
How did you launch your service startup? - czm
I have a goal to launch my recruitment startup b
on Tuesday next week but i need help on;<p>1. I have limited marketing budget, do i go from one company to another when starting?<p>2. I am bootstrapping my startup and what are the chances some established company can like and steal my idea.<p>3) Regarding recruitment, who are the key decision makers in a company.<p>Thank you.
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ddtaylor
We have been trying to launch our startup for about 2 years, which is a very
hard thing to type out or admit. It's easy to assume that if we haven't done
it yet it may never work, but we believe in the idea and don't see anyone else
trying to do it.

> 1\. I have limited marketing budget, do i go from one company to another
> when starting?

We ran out of runway a while ago and sadly we never got to spend a dime on
marketing. Trade shows and conferences can be a good investment because you
can get a real idea of how people are reacting to you. This is why we know we
have made mistakes with our launch because we get feedback at shows. You can
also identify product market fit better because people might say they support
your product and it's the best, but you can find out exactly what is keeping
them from signing a contract.

Without a lot of spare money to pay other people to market, you'll be forced
to do the grind yourself. Get on the phone or start sending emails reaching
out to prospective clients and customers. Find out if they understand your
value proposition and if not what's wrong with it. It sounds crappy, and it
can be, but you need to set a goal of making X contacts per day and start your
growth. If you don't want to do this you'll have to pay someone at least
$500-$1000 a month to do it for you.

> I am bootstrapping my startup and what are the chances some established
> company can like and steal my idea.

If your idea can be stolen then your model is likely not great. For example if
you're goal is to make a little widget and sell it that's probably not going
to work very well right now since China will simply clone it and undercut you.
For our product we stand out by integrating with other companies in a way
nobody else is doing, and it's less likely a competitor would want to put in
all that leg work just to become on par with us.

> Regarding recruitment, who are the key decision makers in a company.

That depends on the company. Some companies have "HR firewalls" where nobody
can get involved with the company unless HR okays it, usually because they
foot the bill for unemployment and severance, so they make more if they can
reduce these metrics.

~~~
czm
Thank you for taking time to respond and your answers have been helpful.

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jdubs
You probably should have figured out most of these things before you started.
Can you leverage your network to get you going?

