www.10.me
client, partner or investor– because they haven’t said yes, but they still haven’t said no! Whilst having such conversations you may have concerns over confidentiality. I’m often asked whether NDAs should be signed before speaking to anyone about your world-changing (or even region-changing) plans. The reality is, if there isn’t any competition now, there probably will be soon enough. Approach each conversation at your own discretion, but don’t forget that the key to overcoming the challenge of someone replicating your idea is to be as agile, focused and competitive as you can be so that you win! Once you have recognized the opportunity, established your product offering, developed a business model, defined your target audience, and designed a smooth user experience, it’s time to focus on your brand identity. Make sure your target audience resonates with both your brand and product in equal measure. For us, as sport is enjoyed by all nationalities and as the region is a melting pot of such, we selected “10” and trademarked our logo, as it’s a number that is synonymous with sport, but also universal, unlike many words or names. At this point, consider also what name, tone, languages and color schemes will appeal to your target audience. You should perform this exercise before you start building your product, as identity and brand guidelines should be consistent across your marketing efforts and product. Whilst it isn’t fun, if you haven’t done it yet, then now is certainly the time to complete your administrative tasks. When setting up a business, you’ll need to be well positioned to hire
Andy Meikle, founder, 10
additional staff, raise investment, generate revenue or whatever it is that your strategy demands. Now, it’s time to start building! From experience, when possible and should financial resources permit, don’t cut corners. Having grown my previous business to over three million users, the biggest challenge we faced was ensuring our product could scale, having cut corners when we initially built our 10 sports app
app- it was an important lesson we learned! Consumers aren’t very forgiving; if an app is slow, or they come across glitches and bugs then they’re probably not going to come back. In fact, over 60% of apps are deleted after being used once because of technical issues such as crashing or error messages. That said, if financial resources do not permit you to build your dream team from day one, then build yourself a minimum viable product, and take it to market or a beta group of users. This will allow you to validate your offering, proving the concept to either monetize and grow, or raise investment to build your business. There are several key stages to launching and building a tech startup in the MENA region, and whilst all of the above are essential to get your business up and running, one of the most important components is cash! Some may argue that your budget should dictate your strategy; however, one can also argue that the strategy that will lead your business
to success should dictate your budget. If you can proceed with the latter, then this approach will give you a better chance of succeeding. With 10, we’re very fortunate to have the support and belief from institutional and individual investors in the region, who share our vision for changing the way that fans will consume sports content, not just here, but globally. While all of the above may seem like an exhausting list or a tedious approach to launching your tech startup in the region, I’d highly recommend going through the motions anyway. You’re going to be spending a lot of hours building this business, and hopefully, for many years to come, so before you set off on the journey, make sure you’ve planned well before you start executing. Yes, it may feel like it’s a race to produce and launch your tech idea before someone else does, and it often is; however, to avoid that infamous 80% bucket, the most important thing is to get it done right!
september 2017 Entrepreneur
69