I cannot recommend these two books enough.

1) Sales on a BeerMat

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sales-Beermat-Mike-Southon/dp/1844138194

2) The Beermat Entrepreneur

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beermat-Entrepreneur-Turn-Great-Business/dp/0273720988/ref=pd_sim_b_3

They’re both great reads for anyone involved in startup businesses. In our office we quickly learnt to not stray from the beermat principles. The main things I got from the books were:

• Be honest with your customers (in good times and bad).
• Sell something which fixes a problem your customer has.
• Getting a dream team together for the initial 1-2 years is absolutely crucial.
• Listen to feedback, even if you don’t agree with it. Make a product for your customers not for yourself.
• Be nice to everyone you meet.
• Don’t sacrifice every other area of your life to work 24/7. 12/6 is OK and you’ll get as much work done because taking a few steps back from a problem can be the best way to solve it.
• Never waste money on marketing early on (you’ll be inundated with B2B sellers that sound great but are usually worthless).
• Have fun!

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