learn to be an autism entrepreneur
TRANSCRIPT
Intro to Autism
Entrepreneurship
Tom D'Eri
Co-Founder/COO
Rising Tide Car Wash
Tom Sena
CFO
Rising Tide Car Wash
PRESENTERS:
Topics
- W H O W E A R E
- A U T I S M E M P L O Y M E N T M O V E M E N T
- " U S E " R E S E A R C H + B E S T P R A C T I C E S
- B U I L D S T R O N G F R I E N D S
- S M A S H I N G F E A R + F A I L U R E W I T H K A I Z E N
- A D D I T I O N A L R E S O U R C E S + Q U E S T I O N S
"Most of what youhear about
entrepreneurshipis all wrong. It's
not magic; it's notmysterious; and
has nothing to dowith genes. It is a
discipline and,like any discipline,it can be learned."
- Peter Drucker
Can Entrepreneurship be taught?
Who We Are
OUR STORY
C R E D I T : N A T I O N S W E L L
CAR WASH
80% OF STAFF ON THEAUTISM SPECTRUM
FLEX SERVICE
TRACTION TO DATE
FOR PROFITBUSINESS MODEL
1 LOCATIONEMPLOYING 35 PEOPLEWITH AUTISM
IMPROVED BUSINESSFROM 2,700WASHES/MONTH TO14,600 WASHES/MONTH
OPERATING @25% NET PROFITMARGIN
Impact to Date
Why we're DOING THIS
To inspire amovement
Of grassroots autismentrepreneurs
OUR FINDINGS Autism viewed as a disability
that requires sympathy instead
of a valuable diversity
People with autism
excel at detail
oriented routine tasks
Businesses don't understand
how to employ people with
autism
USE RESEARCH PROCESS
What We Did
Secondary Research Expert Research
We read everything wecould about autismemployment and the carwash industry tounderstand theindustries, identifypotential partners,experts and mentors andidentify best practices,opportunities andrisks/roadblocks.
You're Not Alone
From Parent to
EntrepreneurParent Entrepreneur
Advice on
Starting
THE USE RESEARCH
PROCESS
User Research Secondary Research Expert Research
DO WHAT WORKS
Identify already provenbusiness models
Design systems to employpeople with autism withinthese models
You Don't Know your community
until you have...
Key questions
You Don't Know your market
until you have...
Key questions
Secondary ResearchWhy Its' Important:
Best Practices:
Synthesizing existing research
Quicker + easier to obtain
Can affirm user research findings
Scholarly databases, external
information sources, and internet
search engines
Expert ResearchWhy Its' Important:
Best Practices:
Hear from Industry Experts
Answering "Why?" + "How?" Complex Questions
Rich, insightful information
Interviews, phone calls, emails, filling
knowledge gaps
OUR FINDINGS
ROOT CAUSE
INDUSTRY: Car Wash
BUSINESS MODEL:
Flex Service
PARTNERS
Be Honest.
Ask for help.
Build StrongFriends
Be with the right person
Understand what you want
Incline them in your favor
Learn everything you can about them
Do all the work for them
BUILDWhat to do before a meeting
Structure your time
Treat them like the most important person in the world
Remember yourself
Offer the opportunity to be part of something big
Name the next steps
Give whenever you can
STRONGWhat to do during the meeting
Follow up fast
Remember to say thank you
Introduce them
Email templates for any intros
Nail the next steps
Do all the work for them again!
Stay on them
FRIENDSWhat to do after the meeting
Smashing Fear + Failure withKaizen
Barrier FearHealthy Fear vs.
Fight or Flight response Fears that live in your head
What others think?
Uncertainty?
Failure?
Map out potential outcomes
Overcome that fear
Have a plan B
Not wasting energy
Taking baby steps with
Kaizen
"Don't Waste Your Energy" Adam Callinan
"Let's be straight: nobody wants to fail. But not wanting to fail and fearing failure are not
the same. One is an attitude, the other is a mindset. If you are truly fearful of failure, you
are wasting needed energy on something that has no benefit. Take that energy and
redirect it toward iterating your current processes or diversifying your revenue stream so
that failure is less of an option. "
What Role does Failure Play in our Lives?
Fail Smart
Reduce RiskThrough Quick
Experiments
Pilot Program
Before buying retail location
Test to mitigate risk
Rising Tide Homestead
Kaizen
Continuous Improvement
Big Goals can be OVERWHELMING!
GOALS:
You gotta start somewhere!
Good To Great-Jim Collins
We kept thinking we would find “the one big thing,” the miracle momentthat defined breakthrough. We even pushed for it in our interviews. But
the goodtogreat executives simply could not pinpoint a single key event
or moment in time that exemplified the transition. Frequently they chafed
against the whole idea of allocating points and prioritizing factors. In every
goodtogreat company, at least one of the interviewees gave an
unprompted admonishment, saying something along the lines of, “look,
you can’t dissect this thing into a series of nice little boxes and factors, or
identifying moment of “Aha!” or the “one big thing.” It was a whole bunchof interlocking pieces that built one upon another.
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