Answering Seth Godin’s 16 Questions for Entrepreneurs

Hi I’m, Matt - a young(ish) entrepreneur from Auckland, New Zealand!

Interested in:

small business marketing?

online video services maybe?

Get in touch - here’s me answering some questons from seth godins blog for entrepreneurs - it’s good to think long term about where business is taking you, why you’re doing and what you want from it, what you’ll do when you get there!

Myself by building a successful business built on happy customers with a good reputation

Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?

I don’t know, I hope I can build my business into a place where small independent people with ideas can come and put their ideas into motion with the right

1. How will the world be different when you’ve succeeded?

In auckland, and possibly new zealand, and possibly clients around the world, there will have been many many people who had the opportunity to promote themselves or something they were passionate about with less fuss and expense than it would have been to make it far more challenging than it should or had to be.

1. Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones?

I think at this point it is importnat to add new customers, but we are reaching an equilibrium where the balance is even and within a few years, we may seriously consider limiting or being more stringent with taking on new customers, unless it’s in retail or hospitality of course.

1. Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that’s two questions)

It depends, I think I need 1 or 2 people to run kurb in Auckland, an assistant to help with marketing and perhaps 2 or 3 staff for running my retail or hospitality operations.

1. Would you rather have an open-ended project that’s never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?)

It depends how I feel, what comes around the corner, in terms of money I don’t want to make huge leaps and bounds from where I am now, but in terms of other things I’m committed to, or feel I have a commitment to, who knows. Maybe I’ll want to be more active in the community or with my music if I feel my entrepreneurialism has reached a natural point of resolution. I don’t want 10 million dollars, that’s just silly, I don’t see the point in doing that.

1. Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it?

I’ve always been active in marketing and that will never stop , nor will it reach a point where I can just leave my businesses without being somewhat innovative in marketing as that would be negligent. I’m sure as I’ve experienced, it will get easier though.

1. Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?

It’s a mix between the two, yes we offer similar services in promotion to others, but cheaper - but we approach it in a different way, we know more and more smaller, independent operators will want our services and if we can provide this cheaply and with good advice and good service to help ordinary people promote what they’re passionate about, then I think that’s something new.

1. If you take someone else’s investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back?

No, I think I’ll be fine without investment, maybe I’ll never run a big operation, but hey, I’m cool with simply branching out from where I am now to the next branch.

1. Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself?

I can’t imagine what it will be like to work for a principal reason other than security, but I really look forward to where that will take me in terms of creativity and giving.

1. Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask…

Again it depends on the situation, and as I develop, I believe I should be able to provide more inspiration and guidance through my business.

1. How long can you wait before it feels as though you’re succeeding?

I already feel like I’m succeeding, but I guess if I make a million bucks I’ll feel like I succeeded in my first goal to be financially secure and independent in a little bit of a glamourous way.

1. Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?)

It’s a constant series of reactions and refinement, nothings ever perfect, but as long as it evolves to meet needs and perform work which people value, then we’re making progress toward improvement.

1. Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe) or is it better they be anonymous and separate?

Again it’s about convergence, bring ing ideas together over time from disparate strands to a unified concept based on what I enjoy providing and customers equally enjoy or value receiving.

1. How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we’re on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?)

I don’t want to play it as dicey as I have in the past, that’s why I’ve worked so hard in the last 3-4 years to lift myself out of that.

1. What does busy look like?

I hope never to be as busy as I was in 2008 and 2009 I like getting up before lunch, taking lunch and doing a few hours work, checking in with my staff, and then turning my attention to my marketing clients and then perhaps to my own personal projects which will become more creative as my business is refined.

In my experience, people skip all of these questions and ask instead: “What can I do that will be sure to work?” The problem, of course, is that there is no sure, and even worse, that you and I have no agreement at all on what it means for something to work.