With three quarters of venture-funded startups failing to succeed, here’s how you can make sure that your new business is not one of them!“When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.”
1. Know Your Purpose
What problem does your startup solve? And how do you solve it better than existing solutions? If you can answer these two questions you’re well on your way to success.
2. Do Something You Love
You will need passion to keep your venture going during difficult times. If you do something you love, you’ll have much more motivation to keep going. If your heart isn’t in it, don’t bother.
3. Believe in Yourself
It’s important to believe in yourself and your venture. If you do the proper research and planning, that confidence will grow. Put 100 percent into making your business a success, and you’ll attract others that will share your sentiment.
4. Surround Yourself with Supportive People
Surround yourself with supportive people who give you “constructive” criticism. Don’t waste your time and energy contending with people that constantly put you and your business down.
5. Find Out What Your Customers Want
Reach out to your customer target and get feedback on your product or service (through Customer Discovery) before you develop your business, saving you valuable time and resources. If you keep the customer in mind with every decision you make, you’ll build a business they will get excited about.
6. Learn from Criticism
Thoughtful criticism can be very valuable. Any opportunity to improve an aspect of your business should be welcomed.
7. Be Intentional With Your Brand
Your name is only part of your brand. A good brand has a clear focus, a defined mission and a clear message that is perfectly aligned with its identity, allowing its target audience to feel completely connected to it.
8. Plan Thoroughly
Marketing plans and business plans do more than just help get you funded —they can guide you and keep you focused on your business strategy and goals. When you’re dealing with the day-to-day operations of your business, it will be easy to lose sight of the big picture.
9. Anticipate the Future
Nobody can know for sure what tomorrow will bring, but if you keep yourself informed and learn how to spot upcoming trends, you’ll be much more likely to successfully predict the future.
10. Be Flexible
No one can predict everything, and a successful business is one flexible enough to bend to the market. Technological advances greatly affect the course of business, so make sure you can adapt or pivot when the need arises.
11. Develop an Elevator Pitch
Investors are pitched often, and don’t have time to listen to lengthy presentations. When the opportunity arises—which could be anywhere –you’ll have to capture their attention within 30 seconds. If you can intrigue an investor in this short time, you’ll be invited to discuss the opportunity further.
12. Create a Pitch Deck
Because of time constraints, many investors rely on pitch decks to evaluate investment opportunities. Every startup should have a pitch deck on-hand that effectively articulates a compelling story and market opportunity in the course of their fundraising activities.
13. Network
Harness the power of social media to help connect with potential investors, advisors, contractors, employees, partners, clients, providers or people that can promote your product or service. And don’t forget to attend real life conferences and networking events, as well.
14. Raise the Right Capital
If you need to raise capital to launch or grow your venture, it’s important that you educate yourself on the various fundraising vehicles, investor-types and terms. While you need money to give your startup every chance of success, don’t be hasty. Make sure you attract the right investors and terms for your business.
15. Negotiate Everything
The key to negotiations is to simply ask for what you want. If you never ask, the answer will always be “no.” Startups are expensive, and you’ll need all the discounts you can get. You might not always be able to get one, but it’s worth the shot!
16. Start Marketing
You can have a beautiful website, mobile app or storefront, but if people don’t know you exist they’ll never visit. Marketing is key. Whatever your budget, there are things you can do (like tip #13) to start getting the word out about your business —tweet, post, blog and tell everyone willing to listen about your new venture.
17. Be Dedicated to Work
Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 job, and very much unlike a regular 9 to 5. If you want to avoid failure, you have to be prepared to fit your life around work until the venture is fully stabilized. (This is why tip #2 is so important.)
18. Carry on Planning
Constantly re-evaluate your business and the direction it’s going in to help you find opportunities that drive growth, and challenges that hamper it.
19. Keep Learning
Things are always changing and there’s always something more to learn, so don’t become complacent. Everything you learn is an opportunity to improve your business.
20. Don’t Give Up
In many cases, startups don’t fail—the people behind them do. Failing to pivot or bend to the market to properly serve your customer’s needs, or giving up entirely are the main reasons startups fail. Want to make sure your startup is a success? Plan, learn, pivot and refuse to give up!
