The Art of the Start

That's the name of the Guy Kawasaki Book. Love the name - Art of the Start. Wish I would have thought of it first:-)

Anyways, what I want to share today are some simple lessons that I learnt running my(our - with my wife) start-up - Cinnamon Stays! Originally written as an fb comment almost a year back.

So here are some tips that you may find useful....

5+1 lessons that I would like to share (commonsense in hind-sight)

1. There is no right time to start a business. One can never be too early. In my case it wasn't too late either. The important thing is to take the plunge...That's half the work done.(Honestly)

2. Our degrees and fancy designations and the corporate egos we accumulate over the years are the biggest deterrents.

Think like the neighbourhood grocery store guy. Do not analyse too much! You can't get all the answers by analysis alone....

3. The brand can wait. It's maybe strange coming from someone having spent 15 years in agencies, around brands. What I re-learnt in past 4 months...
The brand is the clean loo...
The brand is the on-time pick-up...
The brand is the putting a 80 kilo 'barf ki silli' in the tank to jugaad fix the boiling hot water tank:-)
The brand is conversing with the guests and lending them the book you just finished reading. Your brand actually is quite different from what you read in a book...

The logo and the stationery can wait....

4. Belief is important. Belief that you will succeed no matter what - even when friends snigger behind your back, when family questions your intelligence, when you are down on the last reserves of some hard earned money

5. Ask for help. For contacts. For leads . For networking. There are cynics out there and then there are successful people who want you to succeed.

5+1. Social Media is not a fad. It works! It has worked for me!! We have spent negligible money on mass media(didn't have much anyways:-) But managing social media is an art more than science especially for start-ups. You can only learn by taking the plunge in SM....

Facebook, twitter, stumbleupon, LinkedIn, flickr, Trip Advisor have all contributed to building Cinnamon as a fledgling hospitality brand.

Today Cinnamon is rated No. 1 on Trip Advisor. We get business through Facebook, twitter and Trip Advisor...Did I have all the answers for Social Media marketing when I started? Certainly not! But I have learnt vital lessons along the way!

So for any entrepreneur, wanna-be-entrepreneur, individual, small brand owner I offer the Cinnamon lounge as a meeting place...930 to 530 weekdays and extended hours weekends:-)Happy to help with my SM expertise!

I can help jump-start your social media strategy through my second start-up - Once Upon a Time - a story telling and brand 2.0 consultancy. Happy to share - the art of the start!