Hey there steemians, did some serious research on startup businesses and lessons learned the hard way - came up with the following.
Of course, every successful company was once a startup. So, your startup also has the potential to reach the heights of heavens if you are determined to do so. But you've got to learn the lessons and ideas to reach to continue your journey. You've got to stick to some principles to focus on your goal. Following are the 10 most essential tips I came up with that you have to follow to make your startup a success.
- Prepare yourself.
Are you ready to startup? Have you known what it takes to build a business? Have you learned the ups and downs of business? You see, most of the startups fail just because the founders were not prepared enough. Researches have shown that one of the leading causes of startup failure is incompetence i.e. lack of skills.
Beginning a company is one of the most difficult task and therefore you should prepare yourself beforehand. You must acquire the basic knowledge of business, accounting and entrepreneurship. Your body must mentally and physically be prepared to endure hours and hours of continuous works. You must research to find out if your business has a market and can flourish. You should know about your competitors and their products. If you start up without such preparations, there's a very high probability that you'll fail.
- Build a team.
You should know that you don't possess every skill to develop a company. Nobody does. Accept that. Don't try to do everything by yourself.
Build a team with complementary skills. Find a co-founder if you need one. Find a good approach to hire people and firing them as well. Don't be afraid to fire the employee who doesn't value the company. Find people who can help you at times. Many of the startups fail just because they lack a good, strong, capable team.
- Have a business plan, always.
Business plans are like road maps to run your company. If you don't have a business plan, then you are, technically, lost. Business plans contain your goals and objectives, your strategies to achieve them, details of your team, your financial status, your product or service details and lot many other important things.
It also contains a Executive Summary of the business you are running which is like an elevator pitch to draw investors and lenders. Many people with startup ideas think that business plans and strategies are just for the big companies but that's not true. Every startup needs a good business plan which can be followed.
If you want more knowledge on business plans and executive summary, head over to my blog.
- Get advises and lessons.
All the successful entrepreneurs passed a startup phase. They have the experience and knowledge. Keep in touch with them. Ask for advises and lessons. It also helps you build better professional relationships.
There are also plenty of resources in the internet that you can learn from. Read books. Read articles about other startup companies. Learn from other's mistakes. Ask for suggestions from your team members. Gather knowledge as much as you can.
- Take decisions at the right time.
It's your company. You have to take decisions. Get advises from the people around you. But don't let them make decisions for your company. Think and take decisions. Don't spend more than necessary time on a single decision too. For example don't waste a month on deciding your company name or the color to put up in your logo. Decision making is one of the most important quality of a leader. So develop it.
- Know your customers and get feedback from them.
You have a fabulous idea in your mind. You are sure it will sell in the market. But, alas !, it fails to sell. It happens with a lot of startups. And after a few round of such fails, they quit.
What's the reason?
Well, not understanding the customer is the reason. Not knowing the customer is the reason. Not seeing from their perspective is the reason. Lack of empathy is the reason.
What's the use of a product that won't be of any interest to customers? You may find it interesting because it is your idea. But it's not necessary that your customers love it too. Do some research. Be around with the customers. Find out what they need and what they love. Know their purchasing styles and pricing ranges. Ask for feedback and any improvements they wish. If you don't know your customers, then you won't develop the right product with the right price.
- Learn marketing techniques.
Marketing is the act of selling your product or service in the market. Many startup entrepreneurs start with a mindset that if they build the product, it will just sell in the market. Which is absolutely not true. Customers won't just come to your doors. You have to reach to them.
Learn to do market research and advertising. Generate some buzz about your business and your product. Social media marketing is gaining huge popularity in recent days. Learn it. Promote your product in the web.
- Focus on a single purpose.
Many startup entrepreneurs have more than one ideas. And they attempt to follow all of them at once. That is a huge mistake. Don't diversify your resources and your attention at the startup phase.
You may do it after your business is successfully established if you are capable of handling multiple business at a time. But it's a no no for startups. Just focus on the single purpose, single idea and make it a success. Don't run after two rabbits at once, you won't catch either of them.
- Take calculated risks.
There may be times where you need to make risky decisions and you don't know if you should make them or not. The best solution- calculate the risk. Find out how much you can lose and how much you can gain. Keep in mind that you are a startup. Assess the risk and find out if it is worth taking. Don't randomly take such risky decisions based on your emotions and aggression.
- Conduct periodic group meetings.
It is absolutely essential to understand how each person of your company is doing in their respective jobs. Without meetings and discussions with your employees, you won't know the direction your startup is headed. Know your employees' efforts, their job progresses, their needs and wants, their advises and suggestions.
Building a company is not a task of a one man. It requires team work and proper coordination among the team. It is your responsibility to ensure that coordination.
Well, there you go. That's the list. Thank you for reading.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated !! More posts coming soon. See you around.