Do you really want to create a B2C?

It's okay, go ahead, but be prepared.

Last weekend I was at the kickoff of one of these university challenges in which teams formed by students develop an entrepreneurship project with the collaboration of mentors.

After a «reverse pitch» by the mentors - a fun experience, being on the other side of the stage - the different teams went to the mentors of their choice to explain their projects. Most of those who spoke with me presented ideas for B2C platforms, healthy food, sustainable brands, tourism, sports... Some very original. Many of them with the logical naivety of a 1st year student. And it is that B2C projects are usually much more attractive.

And I felt a deja-vu more and more habitual, like a party pooper, explaining two things to them:

That, even if the product is wonderful, no one will use it if they don't know about it. That the internet is not what it used to be and that, in order for everyone to know about it, they have to invest huge amounts in attracting customers, whatever their strategy. And, often, sell at a low cost or even give away their product in the initial phases.

And that, on the other hand, if the idea makes sense, it is relatively easy for a corporation to invest much more money and take over the market. Or, more commonly: if another startup with a similar idea is more skilled at raising funds, it may find itself competing against a product that may be worse, but "doped" with millions of euros for communication. 

Yes, if it goes well, there are millions of potential users who, even if they only give you 1 euro a month, you'll kill it. But the most likely thing is that you will run out of funds before you get there. That the losses exceed the turnover every year. And, that, if you are the "skilled" one who knows how to get funds, you continue closing larger and larger rounds that lead you to double turnover... and losses.

So, the first piece of advice when an entrepreneur comes to me with a B2C project is usually: are you sure? 

The answer is always yes, of course...

Then you have to explain to him that each client is going to cost dozens or hundreds of euros. That, in addition, clients are lost and you have to keep attracting them. And calculate if in his best scenario, when everything works, he is going to recover that investment. Because, contrary to what it seems, the success of a company is not measured by the money raised, but by the money earned.

And if the answer is still yes, all that remains is to ask if you already know where you'll get those millions from.

Of course, there are success stories. Quite a few. And, from the outset, they all have my most sincere admiration. 

But in almost all of them there is a differential value in the teams or in their environment without which they would not have achieved it. Perhaps the niche or the real need they cover. 

Therefore, I don't mean to say that all B2Cs are destined to fail. Far from it. But they are more difficult. So, after asking them if they are sure and before accepting them into the accelerator or investing in them, we need to find that differential value, whatever it may be, that can lead them to success. And then, yes, give them all the support they need, because starting a business is hard, but in B2C it's even harder.