25 May 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Ensure a Successful Start-Up
For every one success, there are countless other failures.
Many people have tried to start up a business based on their wonderful
ideas. But unfortunately, most of them failed. Now, why is that so?
You see, many would-be entrepreneurs have no idea how to take their business
from point A to point B. Point A is where a light bulb sparked a great business idea in the brain of
the entrepreneur.
Point B is where the business owner wants his company to go: established,
stable and most importantly, making money.
One of the best ways to ensure that your idea can become a reality is to
put it out there into the market… as soon as possible!
Because time is money; the longer you wait, the more the window of opportunity closes
on you. It’s all about striking while the iron is red hot, amigo.
This is just one of the many important factors to take note of, if you want to
run a successful start up right from the get go.
Here are 10 more useful tips to accelerate the success of your start up:
1. Just friggin’ get started!
More often than not, it is more important to get started than trying to make the perfect
start. Because if you don’t start today, then when are you going to start?
If you don’t take action, then absolutely nothing will happen.
Ask yourself this: what exactly is keeping you from launching your potential million-
dollar idea? Is it choosing the right domain name? Is it writing that first line of code?
Is it about sketching the most perfect product? Is it about designing the most cutting edge
prototype? Whatever it is, you’ve got to face it head-on and tackle any issues that arise.
The biggest enemy is yourself. No one can put a stop to your grand launch… except
YOU. And always be doing the first things that needs to be done.
2. Just sell something… anything!
There are some top notch entrepreneurs who knew exactly what they were going to sell.
On the other hand, there are some who have no idea what to sell. We say: heck, just sell anything.
Here’s the thing- many of the top business people out there are NOT selling anything
out of the ordinary. They are simply selling it differently, or better than the rest.
* Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) sold the same things that you can find in any of your
local convenience stores.
* Before he became US President, Donald Trump was a self-made billionaire selling
properties.
* Carlos Slim, richest man in the world from 2010 to 2013 made his fortune from
mobile telecommunications.
* Amancio Ortega, the 4th richest man in the world made his name selling clothes.
As you can see, top entrepreneurs aren’t always innovators, nor are they game-changers.
They simply did their business better than their competitors. You can even take someone else’s product
or idea and sell it! Richard Branson is one very good example. He was headed to the Virgin Islands for
a romantic getaway. But his flight somehow got cancelled.
Undaunted, he went on to charter a private flight. But here’s a problem: he had no money
to pay for it. So he approached the same group of people who were on the cancelled flight, and got
them to pay for the seats on that private flight. And Virgin Airlines was born.
Even Bill Gates didn’t come up with the idea of Windows- he simply bought it
from some obscure programming geeks.
What’s stopping you now? Go ahead and sell something!
3. Ask an expert, and get him to do the job for you
Let’s face it: you won’t have all the answers when you first launch your start up.
You will always be faced with issues, and they come in all shapes and sizes.
So when one of them hits you, and you don’t have the answer, what do you do?
You go look for someone who does.
Then when this expert gives you the solution, whether it is legal advice, website design,
office location, tax advice, funding assistance, or whatever… ask that person to do it.
Remember this: you are the idea maker. So you work on your business, and not in it.
Always get the right people to do all the dirty work for you.
4. Be willing to hire freelancers
Can’t find the best and most affordable talent in your area? Then a good alternative
is to go online and hire a freelancer.
In reputable websites like Upwork.com, you can find many highly-skilled freelancers who
can do a pretty good job for only a fraction of the price that you would pay for a full-
time staff.
5. Hire contract workers
When you are just a start up, people will not be too willing to work for you as they
might find the process of starting up too challenging.
To work around this issue, you can simply hire contract workers. You take what is
available for you, rather than waiting for the right employee to come along.
6. Find a business partner
You might be going it alone in your start up, but no man is an island.
Business is a team game. So it is highly desirable that you go out there and look
for a business partner or co-founder who can inspire you to greater heights.
A business partner can also supplement your talents by providing the skills that
you lack to run a successful start up.
7. Push yourself to the extreme
It’s your own start up after all. So if you don’t push yourself to the limit, then who
else will? And that is how Steve Jobs grew Apple into one of the most valuable companies in the
world.
Not only that. He could also bring out the best from his employees by spelling out great
expectations from them. When you aim high, you achieve great things.
8. Its NOT all about the money
Never make the mistake of letting money be your main focus of your start up.
Many start-up wannabes let the thought of big money flow into their brains, and they
soon lose focus of their business.
Don’t let that happen to you. Focus on the real reason WHY you started
your business in the first place. And if you have a great product, then it will
somehow find a way to make money for you.
9. Invest on marketing for your start up
You may have the biggest diamond in the world. But nobody is going to come and buy
it if you don’t tell the world about it.
You need to spread the word about your diamond by marketing it. The same goes for your start up.
When you launch your business, you will do well to market your product or service
to the right audience who will actually buy it.
There may be some other expenses that you can reduce. But marketing expense is one
that you can’t afford to cut back on.
10. Get to know your customers
When people start buying up your products and become your customers, then you need to
find out all you can about these people.
What do they like about your product? What is their age group?
Are there more males than females? What is their spending power?
Knowing this important information about your customers can allow you to come up
with better products to serve them better.
A start up is just like a challenging race. The faster you are, the more likely you are
to win… and win BIG.
You’ll need to leverage on all possible resources to help you get started on the
right track, and on the way to a successful business journey where anything is possible.