Starting a new business, here is what you should be doing

From starting brands Cultcrunch, UKFilmPremieres, Celebs Events, ShowbizGossip UK, Celeb Management, to MarkMeets Media. Mark Boardman has been at the forefront of promoting celebrity events, building a platform for young and undiscovred music artists, to writing content for album sleeves across the globe.

1. When in doubt, aim high.

I was working a full-time job in a managerial position when I started MarkMeets, in my spare time I was attending gigs and writing reviews for my local newspaper, contacting agents to arrange interview times with celebs, doing phone-in’s with BBC radio talking showbiz, and attending film premieres in London.

I was also meeting stars after theatre shows and noticed that such little details about when the showbiz events were taking place (film premieres and award show afterpartys speficially).

No-one was writing about the starts or asking the right questions.

I wanted to build something for the people who were also looking to meet the stars, begin a career in media (I had no special contacts or wealth), just a drive to do what I love.

Build the brand you want and make the content you would want to read, also think about family members and people you have met an work with. Create useful informatoin and give it away for free.

2. Don’t start a business, solve a problem.

Starting a company doesn’t begin with a blank sheet of paper and a brainstorming session, according to . The starting point, he says, should always be identifying a problem that you know how to solve. “If you are present and engaged with your environment, you just start to notice things–little opportunities for improvement here and there,” he says. “Each company I’ve started, the impetus has never been ‘how can I build a business?'” 

Once you’ve identified the problem, the next step, according to, is to workshop the solution. “Start asking people you trust what they think about your idea,” he says. “If they tell you it’s a great idea, chances are it’s already been done before–or it’s just a terrible idea. When someone tells you, ‘I’m not totally sure I understand,’ or ‘I don’t get it,’ then you might be onto something truly new and different.”

3. Always go all-in on your business.

One of the mottos about entrepreneurship is, “If you’re not all-in, you’re not really in at all.” Simply stated, you’re not going to succeed through half-measures. To build a successful business, you have to go all in. As an executive vice president at a large consulting company, where he started the cybersecurity division, had the idea for Rather than start working on the idea as a side hustle,decided to devote all of his energy to the new business.  

“When I noticed an opportunity to do something new and exciting, I resigned,” he says. “I didn’t try to build it at night or turn it into a side project. I had to put myself on the line and commit.”

Even if your next startup doesn’t take off, that doesn’t mean you should shut it down,. “Startups don’t go out of business,” he says. “Founders quit.”