What would you do?

> Secondly never decrease your prices. I dont
> agree with Michael that many startups cant
> afford to pay for consulting. I have seen
> people who dont have money to pay rent yet
> they buy 1000$ worth Jay Abrahim stuff.

Ankesh,

Not only are most startups way underfinanced, they as I said in my original post are mostly uneducated when it comes to starting a business. They take for granted their knowledge is "good enough" to start a business. It's the classic "technician's sydrome" as precisely described by Michael Gerber in the "E-Myth".

I deal with a good 3-6 startups every week... 98% don't know Jay Abraham from Jay North (Dennis the Menace)... they don't know Dan Kennedy from Teddy Kennedy.

The folks that visit quality forums like this are the exception rather than the norm. Most startups are not sophisticated enough to even consider there is a better way to run their business (that is until the business loses boatloads of money and or goes belly-up). We know about Jay and Dan and Ted Nicholas and Gary Halbert and all the rest... but we're the exception and not the rule. Trying to prospect for new startups or pre-startups that have both the coin and the business sense to seek help is going to be very hard and expensive.

I agree with you on the pricing... I wouldn't cut pricing either. I would find (or create) a market that I'm creating sufficient value for so that in the end I'm being compensated at a level I feel is "right" for me.

> So if you can churn out good quality work,
> money will automatically come.

Not necessarily... why? because our perception (as a business owner or manager) of "quality" is almost always different than that perceived by the customer. We toss around the word "quality" like a $10 bill, but it is not the ultimate key to business success. The bigger determining factor is how much value are you creating for your customer(s)? "Value" encompasses "quality" and a whole lot more. You put out a quality product but not a product that creates value for the enduser and you're dead right out of the shoot.

Take care,

Mike Winicki