For many entrepreneurs, the challenge is creating a startup that lasts more than a year. That seemingly arbitrary length of time is due to startups rarely lasting long enough to have a birthday. There is a multitude of reasons for that, from being in the red and running out of capital to poor management. Fortunately, there is much you can do to keep that from happening to you and your small business. Here are 7 tips that will help you launch a startup with a strong foundation:
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Do Your Research
You need to be an informed entrepreneur if you want your startup to survive. Fortunately, being one is as simple as constantly doing your research. Get to know your industry inside and out. Learn what the competition has and has not done. Let that information stay in your head. Eventually, you will come to use it in a manner beneficial to your small business.
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Define Your Startup
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of launching their startup and forgoing the company’s structure. While startups tend to be loose in style, they still require some structure in terms of how they operate. Primarily, those structures boil down to two options – product-driven, or market-driven.
If your startup is product-driven, that means you have an offering of great value and your primary goal is finding an interested market. Market-driven startups are the inverse, in that they look at what the market needs and intentionally develop offerings towards providing for those needs. The style you choose may not be the style your startup ultimately grows into, but it is critical that you choose one at the start, as it will keep your company focused and efficient.
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Be Realistic
It is fine to dream of launching a startup that becomes a worldwide phenomenon and household name, but for many businesses and products, that is an unrealistic and unreachable goal. You need to be grounded if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur.
For example, you need to take a real look at your product and figure out if there is a market willing to pay for it. It won’t matter how interesting or “cool” your offering is if no one can afford it. Alternatively, while they may have the spending power, the market might not be willing to shell out that kind of cash and instead elect to keep the need unresolved for one reason or another. Figuring those out and being honest with yourself will help you make the right choice as to whether or not your startup is truly viable.
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Think About Future Scaling
One mistake that can doom the startup from the beginning is not considering the future. Failing to consider how the company can scale will often lead to poor development patterns. Do not just settle for finding a need to solve – look to solve the largest need, one that many people in your target market have. That way, your company will always have direction and room to grow, preventing stagnation.
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Hire the Right People
You cannot do everything by yourself, and you should not. That is where your employees and even partners enter the picture. They can fill in the gaps in your skillset and allow your company to solve more problems efficiently.
It is critical to do so early on. The more help you have from the start, the fewer mistakes the foundation of your company will have. That will make the rest of the endeavor much easier than it would have been otherwise.
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Figure Out Your Company Culture
One of the worst things that can happen to a startup is a misalignment between its employees and the company’s intended culture. That can easily lead to employees who are rarely engaged, never performing at their best, and a massive and costly turnover rate. The company will quickly fail after that.
That is why figuring out your company culture from the beginning is critical. Knowing what kind of behavior is rewarded and expected from the company, as well as what the business’s stance is on common issues, will allow you to hire more intelligently. That will allow you to form a team unified in values and ethics, improving the company’s efficiency.
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Study the Competition
One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is failing to understand the viability of their product. It is natural to hold your products or creations in high esteem, but that esteem will not generate sales if it is not based on reality.
Do not just focus on yourself – look at the competition. See what products and solutions are out there. You are likely not the first person to think of the solution, so research which products have succeeded and which ones have failed so you have a realistic view of the market.
While those are far from the only tips you will need to create long-lasting startup, they should get you off to a good start. That kind of diligence is tiring, but it is worth it if you truly want to succeed as an entrepreneur.