One of my first entrepreneurial encounters was during my years as a child laborer in Turkey. (Don’t worry, I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t really that bad.)

In fifth grade, I was tasked with selling rugs and flooring to farmers who came to sell their produce at the local farmer’s market in a small town by the Black Sea. I like to think that my boss hired me because I was an extra cute kid, but it probably had to do with the fact that by that time I was already on my third job, so I actually had enough work experience.

My boss — a family friend and a superb salesman in the tradition of the great Turkish rug dealers of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar — gave me some sales (read: haggling) training and then left me to run his shop. I still retain those thousand-year-old lessons to this day.

Lessons like these four:

1. Know who the decision maker is.

I remember on more than a few occasions haggling with a farmer over a rug and getting to the point where the deal was almost official — only to have the farmer’s wife come along and tell him to stop fooling around in the rug shop and go buy some flour instead.

Haggling (or negotiating for you modern business types) with the wrong person is an exercise in futility. Even the person who controls the checkbook might not be the one who has ultimate say in a decision, so clarify that you’re talking to the right person.

Ask questions like: “Who do you need to speak with about this before you make your decision?” or “Is there someone that we need to include in our discussion?”

2. Know your mission.

The farmers I was selling to rarely had a lot of money to spend. If they were buying a new rug or some new flooring, there was a reason for it. It was my job to find out that reason and adjust my haggling accordingly. There’s a big difference between wanting to buy flooring that is easy to clean versus flooring that goes with the drapes.

Whether it’s a partnership, a promotion or a merger opportunity, you must know your counterpart’s needs. Start by asking: “If money was not an issue, what would you like to accomplish with this deal?”

3. Make people feel something.

When haggling, I almost never talked about the rugs. They were fine quality, beautifully crafted and reasonably priced, but a vital lesson my old boss taught me was to focus on the person and connect with them.

If they’re haggling with you, that means they already see value in your product. To get the price you want, you have to connect emotionally with them.

Negotiation expert and author of Start With No Jim Camp argues that people make decisions with their emotions and then justify those decisions with their analytical mind. So, when negotiating with people, try to establish an environment where they feel like you genuinely care about their needs. If you don’t connect with them on an emotional level, it automatically makes them approach the negotiation from a more analytical mindset, taking away an edge for you.

4. Focus on your behavior and actions.

When I first started selling rugs, I had many a potential customer walk away shaking their heads and calling me “impossible” (and various other things). I would set a price in my head and absolutely not budge from it — until my old boss budged me.

“Pala,” he would say, “don’t be a donkey. Be nice and be a little bit flexible and people will give you a fair price.”

Camp backs up my old boss on this one. Rather than zeroing in on the absolute outcome of the negotiation, he says, control what you can, like your behavior and actions, and your negotiations will go a lot smoother.

More importantly, you’ll consistently get better outcomes. You may not be able to hit a home run every time, but you can focus on your swing and it will increase your chances of hitting one.

From the bazaar to the boardroom, having sound negotiating skills will help you in nearly every facet of business, even if you’re a fifth grader.

The post 4 Lessons I Learned From My Years as a Child Laborer appeared first on Cross Ocean Ventures.

With all the focus on cash, it’s easy to forget the far more pressing issue: sales.

If you can’t sell your product or service, it won’t matter if you have investors — your business is doomed to fail. Starting by selling (and bootstrapping your way to sustainability) can be a smarter — albeit slower — way to start a new venture.

My husband and I were fresh out of college when we started our company. As immigrants with zero credit, few resources, and no track record in entrepreneurship, we knew no one would fund us.

We worked out of our garage the first year, staying focused on our goal and keeping our expenses to the bare minimum. It was a strain on our relationship and our careers, but if I had to start over, I’d do it exactly the same way.

So What’s Wrong with Seeking Funding First?

Not seeking funding seems to make no sense: How can you start selling something without the cash on hand to produce, market, or deliver it?

Here are the problems with seeking cash first:

Raising funds for a startup is a full-time job in itself.

I used to think that money was the most valuable resource an entrepreneur could have. Now I realize it’s time.

Chasing capital will distract you from your primary job, which is creating and selling your product or service. Plus, as the sole owner or co-founder of a company, you have much more flexibility, so you can try new things without running them by a board or investor first.

Funding an untested idea is like boiling an empty teakettle.

Before you can confidently seek investor funds, you have to demonstrate your idea has merit. This means selling enough of it to prove your product has an audience willing to buy. Your time and energy are better spent pursuing sales instead of funding at the outset. Once you’ve shown your idea has legs, you’ll have more confidence and evidence to woo potential investors.

7 Things to Do Before Looking for Funding

So if you’re not pursuing funding, how do you get your business off the ground? Here are seven tips to get your company started without investor funds:

1. Find your passion.

If you’re passionate about a product or a service you’re uniquely qualified to provide, that energy will fuel your enterprise. A desire to get something valuable into people’s hands is the first step toward making sales. Without this pivotal piece, you’ll find yourself running out of steam.

2. Define yourself and your customer base.

Decide who you are, what you want your business to be, and who you will sell your product or service to. Narrow it down to the simplest form possible. If your grandmother can understand what you’re doing, your mission will probably be clear to your target market.

3. Keep your day job

Without investor or crowdsourcing funds, you’ll need to keep your job while you develop your business on the side. You don’t want to be responsible for paying startup costs without a steady income. If your job doesn’t give you time to work on your passion, enlist help from someone you trust. When my husband and I started out, he worked on building our business full-time while my paycheck kept us out of debt.

4. Reach out to leads.

To make sales, you need customers, which means finding leads. Once you’ve identified your target market, there are plenty of ways to find leads online. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Look at board members of agencies in your industry that cater to your client base.
• Search contacts on LinkedIn.
• Look up the distributor lists of your competitors.
• Identify public companies that serve your industry, and look up their SEC filings on FreeEDGAR.
• Find contact information for local and national companies through the Better Business Bureau.

5. Start small.

Start with a version of your product that can be produced at the lowest possible cost. You don’t have to begin with anything big or fancy. You’ll always have time to fine-tune what you’re selling in the future once it’s clear people want it.

6. Work with people you trust.

Use your time at the beginning to build relationships with people in your industry who will help you along the way. If you’re developing a product, seek suppliers you trust who will work with you on your product. Negotiate payment options with them to alleviate upfront costs while your business is in its early stages.

7. Sell, sell, sell.

Start selling as quickly as possible. If you’re developing a product, use a free online marketplace to build traction and gain customer feedback instead of spending lots of money on a website. Amazon Marketplace, Yahoo Merchant Solutions, Etsy, or eBay are good free options for startups.

If your business is service-based, start by creating an online profile for your business. Use your connections to build relationships with potential clients who will offer recommendations and honest feedback on your business.

Starting your business as efficiently as possible means focusing single-mindedly on sales. Not having funding immediately may mean your company grows more slowly, but it will definitely grow more efficiently.

This article was originally published on EpicLaunch

Originally from Turkey, Zeynep Ilgaz and her husband immigrated to the United States with nothing but two suitcases, a love for each other, and a desire for entrepreneurship. They co-founded Confirm BioSciences, where Ilgaz serves as president. As the global leader in the field of lab and instant testing for drugs of abuse and health, Confirm BioSciences is committed to being on the cutting edge of offering new, service-oriented drug testing technologies.

The post Stop Worrying About Funding! What You Really Need Is Sales appeared first on Cross Ocean Ventures.