7 Things to Do to Make your Startup Thrive and Last Forever
People in working sectors are ambitious enough to work on breaking the stereotype of continuing with boring 9-5 jobs. They want to take a step ahead and begin working on a new idea, be their own boss. But it’s not as easy as you may think. For the entrepreneurs we admire today, it took years of hard work and effort. In all honesty, it would be difficult to reach their level of success that easily. In fact, it might take more time to set the base of your startup than you think.
Sadly, out of all the people who think about a startup, only a few succeed in actually starting one and growing it gradually. Becoming an overnight success is a myth; be prepared to break your back in the beginning, and gather as much knowledge as possible. Coaching for new entrepreneurs can help guide you and make sure you are taking the right steps in making efficient decisions.
Along with determination, focus on seeking help from experts that could help you in binding the roots of your startup to the soil. For finances, angel investors for startups can offer their help to new entrepreneurs with some exciting and realistic startup ideas. Obviously, nobody would be willing to invest in an idea that only sounds good but is not effective or possible to be worked upon in real life.
The current startup culture is flooded with aspiring entrepreneurs who want to, and even try to, but don’t end up successful with their startup. One of the major reasons people fail is that they don’t know how to take their business to the market and keep it growing. In fact, there are startup aspirants who don’t even have the courage to put their first foot forward.
To help budding entrepreneurs, we’ve focused on ways through which you can achieve startup success. Here’s how to make your startup thrive and last forever. Whether you have already started your business or planning to do so, these tips will prove to be supportive to you and your business idea.
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Don’t Just Think About It, Start Working On It
Fearing failure is normal but that doesn’t mean you don’t even start implementing your idea. We can say that it is more important to start working on your business than thinking about starting. When it is about a startup, there’s no way you can avoid risks. In fact, most aspects of a startup will only become known once you have started it. At that time, what will matter the most is the way you can cope and implement all that you had been learning. There’s nothing standing in your way except you. Break the ice and start implementing your idea.
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Sell Whatever You Have To
Most people get stuck thinking about what to sell. When planning to bring something unique to the market, coming up with a plan could take a long time. So, what’s important here is to sell whatever you have.
If we think about it, most of the greatest entrepreneurs of the world are offering people nothing new; in fact, they could be selling something that is available in a random offline shop. What matters to an entrepreneur is to sell the same product differently or in a better way.
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Ask For Advice
To make sure you are on the right path while setting up your business, find out as much as you can from someone who has real-life experience of handling all aspects associated with entrepreneurship. You won’t have all the answers to a lot of questions. Getting a clear picture of what you are doing and how you’ll be doing the same is key to success.
There are mentors that can offer performance coaching for CEO who will help you understand the corporate world, explaining everything you want to know about setting up a business and running it efficiently. From managing the business processes, planning best practices, manufacturing locations and logo design to accounting, consider seeking help from an expert or someone who has good experience.
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Find A Co-Founder
Starting a business takes more than just hard work. It may also need the inspiration and skills of a co-founder who can prove to be very helpful in pushing your business further. Even angel investors are more likely to invest in a startup that comes with a founding team, instead of a founding individual. With several co-founders in the business, it’s important to be able to maintain a clear decision-making hierarchy. Any confusion or conflicts in the decision-making process can create an issue for the business. Choose co-founders that have skills that will balance out your weaknesses. This will increase the chance of enhancing the business’s capabilities and help in developing a safe and stable base on which it grows.
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Hire Contract Workers
It is possible that your business might face barriers that could slow down the progress of the startup. But there will always be people who are willing to support you, and want to be an employee. You don’t need to hire full-time employees. Instead, consider hiring on a contract basis. In such cases, find workers who are willing to work for you.
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Don’t Focus Just On Money
It’s not always necessary to worry about where your income is coming from. With a good product, you’ll always find a way to make money, as long as you keep working for it. If you focus on the money, you might end up being sidetracked. Whether it is in the context of capital, funding, business loans, or a perfect pricing model, try to back off a little and let things evolve. Growth doesn’t equal funding. Many people fail due to the misconception that the idea of focusing on business growth means earning more. Instead, business growth is a raft of other aspects and not simply focusing on money.
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Focus On Marketing
Marketing is an important process and needs to be a key focus for your business. To succeed, a business needs to grab people’s attention, and that will only be possible if you give your time, money, and effort to conduct marketing for your business. That’s how you will be bringing the brand in front of people who would be willing to buy your products or services. Marketing is not a waste of time and money; instead, we call it an important early investment that you need to make in your business.
Starting fast does not mean that you would have to work on scaling the work of your startup. Instead, scaling should be something processed carefully and in a measured cadence. Leverage all the possible resources on one idea to get started. Lay the foundation of the business and once up and running, it’s easier to keep on working on everything else related to it.
Author
Sathish Bala is a digital strategist, sales, marketing, branding, digital creative director, product specialist, innovator, entrepreneur & speaker. As his side hustle, he help startups grow their businesses.