A- A+

Catchwind’s Startup Story

Catchwind Founder Brian Hemesath shares the journey of his text messaging startup and how other startups can find success. Catchwind is a startup that began in Greater Des Moines (DSM).

Secrets from Catchwind

From understanding risk to building trust with customers, these tips will keep your startup moving forward to find success.

  • Be frugal. Especially in the beginning, your spending habits will affect the business cash flow.
  • Find the right support. Family and friends won’t understand what you’re going through but look for those who can provide support.
  • Learn how to execute. A startup needs to figure out how to follow through on sales goals and learning how to adapt. Don’t get in a hurry.
  • Understand your risk. Know the risk to your time, money, reputation and emotions.
  • Manage your fear. In unknown situations, ask yourself, what do I do about this?
  • Own and embrace your business. Talk about and promote what you’re doing. “In order to be seen, you must be seen.”
  • Learn how to listen. Understand what your customers are saying they need.
  • Learn to persist and adapt. It’s important to be persistent, but people must also be able to adapt to challenges.
  • Learn how to improve efficiencies. Brian suggests remembering how to work on your business, instead of in your business.
  • Build trust with your clients. You want to keep your customers happy.
  • Understand your competition and don’t undervalue. In the long-term, it’s not sustainable to come in too low and you can create a lack of confidence in your services.

Three Things to Remember When Selling Your Startup

You want to take care of your employees, make sure customers are in a good place and make sure the deal makes sense for both parties.

Startup Building Blocks

Brian shares if you can do the four things that are building blocks to a startup — create, promote, sell and support — you’ll find success. If there’s one of those four things you aren’t good at, your partner should be and expert in it.

Hear the stories of other small business and startup business owners in the community in The Partnership’s Small Business Resources Hub or sign up for the NAME TBD newsletter to stay connected for information about upcoming events, other resources and the latest announcements in the small business community in DSM.