Amelia Dunne, Co-founder of AskYourUsers.com, has always been an entrepreneur.? She had her own business cards (self-made) by the time she was 10 years old and in elementary school she would make hair scrunchies and sell them to boutiques in San Francisco. Most weekends she could be found at a stand in front of her parent?s house selling figs from her backyard, fake radio show cassette tapes (also self-made), or custom art projects.? Dunne sat down with The Grindstone to talk about her unique path as an entrepreneur and how really listening to your customers can give you the best insight into what kind of business you should build.
Dunne has always approached her professional life as a businessperson first, rather than a woman in business.? ?Projecting confidence and professionalism rather than my identity makes it easier to get down to business and filter out the rest as noise,? she says.? After graduating from Northeastern University in Boston, she went back to San Francisco and began work at a small ad agency.? Within a year of working at the agency, her first post-college job, she left to start her own company, a cooperative ad agency where local business could join forces to advertise their services and share in the ad production/service costs.? Her goal has always been to create a successful company that she?s passionate about.? ?If achieving that means another success story for women in business and is ultimately helpful to others, that?s a fantastic side effect, but not the end-goal.?
Three years into her work with the coop ad agency, she was hired by a venture firm that wanted to create a similar company for national clients. For a little over a year she worked as an Executive Project Manager, focused on validating new business ideas and launching new online businesses for the firm.? But in December of 2011 she began working full time on several startup ideas with her co-founder, Chris Bumgardner. Together they founded Incepta, LLC with the purpose of validating and launching startups that would be owned by that entity.? They began working on a mobile app for businesses and it seemed promising enough that they spent all their time developing it.
However, they kept having trouble validating the idea.? They had a prototype, but still needed to speak with people representative of their prospective customers so they could get honest, objective feedback before pouring more time and resources into creating the app.? Dunne was becoming more and more frustrated with the feedback she was receiving?it felt biased and unclear?it seemed that either her passion was over-selling the idea, or people were just telling her what she wanted to hear.
This is when Dunne experienced her ?Ah Ha? moment, an instant where the solution to her problem suddenly became clear.? ?We came into our office one Monday morning and started discussing the challenges we were facing in this validation process. We started describing a business tool and process that we wanted to use, but it didn?t exist yet. That was our pivot point, and the beginning of AskYourUsers.?? ?Dunne and Bumgardner stopped work on the app that day, and going forward devoted all their energy to a business they believed to be incredibly valuable, even if only for their own use.? After receiving great responses from startup friends, they knew they were onto something big.
They launched AskYourUsers only three months after the initial ?Ah Ha? moment.? Quickly business owners of all types began expressing interest.? It solved recruiting, consulting, and market research challenges that Dunne and Bumgardner had each faced, and worked around, many times in their entrepreneurial careers.? Many businesses are using AskYourUsers to get objective feedback from targeted professionals before they jump into the startup environment.? The tool Dunne and Bumgardner have created is so easy and inexpensive; it eliminates many risks associated with the unknowns entrepreneurs face.? It provides a means of validating ideas and assumptions before building out a product and helps business owners identify who their customer is and what he/she will want.
As a customer seeking information, you can choose the exact demographics of the LinkedIn members that you want to have answer your questions.? You can choose by gender, age, location, computer proficiency, job title, industry, or skills.? Then, you simply write out a list of questions you want answered.? It?s great for targeted advice, feedback and market research.? Jobs can be completed via screencast or written feedback and start at only $22 for a 15-minute micro-consultation.? It?s important to remember that the micro-consultants stay anonymous and customers only see a redacted LinkedIn profile view.? This keeps the feedback both objective and honest.
Being an entrepreneur comes with a specific set of challenges.? For example, putting together an effective, complimentary team that can work and grow together is no easy feat.? It can also be hard for business owners to ?disconnect? from their smartphones when starting their own company, especially in our era of 24/7 connectivity.
Dunne has struggled with work/life balance and explains, ?The most inefficient founders I see are those that never take a break, never give themselves a day off, and can?t step away. In my first business, I spent almost four years pouring everything I had into the business I was building without ever taking a break. I didn?t give myself a day off, I checked my phone and email every few minutes and I couldn?t distract myself with anything other than the company I was building. It was the most inefficient way to work.?
While it?s not easy to disconnect from a business you love, it can make you better and more efficient at your job.? Dunne?s solution for maintaining a healthy work/life balance is to go camping at least once a month.? She also hikes on a weekly basis, just to clear her head and regroup.? Dunne and Bumgardner take frequent walks, and she?s found that some of their best ideas stem from the collaboration that takes place outside of the office.
When I asked Dunne what career advice she would give to a woman looking to her start her own business, she answered with ease. ?I think it?s important to start a business that you love. Solve a real problem, stay on a topic you are passionate about, and listen to your customers.?
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For more information visit https://www.askyourusers.com/
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