Fifteen (15) years after the .com bubble burst, the market is once again booming with the startups with some niche some traditional business ideas. Its’ not that the Startup market had dried up in between, but the intensity with which the Startups were being worked on has picked up good time once again. There were many mistakes that were made back in the days by the .com startups that compelled the entrepreneurs to shut down the shutters and be back to the regular / routine jobs. However, with the ever increasing internet penetration and with more and more industry segments resorting to e-commerce ideas, startups in IT sector are walking all smiling to the banks.
However, there are some key aspects that would be extremely helpful for the entrepreneurs to be successful and not get bogged down by the various pressure points. From what I learnt from the .com bubble burst and then researching the success stories of various startups can be called as “Wisdom to Drive a Startup to Success” .
The points that need to be considered to Drive a Startup to Success can be listed as below –
- Market Research – Don’t rely on your idea, back it up with tangible research
- Welcome Inputs / Feedback – Be open to remodel your business, being closed to criticism would not yield fruitful
- Focus – Use Horse-blinds to keep your focus on your core, after you achieve success once, there are many opportunities to expand and diversify
- Consumer Preference – Always remember the old marketing joke of what consumer actually wanted and what was envisaged by marketing team for product team to supply a dud. Ensure you understand the market need better and have a feel of Consumer needs
- Market Review – Don’t take positive feedback as revenue inflow. Praising the product is way different than actually buying it.
- Planning – Define a roadmap and stick to plans, don’t overwhelm yourself with over-planning to out-plan from the market
- Hiring – Look for talent with experience. It is also important that a #startup ensures to hire mix & match of experience & fresh talent. Experience = Stability & Fresher = Enthusiasm
- Venture / Angel Capital – Ensure that the decision is based on a clear RACI of what you want and what Investor’s expectation is
- Scaling the Operations – Ensure to stay on top to regulate expansion at a gradual pace
- Be Flexible – Try to achieve perfection but not at the cost of impacting delivery
- Listen & Evaluate – Not every advice coming your way may be a good advice for your business, listen, evaluate, filter and implement the advice with thorough decision making process
- Partner v/s Solo – Define the motive and team up with like-minded individuals else you may choose to go solo
- Timing – Ensure that you are well prepared to hit the market with the product at the right time
- Money Management – Raise capital based on the projected revenue model to manage finances well. Always keep a buffer to ensure that the initial deficit from revenues could be addressed
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Know your money’s worth. Spend judiciously not rigorously when you wish to own a #startup. Hold your horses before shelling out money
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Follow the #hypercare path for your #startup with passion and not obsession. Obsession may lead to over enthusiasm leading to downfall
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Critical #startup point: Wear your Head above your Shoulders and let heart handle the blood flow. Use your brain to think and evaluate
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#startup shouldn’t be used as a weapon to display ideation skills. It needs more than Ideation and acute Business Acumen needs to prevail
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#startups who target to get funded by the time they market their product are bound to fail faster than their peers who plan for contingency
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#startups with targets set for next two years have more chances to thrive and survive than those with less than 1 yr of expense forecast
I hope those who are planning for a startup or are already working on a startup would be benefitted by this compilation.
I would welcome ideas that are different and that are derived from Experience of running a startup. Please don’t hesitate to write back a comment of sending me a message if you have inputs for me on this topic
