Many of our clients are startup owners. So, we have analyzed there struggles and successes to write an article on actions you should implement in startup business ideas.
However, focusing on startups creation, this process is not as easy as you may think. This will be a brief guide for those who are seriously thinking about becoming a startup.
Here are some ideas we think are most important that you can use in your own start-up journey:
Develop ideas for success
The development of an idea and realization of a startup is a laborious task. Many things are to be taken into account to make a startup effective.
The main thing is to show your vision of the startup through problems of people.
Needs of people are more important than the business plan. At the same time identify your motivation and purpose in life. Pay attention to your leading advantages.
The main criteria for the successful idea are as follows: durability (value over time or long-term importance), trustworthiness (possibility to defend it), and sustainability (possibility to fulfill the idea over some period of time).
So, you are ready to create a startup. Here is the question, where the idea is to be taken from? We have distinguished empirically several ways that can help you find a great idea for a startup:
Thinking over what you or people close to you are insufficient in
The great example is Glen Tullman and his company Livongo Health that uses cloud technology to help people manage chronic illnesses, starting with diabetes.
Modernization of your hobby
Shabnam Mogharabi always wanted to tell stories that would change the world. Now he heads SoulPancake, a growing media empire in Los Angeles focused on spirituality with annual revenue equal to $3.9 million (2014) and 3-year growth of 3,044%.
Finding market areas not yet noticed
This is typical for established professionals who are already involved in developing an existing business of other people. Bai Brands used its imagination in combining ingredients, including organic coffee fruit and white tea extracts and earned $100 million revenue in 2015.
Development of the area in the new thriving sphere
The reason for developing the area in the new thriving sphere is that companies are not able to manage all demands appearing there. For example, the pet industry on which nearly $61 billion was spent in 2015.
The Seattle-based startup (Rover.com) has been regarded as the Airbnb for dog sitting. Greg Gottesman and Philip Kimmey founded Rover.com in 2011 and raised more than $50 million.
Startup business ideas to explore the market
Understanding your market is a key to success. If you do not know particular features of the business sphere you have chosen, your efforts will be in vain.
Stay within the area you know. Don’t start anything you are not familiar with. Remember about consumers and feel like they do, figure out their needs.
Startup business ideas to be nimble
In their interview to Business Insiders the leading Internet entrepreneurs Kevin Ryan, Thomas Gensemer, Marc Andreessen, and Mark Zuckerberg are as one on the issue of speed and quickness.
Reacting fast to changing market needs is crucial for a successful startup.
Be creative for startup business ideas
Unusual thinking is also essential for getting the first investment and starting your business. The great example is Airbnb, whose first object of the lease was their room with air mattresses.
Its founders have displaced many established companies in the hospitality industry and earned billions. So, don’t be afraid to go beyond generally accepted business schemes!
It is about you and your uniqueness!
Startup business ideas … don’t ignore risks
Risks are natural companions of any new undertakings. They should not frighten you or hamper your development. In general, a startup can face several risks.
Market risk
Is there a market for your product? Is it necessary for somebody? Will people pay for it? Answering these questions is one of the main tasks before releasing your product to the market. If this risk falls in your favor, your business is to succeed.
Product risk
Another top priority while creating a startup is to identify your product, its features, problems that are solved with its help, and its worthiness to be invested in.
If you are not able to do it, obviously potential customers will not be interested in it.
Team experience risk
One person cannot cope with all risks by himself or herself. That is why the issue of a team is a topical one. You should build a team of such specialists who have enough experience and knowledge of the business area.
Besides, the team is necessary to develop ideas concerning product’s building, it’s bringing to the market, etc.
Financial risk
Most startups require investments to get up and running. At first, it can be your friends, family, angel investors, and venture funds. It is necessary to identify business boundaries when you are searching for new investments.
Your potential investors pay attention to your ability to articulate a business plan, to reach each new stage of development successfully.
Risk of copycats
There is always a risk that competitors will copy your product. It is particularly topical for IT industry. It is easy to give your idea away while searching for investors or executors. It is also possible if the development is not dynamic.
This list of risks can be continued and new ones can be added. Nevertheless, risks connected with your startup are not issues out of control.
There are always ways to manage them. One of them is to build an MVP, the essence of which is to narrow down your idea into the smallest quantity of things that validates your assumptions.
It is rather important for any company to create the simplest version of its product that is ready to be launched onto the market, thus helping to collect initial data about potential customers.
The main benefit of it is that you will not have to spend much money until you know there is a market and a target group for your product. It illuminates risks of uncertainty surrounding a startup.
Even if your first try of creating a successful startup is not so rewarding as you expected, don’t give up to the difficulties. Remember, RubyGarage team stands by you at any time!
Startup business ideas … be resilient
Steve Jobs famously said that the difference between those who make it and those who don’t is perseverance. At one point I remember hearing “Folks, I don’t know if we’re going to be here next month.”
It’s frightening not to know where you’re going to be next month, but you have to continuously figure out how to get a few more customers and extend your runway.
You can’t “make it” or succeed if you don’t exist, so you can’t quit.
Make customers the center of everything
At Text Request, we spent hours with our customers. We built whatever they asked for (if it fit with our goals and other customers could use it too). We also gave away a lot of free software.
If you want to grow and gain customers, you have to create a needed product that solves your target customers’ problems.
Determine who your target customers are, ask them what they need, and then tailor your solutions for them.
Startup business ideas … focus on the basics
When you focus on doing the basics, opportunities open up. When you commit to SEO basics, your targets will find you online, and a big fish will occasionally swim by.
When you provide fantastic customer service, a few users will leave reviews and tell their friends. When you keep your head down and do the work, eventually you’ll look up and have hit a big milestone.
Business Information: How to Completely Change Your Success Priorities
Startup business ideas … hire the best people
This is one of the critical lessons from Jim Collins’ Good to Great. Thankfully, the small team had the right people from the beginning. Brian and Jamey Elrod had already started a successful company from scratch (Educational Outfitters).
The third co-founder Rob Reagan has created software for twenty years and published a book last year on building apps for global scale.
Rob brought a couple of top-notch developers with him, and the rest of us showed up determined to figure the business out.
If you’re going to take a company from $0 to $1 million, every member of your team has to be dedicated to working together for the long-term benefit of the company over self-interest.
Keep customers longer
Our support is perhaps our #1 competitive advantage. One of the things we’ve learned is that a lower price, and sometimes even new features, won’t keep customers around longer.
To keep your customers from churning, you’ve got to do two things:
First, provide a smooth onboarding process that immediately teaches customers how to gain value (solve their problems) with your product. Otherwise, they won’t pick it up, and they’ll eventually leave.
Second, always be there with kind words and helpful content whenever a customer needs help. If you aren’t, they’ll get frustrated and find someone else to help them.
Need some help in finding ways to grow your customers? Such as creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers? Or perhaps finding ways to work with other businesses?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of collaborative innovation. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.
It’s up to you to keep improving your learning and experience with innovation and creativity efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
Check out these additional articles on business and its performance from our library:
Retail Design …11 Ways Businesses Are Responding to the Future
7 Surprising Things to Know About the Zillow Business Model
10 Lessons for Successful Entrepreneurs You Need to Know
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Startup Business Ideas to Implement for Success