Meet our M.O.M Tip Contributor, Craig Wolfe...
For a little bit of background, I became the largest publisher of artwork from television commercials creating the first ever animation art lines for Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Bush, M&M/Mars, etc.
Then I sold it all off to create a whole new art form of celebrity rubber ducks of the greatest icons of film, music history, and athletics. I'll post our press kit letter below.
So my number one form of advice:
It's not how much money you make it's how much you keep!...it would amaze you how many companies bankrupt themselves through taking on too much overhead and premature investment in offices, technology, and personnel. Outsourcing in the beginning works just fine! Forget all the fancy smanshy offices and shiny new expensive computers and other high tech toys. Lean and mean is the way to go until you have established success...and even after! I built up everything I did working out of a home office....still to this day love working at home! I think I might give you a run for your money as the master of outsourcing!!
If you want some other bits of advice, here they are:
First, don't get into bed with the biggest talkers..in other words, make sure the people chose to work with are people you really trust and feel good about. Trust your gut!!
Second, don't spend money foolishly on acquiring licenses and creating products that appeal to you. Look what appeals to others...those are your customers. And ideally the two should match!
Third, never, never casually give away equity in your business unless there is a huge tangible upside for doing so. You will live to regret it if you end up creating a huge success based primarily on your ideas and efforts. 100% ownership is highly underrated!!
Fourth, take the long term approach and go for long term success as opposed to short term profits. In other words, make every decision with how this will refect on your brand in the long run. Create a positive image from day one. Ever hear of the internet. Your mistakes stay live for a lifetime now!
Fifth, know what you do best and don't try and be all things to all people. Focus like a lasor in your niche and own your niche.
And for my favorite quote....Milton Hershey...."Give them Quality...that's your best advertisement!"
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