic post summarising lessons learnt at the recent Business of Software 2010 Conference.

He goes through highlights of a number of talks and it’s good reading for anyone in the business of selling software. Here’s one nugget I found particularly interesting that’s potentially handy for anyone trying to increase the open rate of emails to existing customers (from Patrick’s summary of a talk by Rob Walling of Software by Rob):

Email is far superior to competing methods of repeatable contact with customers—such as Twitter, blogs, RSS feeds, or your favorite social network—because it allows “personalized broadcasts”, where you can scalably communicate with an arbitrarily high number of people while also making it feel like everyone is getting individualized attention.  (Not nearly enough people use this to its maximum potential, particularly with SaaS.  Free tip from me: note what search term sent them to your website, put a variation of it in the subject line of the email, watch your open rate go through the freaking roof.)

That last bit’s a fascinating idea. I can’t wait to try it out. Though I can see it being a more natural fit in some instances than others.

Another gem from Patrick’s summary of the same talk, is that, if you’re trying to get website visitors to give you their email addresses, offering them something they can get immediately in return, such as a white paper, can be very effective. That much I knew. But apparently you should call your white paper a “report” because that will give it higher perceived value.

Anyway, there’s lots more good, actionable stuff to browse through. Read the (very long) post here. Nice work, Patrick!

photo credit: batintherain

I was just making a payment via PayPal and discovered that PayPal have a new checkout page.

Here it is with the payment via PayPal option showing (this is the default for people who already have a PayPal account):

As before, those who don’t have a PayPal account are instead prompted for credit card details:

The pages have a slightly more up-to-date feel than the previous PayPal pages and there are now some slick javascript transition effects as you toggle between PayPal and credit card payment options and step through the rest of the checkout flow.

It’s good to see PayPal making some small steps forward with their user experience.

Let’s hope they update their back-end admin site next. (In my opinion, it’s appallingly slow and cumbersome.)

photo credit: Jo Jakeman