“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs…one step at a time.”
– Joe Girard
Being part of the founder’s community, I think startup entrepreneurs were smarter for every new venture they bring on the table. They know the exact value of pre-money and post-money valuations.
Your dream and your idea are enough to start a business. Your idea evolves with time, and so does the ecosystem. Nothing is impossible in today’s tech-savvy world. Nothing. I have broken down the top 4 elements you should consider before launching your dream into reality and getting it all under control.
1. When its time, “its time.”
I mean we always know when it is the right time but picking up the right moment is like making sure everything goes in the right direction. Hence, picking the best moment to launch your business is of critical importance. Always consider the ebbs of your industry as it plays a balancing act in evaluating the best time to begin your startup. It also includes the success and faltering of your business.
Also, always consider your circumstances before going to the D-day. It is still essential to be in the right state of mind and not having any other personal commitment. Make decisive moves after completing your business plan and go off the ground quickly.
Consider the following things before going into planning your d-day.
- Availability of start-up funds.
- Personal circumstances
- Business plan and execution processes.
Never rush into launching a business by any means. Startups fail because they rush into early development and never get off the ground.
Consider Facebook, Airbnb or even Uber being launched now in 2018. Would you even care to use it? Now, it would have been just another word for you. These names became brand and an overnight success after years of consideration and study of the market. The timing of launching these companies or brands was so perfect that they stand tall today and acquire a majority of shares in their operations and industry.
Source: Siskar.co
2. The spreadsheet of a budget
Never think twice before having an explanatory budget while you plan for your start-up. People sit back and relax and think about the time when they would get a big chunk of money and then manage their expenses and budget. Never do it. Spending while your startup is bootstrapped or when you have reached the funding and still not maintaining apt spreadsheets of your costs is a big blunder. Crunching numbers is never a task loved by any startup founder or CEO. They are more of ‘big thinkers’ and are never glazed by the financials. It is simple – every step of your business should be accounted for and carefully monitored. While every aspect is critical, speaking of which I have to talk about the next important step:
Consider founders or co-founders spending the entire VC-investment amount on something that is not even in the line of benefit to their business. That seems mockery now, but that is how people drive their business down. Companies like Skully and PaybyTouch have done extraordinary mistakes using their funding amounts for bizarre reasons, and the companies have not seen the light of the day.
3. Self-discipline and overt socializing skills
I don’t need money. I don’t need success. All I need is a network. A network that functions whenever I Want. That will give me everything I would ever want from a business. Sticking to self-discipline while socializing is of extreme importance. Running your own business and while you are in the startup phase requires both the thing- discipline and being the center of social meetings.
I always suggest deciding ahead of time for all your goals. Plan for all the meetings and decide on how much time you will be spending in a particular session with anyone or a group of people. This signifies your discipline as well as your ultimate social skills. Always decide the right time for things and achieve benchmarks to pull off better results than to be left behind for the worse. And always stick to your budget, by the way.
4. Your flexible orientation
A myth about launching a startup is that very little of what you dream would come to reality. Putting every inch of your time, effort and faith into a business plan and creating a winning model follows the gruesome fact that it may have to be modified entirely and at times it is heartbreaking for leaders.
New instances arise at the bat of an eyelid. Take the case studies of Yumist-India (a food start-up that went bankrupt and had to shut shop because the idea was not that great to create a drift in the ecosystem where Swiggy and Zomato own the trumps). Even rebranding does not help you sustain in the ecosystem. Drifting factors either illuminate a startup or bring it down to the ground. Always be open to change. That is what a seeking entrepreneur does. Somebody open to change or to seek change can never fail. Marry change and never be afraid.
While the above points justify my statement of getting everything under control while you plan a startup and raise fundings or plan to run it smoothly, there are many no-brainers like managing your input and output flow — something that you need to succeed big time. A startup always needs burning cash. Be it a home-garage grown startup or a corporate setup. You need to burn some money to keep it running. Manage it well.
Most businesses fail because they overlook such crucial yet baseline factors that can strengthen your startup and make it a successful one. Innovative and visionary ideas count but what counts is the person leading it. Lack of leadership and knowledge of basic skills and to carry the entire endeavor decides which way the start-up would go.
“There is a simple difference between what needs to be done and how it has to be done. If as a founder you do not know either of it then you are replaceable.”
Source: Medium.com
