Behind the scenes at a SA startup.

It was February 2021 when Tom, the other Co-founder of Fluss Technologies, and I joined forces to see whether this little IoT device has a place in the access control market. My responsibility is the business strategy design, meaning being the sales representative, feedback clerk, lead tester, customer support, and much more. That's how it is when you are a team of two. And Tom is the brains behind this as an Electrical and Software engineer behind his laptop working on those funny hieroglyphics that only he understands and assisting me with customer queries and feedback as well. Very important to note that Tom started the development and testing of Fluss back in 2020 already.

During the first 3 months together we added a few features and fixed a few “bugs”. When I say “we” I mean Tom. I only pointed out the “bugs” and features that should be added, changed, and fixed. So three months in I was chomping at the bit to get out there and see what the potential clients might say and if we can sell some Fluss devices.

So I decided let’s start with an area I can cover in two to three days but that’s big enough to receive decent feedback from during the trip. So as I am situated in our regional office in Stellenbosch I choose to fly to Port Elizabeth, rent a car and work my way back to Mossel Bay and fly back to Stellenbosch. I made my appointments for PE, Plettenbergbaai, Knysna, George, and Mosselbaai and two weeks later I went.

Looking back now a year later I know why I only sold 10 devices and that to one client. No packaging, no formal sales script, no online training, wrong pricing, wrong initial business strategy, “bugs” and much more. But that’s how you improve, adjust, and grow.

I call this our A-Z. You need to know that you know what is going on on the ground. Meaning what the client says, their needs, their opinions, and what is the real problem you can solve. You as a small start-up founder have to look the potential client in the eyes and see his reactions to your product and service. You need to spend your money traveling and see what it is going to take to sell this product and service. You need to know that you know this is the way let’s run in it. Believe me, too many start-ups never take off because they think a website with an online shop and social media will do the thing. That’s an exception, not the rule. Too many start-ups also think they know that they know without spending the time and money doing the A-Z themselves.

In the next article, I’ll tell you what we changed, how we launched, and how we are doing one year later.