Making the decision to start a business is going to be one of the most exciting times of your life.
You go in with a strong feeling that you have the next big thing to offer and you eat, breathe, and sleep getting your startup off the ground.
For some, growing a startup into a successful business is very easy. But, for others, it can turn out to be more work than sticking to a nine to five job.
The good news is there are some things that you can do to ensure your startup is a success.
Have a Solid Business Plan
Before telling anyone about your startup, you want to make sure that you have drafted up a solid business plan. The main sections that you want to spend some time on include your business overview, operations plan, market analysis, and your financial plan.
Your business plan is what’s going to help you get funding for your business, attract partners, and let you know before you waste any more time or money on your idea if it is something that can work out for you for the long haul.
With everyone thinking that it’s never been a better time to start a business, you must make sure that your startup doesn’t get added to the failed statistic number.
Don’t Be Afraid to Get Creative When Marketing
Have you ever had a conversation with a friend where one of you goes, “Why hasn’t someone invented this yet, this would make a ton of money” and then a few months or years later you find out that someone has invented the idea discussed? I’m going to go ahead and guess your answer is yes.
In fact, it’s quite possible that your startup idea originated from one of these conversations such as Ship Your Enemies Glitter.
However, if you’ve had one of these conversations and I’ve had one of these conversations, imagine how many other people have had such conversations.
This goes back to spending that extra time on your market analysis when creating your business plan.
Let’s say, you find out that there are 10 other companies who have had the same startup idea as you. Out of those 10 companies you’ve never heard of any of them until you started your research and after checking out all of them you notice that they each have areas that they aren’t excelling in. Furthermore, each of them are missing out on potential customers because they aren’t marketing where their target audience is hanging out.
Your startup can still make it.
All you should do is do what they aren’t doing by getting creative with your marketing strategies.
For example, you could consider starting a Facebook group to compliment your Facebook page, so you can be the industry leader of your niche when it comes to customer service. You could even focus your efforts on creating live videos on Facebook and Instagram to put your face out their (people love seeing a face behind a new company). If it’s in your budget, consider adding virtual reality into the mix.
The essential point is to get as creative as you want to stand out from potential competitors.
Don’t Fall into the Debt Trap
If you’ve determined that taking out a business loan is in the best interest of your startup instead of bootstrapping, make sure you use a calculator for business loans before determining the amount you should borrow.
The last thing you want to do is fall into the debt trap because you were so sure things were going to play out in your favor.
You want to make sure that the total interest and monthly payments make sense when compared to your projected revenue (refer to your business plan) or you will find your business going bankrupt. To take it one step further, before taking out that loan, imagine every scenario you could think of that would cause you to possibly get behind on your loan payments or default, so you can bring yourself to realty.
Just because you’ve been approved for a large business loan it doesn’t mean you need to take more than you need.
The odds are already against you with 49% of businesses failing within the first five years and 30% not even making it to the two-year mark.
Final Thoughts – Your Startup Can Be Successful
Building a successful startup doesn’t mean you must be a leader, come from money, or even have a 100% unique idea.
Instead, it means you are passionate about something, know when to cut your losses, and are creative.
The three main things for a successful startup have been outlined for you in this article. If you can master creating a solid business plan, thinking creatively when marketing, and avoid starting off with unnecessary debt, you are three steps closer to being the next big thing.
What is your best tip for ensuring that a startup is a success?
