Jack of all trades (start-up entrepreneur)

"Jack of all trades, master of none, though ofttimes better than master of one". I think the phrase pretty much sums up a start-up entrepreneur, at least this is what I have found out for myself. You need to know a bit of EVERYTHING, if you don't know something then FIND A WAY to learn it and if you still don't know it then at least know how to pull those skills together by networking. But then in the end, even if you can find the right skills from people it will be expensive and so in the end there is no real choice but to do it yourself.

Ideally to have many arms and a poker face to show your calm and collected management with unlimited skills up the sleeves.


The difference between working for a company and starting up your company is that cashflow will always be tight for any start-up. Instead of being able to pick up and call for support or to ask and pay for external help, things will have to be done by yourself to by-pass the cash-flow problems. It does indeed feel like several departments on one head and its when you start envying Shiva will you know that you are A START UP ENTREPRENEUR.

Thinking back on the my past year in starting up BEEcycle I was required to:

• Incorporate the Company
• Manage finance and account
• Market research (although I did have a student helping me, thanks Lucia)
  
• Apply for funding/business plan writing
  
• Read up legislations
• Scientific and technical research
  
• Develop products
• Design marketing materials
• Creating educational materials
  
• Design Webpage (with my amateur skills, this was the most time consuming and frustrating part of the whole list, yet most fulfilling with results)
  
• Network and establish link with suppliers/consumers
• Sales and presentations

Sometimes the bigger problem is weighing time and money to decide whether it is more worth it to hire someone to do those things. But until cashflow is up with steady sales, there is nothing we can do but bite the bullet and work 7 days a week + late nights.