Look through Riley Batchelor’s CV and you wonder how it all fits together; he’s worked in construction, hospitality, fashion and education. The consistent thing seems to be a passion for startups and an ability to build and sell successful business.
Batchelor has recently launched an Australian version of the internationally successful General Assembly startup education program; with courses including programming for non-techies, how to get your first 100 users and an introduction to the Sydney startup community.
Batchelor says a successful business is built on a credible brand. Your brand can affect a lot of things — how investors perceive you, whether other companies will partner with you, and ultimately whether people will buy what you’re selling.
“I think you do only get one first impression,” says Batchelor.
“Managing a brand has a lot do with associations. It’s where you put your brand and the partnerships you’re in.”
Some of Batchelor’s past ventures include the Sushi Boat, a floating sushi train he started in Newtown; Estile, an online membership based designer fashion store he sold in 2010; and 2threads, an online fashion community, of which he still owns a share.
Batchelor says your brand includes your logo, colour schemes, and the type of language you use to talk about your startup. For Estile and 2threads, he says the brands needed to be high-end, exclusive and have a good story.
“The management of your brand takes into account what you say in the press, your partners, and your website.”
You need to put thought into your brand, says Batchelor, making sure you have guidelines outlining colours, fonts, key messages and information on where it can be used. Brand should also inform your key messages, and the way you engage with the media.
It might seem counter-intuitive to focus time and energy on branding when startups are usually trying to be lean. There shouldn’t be a tension between the two, says Batchelor. Building a brand doesn’t mean you need to engage a creative agency to spend three months designing something. You can get a logo designed online and quickly develop your collateral.
“You do need to sit down and give it some thought. Be consistent though. The logo is just the start.”
With Estile, Batchelor and his wife Abbey were able to build a database of around 20,000 subscribers in just over a year.
The pair did so by engaging key fashion bloggers. They provided unique links for bloggers to post on their site. For every click-through that turned into a sale, the blogger would receive a $10 credit to use on the site. Batchelor says some of the more popular fashion writers ended up with thousands of dollars to spend on the site.
Managing investor relationships: a brand exercise
You might not think so, but even the way you engage with investors also impacts your brand. Managing an investor relationship is all about communication, says Batchelor. You need to be clear about expectations when you’re negotiating with a potential investor or managing investors you already have.
That means getting a decent shareholder agreement in place. You need to think about the different situations that may arise. StartMate has some free templates you can use.
Batchelor doesn’t think you need to get a lawyer to do the whole thing. He thinks you’re better off having a go at creating something with the help of a template and maybe getting a lawyer to do a final read over as it’ll be much cheaper.
How to exit: preparation is key
Batchelor has exited a number of businesses. He says that you need to be prepared with all your financial documents, an information memorandum (overview of the business), and know how much you want in a sale. Be selective in who you approach, says Batchelor; strategic buyers are best.
After deciding to sell Estile, Batchelor went to a management broker. They were able to target a network of potential buyers. In the end, he met with three different people. In just as many weeks, he had sold the business.
With Sushi Boat, Batchelor knew the most likely buyer was going to be one of the big sushi chains. At the time, he was talking to both Sushi World and Sushi Train. He made it clear to each party the other was interested. The head of Sushi Train ended up signing a cheque within a few hours after meeting Batchelor.
“You need to create a bit of healthy competition.”