Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dennis Shiao, Founder of Attention Retention, located in San Mateo, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Attention Retention is a B2B marketing agency. We provide services for content marketing, product marketing, and social media marketing. Our customers are B2B technology companies: software, SaaS (software as a service), hardware, data platforms, engineering services, and more. Our agency's tagline is "Keeping attention is as important as getting it" -- our belief is that gaining attention (i.e., with your target audience) is good, but it's just the first step. Once you gain attention, you must hold it. Some brands make the mistake of thinking that attention (i.e., by itself) is the primary goal. The problem is, if all you want is attention, you'll end up with very short-lasting relationships.
Tell us about yourself
I spent 20+ years comfortably working in full-time roles, then went out on my own four years ago due to a layoff. I love running my own business, so when I look back, the layoff was one of the best things that happened to me -- even though I didn't know it at the time. I was fortunate to have a friend who ran a social media marketing agency. When I was first laid off, I did hourly freelance work to support the social media campaigns of his clients. The idea was to earn a little income while looking for my next role. Well, that short-term work led to projects with new clients, and before I knew it, I had a full-time load of client work. I stopped interviewing for a full-time role and haven't looked back since then.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I'd say it's been launching and growing this business in the first place. Sitting in comfortable full-time roles for so many years, I never thought I'd have my own business someday. In fact, I still don't consider myself to be entrepreneurial. But when you start a business, you're the only employee. So you need to build a plan and get things done. I'm proud to have started this business and grown it to the point where I'm happy where we are.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Maintaining growth (or even maintaining the status quo) when projects conclude. As the owner of a small agency, I need to go find the next client when we finish a project with a current client. It's a far different mindset compared to a full-time job when your next paycheck is auto-deposited. I feel fortunate that when I wrap up with one client, a new inbound request comes in from a new client. I think of it as a form of positive karma. Hopefully, the pattern continues.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Take the first step. There's never as good of a day to start a business as today.
- Find other business owners to give you advice. When you're starting out, you need help understanding all that goes into running any business, so finding business owners from any industry should help.
- Learn and adapt as you go. I didn't know the first thing about running a business when I started out, but I learned along the way and adjusted to the twists and turns that running a business presented to me.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://attention-retention.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dshiao
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisshiao/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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