Copy This! by Paul Orfalea, Kinko's Founder
I'm reading Paul Orfalea's (founder of Kinko's) autobiography, Copy This! Lessons from a hyperactive dyslexic who turned a bright idea into one of America's best companies. It is absolutely amazing. Below is an excerpt that I thought was very interesting:
We'd grown so fast that we hadn't even bothered to secure trademark protections for ourselves nationwide. We hardly had any written agreements with anybody; most of our business was conducted on a handshake. Aside from our status as independent Subchapter S corporations, we lacked any structure to speak of.
Amazingly, Paul is referring to 1983, 13 years after Kinko's was founded and when it was doing $70 million in sales with more than 120 stores!
The question I get asked most often about entrepreneurship is, "How do I get started?" I think the answer for 99% of young entrepreneurs is NOT:
- Write a business plan
- Trademark or patent your idea
- Raise funding
- Find an accountant and lawyer
- Incorporate
- Write up agreements
In my opinion, I think the steps above should be pushed off as long as possible until you're sure your idea works. They are all potentially very important if you have a viable business. However, they're meaningless if you don't. Sure, it's a risk, but I think the risk of spending thousands of dollars and months of time on a bad idea is a larger risk for most.
