1. Get started on your tech product
The greatest advantage of building a tech startup is that, as long as you’re working with people who can code or who know way more than their basics in tech, you can most often build your product with your own equipment.
If this applies to you, then get started with your product – yes, maybe even before you legally constitute your company. Do it by yourself or through an expert founding partner who knows perfectly well what they’re doing.
With this leeway, you can already start calculating what your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is. For this, however, look for the closest thing to absolute certainty about the issues your business will be solving and how it’s going to improve your future consumer lives. Also, make sure you are clear about the difference between a small business and a startup.
2. Don’t disregard business needs
While basing your new company on software might make product handling much easier, still work hard at being able to fulfill regular business needs. Just as heads-up, you’ll need to work the same as any other founding startup when it comes to learning how to best manage a business.
Whether you’re in tech or any other industry; knowing your startup fundamentals is a definite must, so here are just some of the considerations on what to know before starting a tech startup:
Study what workflows are and how they operate. Define which ones would work better for your tech startup and your team.
Identify your company’s scope and its limitations.
Try out a variety of project management tools to find the ones that suit your needs.
Come up with a good business and financial plan for your company.
Create your business plan as a first thorough description of your company where you state what you wish to do and how you plan on making that happen.
Conceive your business’s first 3-5 years while using milestones for set periods and define a way to achieve those goals.
Also, consider your competition slide.
3. Create memorable branding
Choose a name that’s easy to remember and spell as your company’s new branding. The same goes for your logo. This part of your brand should be simple and memorable.
Another area of your business that you can prepare before you even have a full product is your website’s landing page. Don’t be too fuzzy nor over-promising about the status of your tech company and its product while it’s in the works.
On the contrary, be blunt and direct about it and make sure you add contact information for potential clients to be able to reach you. In fact, keep visitors updated about your startup through this same landing page. Just create high fidelity wireframes and mockups of it for better reference.
4. Stretch out as much as possible
You should start thinking about how you’ll market your company and your product, what your strategies will be for this and how you’ll reach potential customers. So seek branding presence over channels that can spread your business wide.
First, you can look for free means to advertise your product.
Also, consider how and where to build partnerships or business relations with other companies and organizations that can help your startup scale. Look for mentors and advisors to learn from and about them on how to grow your startup further every time.
5. Never stop networking
As if the list were not long enough yet, seek to do tons of networking. People you meet might not only help scale your business, but they’ll also help you understand different aspects of your business that’ll shape your personal business vision. So attend events where you can make new and profitable connections.
If you’re more of the hosting kind, you can even start webbing around your own business groups. Create events where people can get to know each other around topics of your interest and everyone’s needs.
However you make it happen, get out there, reach out and create valuable business connections.
6. Hire a leading team
Speaking of relationships, make sure you spend however long it takes to hire the absolute best performing team for your tech startup you can currently envision. And we don’t just mean the best designer, coder or engineer for a tech business.
Startups can benefit greatly in the short and long run when there are well-performing leaders thinking about its marketing, for example. A serious and reliable hire for accounting and someone who knows what they’re doing when it comes to product sales or the best legal advice will certainly help drive your tech company to more probable and profitable growth.
7. Think of your company culture
For this, competitive wages are essential, but you should also create a company culture that secures an environment in which people will want to work for you for more than a short season.
Keeping staff happy is vital, and maybe perks or other conditions that are important to the people you call on board can help you achieve that.
Now that we’re on it, though, get ready to hire as much as letting people go as needs arise. While this can be uncomfortable for new entrepreneurs, calling on the most capable team will sometimes entail letting those move on who are not greatly aligned with your company’s best interest.
8. You’ll be in this for the long run
It takes as much work to get your startup off the ground as it does to keep your company going year after year. Brace yourself.
Even though being an expert in your tech product helps, it’ll take a long time before your startup can hit a unicorn level to start considering an exit. Of course we’re being positive for you. But the truth is you most probably won’t find customers who’ll pay what your product is worth during your business’ launching days.
You need to be able to stick to your business efforts when money starts running out, and things get really dark and rough. You will face challenges and business do fail, mostly due to common startup mistakes. So prepare for that.
9. Lock in some funding
Another part of what to know before starting a tech startup is that you’ll definitely need to find the money you need to scale. And raising funds might just be one of the hardest stages of any startup.
Luckily for you, we excel at creating pitch decks and have tons of expertise in raising funds for startups. You’ll certainly need an excellent deck to be able to raise capital, so make sure you spend a great deal of time coming up with the greatest possible version of your tech startup’s business presentation. Once you’re set on your product and your idea, come up with a solid financial plan. Or you can also just reach out to craft a tailored deck to the best of your business needs!
Source: Angelica A., Slidebean
