Startup Survival Tips
18 Proven Tips For Founders To Make It Through Their First Year
Before you start your business, your must be aware of the fact that running a startup is already tough. You have to work day and night to make it work. The whole responsibility lies on your shoulder. You have to dedicate yourself completely to the success of your product.
The success of a startup depends on:
How passionate you are about the idea? How much time you are going to invest in it? How focused you are on it? And most importantly, How much money you are going to invest in this idea?
I am not saying that money is the only factor that is required for a successful startup. But you cannot ignore this factor either. If your ideas need money, then you must have to spend money on them and vice versa. Because there is no such thing as free lunch in this world.
You cannot get anything without spending something in return. So if you are thinking of starting a startup but do not know where should I start my startup from?
Then I would like to suggest one thing that first thinks about startups ideas with an idea how much investment it will take and how much return can I expect from this idea.
Do not let yourself down when all these things come into the picture after thinking about the startup.
What is a Startup?
A business is not a startup. A startup is something that is born with the purpose to be big and grow fast. It’s a company that works to solve the problem of customers and itself in the long term.
Startups are not about making money, they are about changing the world while being profitable at the same time!
A startup must have the potential to grow big, solve a real problem and have a truly scalable business model. Be aware that the startup projects require a lot of investment and time from you.
So if you become successful after working hard then there is no doubt that you will be able to reach your goal.
But if you fail in achieving your goal then it will also be your loss because by starting up you will have learned some new lessons which help you later in life when you work for someone else or start another project/business again!
Startup Survival Tips:
1. Write down your idea:
It’s very important to write down your idea on paper first before starting it! Writing down allows you to clarify your ideas more clearly so that others can easily understand it as well. If not writing down then at least make sure that every member of your startup team knows about it. Without knowing your idea, it’s not possible to work on it!
2. Make sure that your idea is scalable:
You must have heard this term a lot of times in the startup community. What does it mean? It means that you should be able to grow at a fast pace and scale up quickly.
So if you have an idea that can be scaled up immediately and allows you to grow fast then your startup will automatically succeed. Startups are all about scaling up and become big.
3. Build the Minimum Viable Product:
When you think about a product then there is a tendency for everyone to start building the best product in the world from day one!
But I would like to tell you that first build a minimum viable product which means build only what is required from customers and nothing extra because after all if you are starting up then there is no way of knowing how much money do you need to spend on this project?
And don’t forget to create an MVP for every new feature that comes into the picture in future. It helps you know more about customer needs very easily!
4. Don’t go solo:
If your startup requires money then don’t think about going solo! You must have to find a co-founder who can help you in every possible way!
It’s always better to work in a group because it gives you more opportunities to learn from others as well.
Finding the right co-founder is very important. You both should be able to share the same vision and goal of the project. So make sure that your co-founder is as passionate as you are about this project.
5. The biggest challenge for everyone:
In today’s world, it’s really hard to get customers for any business because there is so much competition out there!
If your startup project is about consumer product then it will be even harder because people tend to stick with their favourite brands only.
So if you are thinking of launching a new product then make sure that you know what exactly customers want from your product and put extra efforts into the marketing part so that people can come to know about your product!
6. Learn from someone else:
Don’t forget to learn from other startups, products that are already successful in the market, books or anything else that is related to business. There are few things that can help you grow if you implement them properly!
7. Save money:
As already mentioned that startups are all about investing money and growing it! So you have to make sure that you save money as much as possible in the early stages of your startup. This will help you in case if you run out of cash while starting up!
8. Learn how to sell:
If you don’t know how to sell then forget about startups because sales are the most important part of any business! You must be able to sell your product/service if not then no one will come to know about it!
You have to learn how to convince people and let them buy from you. If you are not able to do this then just forget about startups and go for a job instead because without selling there is no chance of a startup surviving!
9. Work on your idea day and night:
Building a successful startup requires hard work from everyone involved. No one can stop working for even one day because if they stop working the whole project will get delayed and it can ruin everything.
That’s why I always suggest founders work on their startup idea day and night so that they can speed up the process of growth. There is no other way around it because time is money!
10. Don’t start up because of money:
If you are thinking of starting a startup just to make money then I would advise you to forget about it. Any profitable business can give you money but not all profitable businesses are successful startups!
Money is important but it’s not the only thing that matters. Just because someone is making money doesn’t mean that they are doing good business! It’s your passion that will drive you to achieve your goal and not the money!
11. Take risks:
Before starting anything, always make sure that you have a backup plan in mind. Having a backup plan will help you take risks easily without worrying about losing everything.
Make sure that whatever decision you take is risky and will help your startup grow in future. Such decisions will also give you an opportunity to learn something new as well!
12. Create a team:
The whole success of your startup depends on the way you work with others in your team! So if you want to build a successful startup then make sure that everyone works together towards a common goal and has different ideas which can help them learn from each other as well! The more experienced people are in your team, the better it will be for you!
13. Get a mentor:
Everyone needs someone who is experienced in doing what you are doing right now! So make sure that you have someone who can guide you from time to time and help you in every possible way. A mentor can be your boss, partner, investor or anyone else who is experienced in doing the same business as that of yours!
14. Create multiple revenue streams:
Many startups fail because they focus only on one product or service. They forget that the market for their idea may not be big enough to sustain them!
So make sure that you create multiple revenue streams so that if your main revenue source fails then at least you can rely on other sources as well. This will not only help your startup grow but also help it sustain itself in the long run.
15. Be passionate about what you are doing:
Always think about this question before starting up anything, “Why do I want to do this?” If your answer is, “Because I can make money from it” then don’t start up but if your answer is, “Because I am passionate about my idea and want it to change the world!” then go ahead and start it!
16. Don’t be afraid of failure:
Failure is the best teacher in this world. It teaches you how to become successful in the next business. Whatever happened in your past is already gone now! So no point in worrying about it! Just keep working hard and start up again!
17. Learn from failure:
When you fail, don’t waste time blaming others. Instead, learn from it and try to find out what went wrong and what you can do differently next time. This is something that every successful entrepreneur has learned from their mistakes so learn from them instead!
18. Do not compare yourself with others:
You will be surprised to know that most entrepreneurs compare themselves with others who are doing something similar to them or even better than them! They think of starting up a business when they see others doing it successfully.
If you think like this then forget about startups because you will never be able to start your business successfully if you keep comparing yourself with others. Always remember that comparison is the thief of joy!
About the Author
I am the Founder of Cudy Technologies (www.cudy.co), a full-stack EdTech startup helping teachers and students learn better. I am also a mentor and angel investor in other Startups of my other interests (Proptech, Fintech, HRtech, Ride-hailing, C2C marketplaces, and SaaS). You can also find me on Cudy for early-stage Startup Founder mentorship and advice.
You can connect with me on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderlhk) and let me know that you are a reader of my Medium posts in your invitation message.
