IN UNDER 12 MONTHS

How to Build

a Business

from

$0 To $700,000

The 10 steps all entrepreneurs

need to build their own empire and

succeed in today’s internet-driven

and digitalised world.

DISCLAIMER

www.netstripes.com

February 2019

The information, text, technical and research content contained in this document is for

general information purposes only and should not be mistaken for a business consultation.

We make no warranties of any kind, expressed or implied about the suitability of the

information contained to your business.

A Message From The CEO

STEP 1. Decide On What You Are Passionate About

STEP 2 . Identify Your Customer and Their Pain Clearly

STEP 3. Brand Positioning

STEP 4. Nail Your Online Branding

STEP 5. Build Your Website To Reflect Your Brand And Strategy

STEP 6. Get Your Product or Service Right

STEP 7. Get The Right Team: Don’t Try To Boil The Ocean Alone

STEP 8. Perfect Marketing Channel For Your Ideal Customers

STEP 9. Be Close To Your Customers

STEP 10. Be Close To Your Team

Conclusion

Take Action

CONTENT

State of the Nation 2018

“My passion was to run a business

that could change the paradigm in

the delivery of technology projects. I

believed professional services firms

could achieve 100% success in on time,

on budget delivery, not 30%. It was

however, key that we worked exclusively

with clients who were committed to

the importance of achieving quality

outcomes, through the best

in-class governance.”

CEO of Netstripes

Dinesh De Silva

So many intelligent, experienced and hardworking people find

themselves in jobs that make them unhappy and frustrated.

They are often stuck in roles in which they feel disempowered,

under-utilised and wasted.

I want to help inspire anyone who may feel that you are in this

rut, feeling tied down. I want you to know that there are options.

The very same options I discovered after taking the plunge into

the world of entrepreneurship, how to minimise the risks we all

worry about, how we pay bills, keep ourselves a float and meet

family and other obligations we have.

You also must know that, like in anything, starting and running

a business successfully is about following a system that starts

with passion. Success can be achieved and there is a system

and formula for it.

Back when I was in a similar dilemma, an old friend I considered

a wise man, advised me to just start and get back to doing what

I loved; go an entrepreneur, and start a business. After much

thought and weighing up my options, I decided to take the

plunge in March 2010. It was a tough decision; taking a huge

risk foregoing my career in the corporate sector. Nevertheless, I

followed my intuition and started my business. I am hoping you

will be inspired to take similar actions as the results can change

your paradigm.

A Message

from the CEO

“I was sure that if I wanted 100%

success in projects, I needed to

work with people who shared the

same passion”

Decide On What You Are Passionate About

STEP 1

This is fundamental for success. The

passion will keep you ticking at all times,

especially in tough times. For Dinesh, he

was driven by one challenge, and that

challenge was to create 100% successes

in all his projects. This challenge was

inspired from a research that was

conducted at the time, which showed

that only 30% of all technology projects

were completed to client satisfaction.

Mostly because projects went over

budget or over time.

“I felt this 70% rate of “failure” was

crazy. My passion was to run a business

where successful project completion

will be 100%, where project governance

is best in class, yet practical. Delivered

exclusively to those clients who

understand and are committed to

the importance of achieving quality

outcomes every time”

Initially, his peers didn’t believe him and

told him it wasn’t possible. However he

was determined to make it possible.

However he was determined to make it

possible. He believed that he could make

every engagement a good one and meet

the expectations of stakeholders who

have lost trust in the system.

“I was super passionate about making

it happen, and that is what it will take to

succeed.”

Dinesh started NexGroup on the 10th of

March 2010. If he wanted 100% success

in all his projects, he knew he would

need to work with people who shared the

same passion as he did, and he wasn’t

about to tolerate lip service. This means

serving high quality and professional

services directors, program directors

and project managers who had the same

vision and who would commit to good

practice.

“You may think, how do I find what I am

passionate about, how do I get the right

research, and target the right clients”

“The more people you talk

to in your target customer

group, the more insights

you will receive“

Identify Your Customer and Their Pain Clearly

STEP 2

To be client centric, we must know who

our ideal customer is, what their pain is

and how to resolve that excruciating pain.

You must be clear and targeted - this is

about laser focus and not a spray gun

approach.

To help understand your ideal customers,

it is essential to talk to as many people in

your target market as possible, before you

start and spend money on building your

business.

Instead of asking about their opinion

on your product/ service i.e. “I got

this product will you buy it”, ask them

questions around the problem you are

trying to resolve. Explore through a series

of questions on how painful vit is for them

and how important it is for them to find a

solution. This will determine whether they

would pay for it and if so how much they’re

willing to pay to have someone resolve

their problem. The more people you talk to,

the more insights you will gain.

For Dinesh, after doing his research and

speaking with several people, he identified

his ideal client to be project directors of

global tech companies (e.g. big banks,

major retailers, global financial houses

etc) who had big-ticket projects that

were required to be delivered on time,

with high visibility and little room for

error. These projects had a track record

of budget and time overruns, so they

were happy to talk to an expert who

could help.

NexGroup team were helping them

resolve their excruciating pain as their

high paying jobs, and that of their teams

often depended on an on-time -on-

budget delivery.

“At the start, our clients will only

give you a small project to test you.

However, if you can truly deliver and

surpass expectations with flying

colours, you will get not one, not two,

but a massive avalanche of business as

we did.”

The critical element here was to know

who our ideal customer was, to develop

empathy on what significant issues they

had, and to build trust by demonstrating

that we can help them.

This is about having a clear strategy, that

is then executed to precision from the

start. If you would like to develop your

own clear strategy and achieve similarly

click here for more details and insights.

Brand Positioning: how to build your

business and brand to be attractive

to your ideal customers

STEP 3

Brand positioning is vital for a business

because it is how your brand is perceived

in the minds of your customers

compared to your competitors.

NexGroup’s positioning strategy

was such that within the first year of

operations, solutions were delivered to

big Australian and global companies like

CA North America, CA Australia, AXA,

Woolworths and ANZ Bank.

Brand positioning is about understanding

your strengths, your weaknesses and

that of your competition and then

charting a course to differentiate

yourself from that of the competition by

articulating your strengths powerfully.

Often entrepreneurs and businesses

don’t do a good enough job on this

crucial aspect of first understanding

their strengths and then articulating

these strengths powerfully.

As first steps, write down your strengths,

compare that against what your client’s

needs are, and then check how your

competitors outline their strengths. For

example, how many years of experience

do you have in this speciality, how

many years of experience do you have

overall. What are your qualifications,

what awards and accreditations have

you won, what makes you special?, why

should anyone buy from you?

You must be able to list yours in a way

your business can clearly stand apart

from competitors of all sizes, much

larger firms and then those of similar

standing.

If this is an area you need help in, click

here to speak to Dinesh or our Digital

Strategists. With years of experience,

they’d be happy to point you towards the

right direction.

Nail Your Online Branding -

“You are your brand,

and your online brand is like the corporation that

backs you”

STEP 4

When you start a new business, you are

the brand. You represent your brand. It is

your credibility and expertise that people

depend on and want to take a punt on.

Anyone wanting to give you business

has their lingering doubts, and they often

need the support and approval of others.

This is where your online brand comes

into play. Your online brand has to be

like that big corporation that backs them

to develop trust. In this case your brand

must look as strong and you can feel

confident when you are having various

discussions with customers as you were

when you were in a corporate job or

running a franchise.

The strong positioning of your brand and

business must come through clearly,

and on first sight. A lot of people miss

out on this step, and jumps directly to

building their website. As a result, they

struggle for years with poor results, and

eventually close their business down

after having lost all their money. This is a

big mistake you must avoid.

So get your online branding right before

you go into developing your website. If

you get your online branding right, you

will increase your chances of success

and eliminate the risks of starting a

business. Again this is an area the team

at NetStripes can guide you with. Click

here to learn more.

Building a website that

reflects your online branding,

positioning, web presence

and strategy.

Build Your Website To Reflect

Your Online Brand And Strategy

STEP 5

The reason for Step 4 is so when your

potential clients check out your website,

your website will ooze with credibility

and trust thanks to a strong branding.

Every business has massive competition

today. So, you must stand apart from

your competition.

NexGroup did just that: while NexGroup

was operated by one person, his clients

trusted NexGroup Asia Pacific as if it

was a credible corporation. NexGroup’s

online branding was built to give instant

credibility and trust that was reflected on

the website and that year NexGroup

It does not need

to cost you an

arm or leg

handled projects for Woolworths, ANZ

Bank, Fujitsu, AXA Asia Pacific, AMP,

Australian Customs, NSW Government,

Victorian Government and more.

“It does not need to cost you an arm or

leg, or take months to achieve, if done

correctly”

As a new company with barely any

customers, how would you make big

customers feel comfortable working with

you? You could by building a website that

reflects your online branding, positioning,

web presence and strategy.

“We achieved a 100% success

record, at a time when the

industry standard was

30% success”

Get Your Product or Service Right

STEP 6

Getting your product or service right is

absolutely fundamental. What’s meant

here, is to build and offer products or

services to customers only once you

have understood your ideal customer’s

pain. Your offering serves as a solution

that they need as opposed to what you

think they need.

“Don’t start a business if you can’t deliver

high-quality products or services 100% of

the time. 99% is just not good enough.”

99% is just not

good enough

Think of it as a commitment to yourself.

NexGroup delivered 20 projects in the

first 12 months because their customers

loved their first project. Then we got a

second project. The clients loved every

one of them, first to the fourth. Delivering

their passion, making every engagement

a good one.

When told the impossible nature of the

task ahead, you must be motivated even

more to defy the odds and succeed.

Get The Right Team:

Don’t Try To Boil The Ocean Alone

STEP 7

Spend your time ensuring you have

the best people. If you cannot afford

to hire them full time, get them on the

job-to-job basis, part-time, or offshore.

Today’s digitally globalised world allows

it. Dinesh spent nights sourcing the

best people from around the world for

NexGroup.

He called the US, UK, India, South Africa,

Ireland. Yet, NexGroup’s first consultant

was from a small Middle Eastern country

of all places.

“He was unbelievable. He managed

a mega project for one of the largest

organisations in Australia and was able

to even handle their big business

Invest in getting

the right team

arrogance because he had more

expertise and experience than they

did. Was he more expensive? Yes. Was

the project super profitable? Yes. Did

it lead to other projects? Yes. More

importantly, a client from an ASX top

20 firm loved our work.”

This shows that getting the right team

with the right expertise, right attitude

and same passion is necessary to

succeed. Eventually your business will

grow so big, you won’t have the time to

manage all the tasks. So, don’t try to boil

the ocean alone. Invest in getting the

right team and your business will grow

exponentially.

Identify the Most Important Marketing Channel for

your Ideal Customers

STEP 8

In this age of social media, the mistake

that many businesses make is not being

clear with who their ideal customers

are. Without knowing and understanding

who your customer is, you will not know

which marketing channel is best suited

for them. So, take the time to identify the

ideal channel for your customers. Is it

email marketing? LinkedIn? Facebook?

Instagram? Pinterest? Meetup?

What most businesses do is hedge their

bets and do a bit of everything. This is

a poor strategy that will lead to poor

results and have you spend a lot of your

priceless time and money.

The advice here is to pick one or

maximum two channels that your

customers engage on. When you start,

there is a limitation of time and money,

so your focus on one platform is crucial.

If you require help, you can speak to one

of our strategists to provide you with the

best promotional mix.

“We used email as our

fundamental channel

of marketing and then

LinkedIn. Even I am guilty

of becoming distracted

doing twitter due to my

personal interest on

Twitter as a channel,

but that didn’t help the

business at the time.”

Be Close to Your Customers

STEP 9

Be close to your customers, and meet as many prospects in your ideal customer

category (persona). Visit or have lunch with them. It’s not costly, just a sandwich

or coffee is OK. But get to know them. Ask questions. Listen, listen & listen. Ask for

recommendations. Ask for referrals. Your customers would love to help you if you

help them.

Be Close To Your Team

STEP 10

Your team are the people that are making your vision come to life. They work hard

and they’re committed to their work. Be close to them, talk about their focus. Take

them out for lunch, dinner, whatever is convenient. It is important to ensure through

these conversations that your team understands your vision, and your commitment

to achieve client outcomes. “For my team, the focus was always ensuring that every

project was a good one and clients were ecstatic with results”

CONCLUSION

Start by knowing what you are

passionate about, as this is the most

critical piece of advice I can give you.

Your passion will drive you when you are

having a tough day.

The next important step is

understanding who your ideal customer

is and working out the problem you are

resolving for that customer through

your new business. Is the problem you

are helping to resolve big enough? Are

you fixing their excruciating pain? These

are the questions to ask. If the pain is

not intense enough, your customers will

have only luke warm demand for your

service. You don’t want that. You want

massive demand for what you offer.

Even in an internet-driven world, great

work gets noticed. When you do a good

job, the news spreads much faster than

you know it, thanks to the amplification

of social media tools around us. When

NexGroup first started, from a marketing

perspective, all Dinesh had was a

website with the right online branding

and brand positioning. But it was a

website that our customers could go

to and immediately evoke trust and

credibility.This was vital.

Great service will deliver you word of

mouth recommendations. To make it

work, remember your prospects will

google your website before they have the

confidence to work with you. They often

need the approval of their colleagues,

bosses, and business partners to work

with your firm, so again your website

is that ticket to the dance. Never

underestimate the importance of world-

class online branding. If you want the

expert to audit your website, click here.

Can other small businesses

succeed in their first 12 months?

The answer is yes. Using the same

formula for success, Dinesh has been

helping entrepreneurs achieve similar or

even better results.

His new passion now, is how he can

help protect and change the course of

hundreds of thousands of start-ups and

established small businesses in Australia

and around the world that are struggling

with digital disruption. According to the

Australian Bureau of Statistics, over 1

million small businesses have closed

down in the last five years. Dinesh

believes that by providing them with

the right knowledge, strategies, and

guidance, they will not only protect

themselves from digital disruption

but become the agents of change and

innovators who will succeed in this

digital world.

This passion, gave birth to NetStripes in

April 2014 after Dinesh read a research

report by Deloitte Access Economics

and found that businesses that achieved

“full digital engagement” of customers,

grew significantly faster and achieved

results that were far superior to that of

their counterparts who were not. These

insights were significant on how we can

combat the issue of digital disruption

head-on.

If you are keen to start a business or

have just ventured on your own recently

and would like to use a similar formula

to what guided these businesses, join

our Digital Accelerator Program. A

program that is designed for success.

Your success.

We celebrate

win

every

TAKE ACTION

If you are keen to start a business or have

just ventured on your own recently and would

like to use a similar formula to what guided

these businesses, click on the button below

and learn more how to book a fully subsidised

1-on-1 Advisory with Netstripes.

Learn More

NetStripes has since been appointed as authorised

digital specialists for Small Businesses in NSW. The federal

government policy makers and other key influencers have

acknowledged the benefits of the programs NetStripes have

created to help small businesses in Australia to innovate

and grow as “Transformational and Ground breaking”.

NetStripes’ trusted and verified digital and marketing system has

already helped hundreds of small businesses achieve transformational

business growth. A comprehensive system that includes skills training,

strategy, advisory and innovative web technology to guide entrepreneurs

in achieving their dreams and goals.

What this really means to your business is that you will be seen as a

trusted and credible brand in your industry, win more customers, make

more sales and create more success.

Personally, you will have less stress, more freedom and more time and

money to do what you love.

We know we can do this for your business just the way we have for so

many entrepreneurs, to achieve their goals.

www.netstripes.com

P. 1300 10 8880 | E. info@netstripes.com

55 Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009 Australia

IN UNDER 12 MONTHS

HOW TO

BUILD A BUSINESS

FROM

$0 TO $700,000