Hey entrepreneur, hope you doing well. To have you here means the country is about to get one more ‘much-needed’ entrepreneur. I say ‘much-needed’ because the more entrepreneurs we have the more employment opportunities get created, the more hands the money exchanges, and somewhere along the way, the economy wins. But the onus of economic balance will be on your shoulders. ALWAYS PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES WELL ENOUGH, so that they can spend freely and the money can reach the least economically privileged sections of society. Anyway, I guess, you already do understand the nuances and the subtle difference between being a good entrepreneur and a good money-making businessman. So, I won’t preach that any further. Let’s get started with the tips for aspiring startup founders. These tips can help you navigate the tough terrains and the funding winter chills that are inevitable in business if you live longer.
1. Let the creative juices flow free
While you’re considering startup ideas, sometimes your headspace will be brimming with ideas, and at times it will be a blank space. Hence, it becomes important that you do not just let the ideas to go waste, instead write them down on paper, in your notes app, or somewhere you can see them. This relieves you from the burden of keeping them in your memory. The habit of writing down ideas is very conducive to generating more ideas. Besides, when they are written on paper they get greater visibility, and the chances of you acting on those ideas improve exponentially. Also, the more ideas you write up the more ideas sprout up. And one among these would be a game-changing idea. So, ensure that as an entrepreneur you’re not letting the crop of innovative ideas go unharvested.
2. Mindest is the King
A major part of entrepreneurship is about dealing with uncertain situations. It’s taking your ship to unchartered waters with no compass. What will help you navigate these tough waters? A tough mindset. You must practice and expose yourself to ideas that may not be exciting but are quintessential to get done.
- Be adaptable to changes in a business environment
- Recognize & embrace new ideas & opportunities that you may have to act upon with limited understanding, information, and resources.
- Be resilient to challenges.
- Stay focused on creating Value.
- Always be resourceful & solutions-oriented.
- Be curious, critical, and creative.
- Optimistic, positive, and giver attitude.
3. Think Big & Be Daring
A startup is considered to be a small company often competing with large organizations and targeting a small segment of their business. But as it grows, it also expands its horizons. So, you always have to be thinking big and keep increasing the scope of your business. Until you think about what more can you do, and where can you make an impact, or create value, you cannot grow your startup to new heights. Spread your wings. A startup can be disruptive or it can be at a scale unfathomable for traditional business. So, you always have to be on your toes. Think impossible, do impossible. That’s where your habit of letting the free flow of ideas kick in. But just having the ideas is not enough, you also need to possess the heart to pursue them, and the ability to do it, and in case you do not have the ability, you must know how to marshal the resources to get it done.
4. Think & Harness Tech
Every business is going through digital transformation. From health to retail to finance, tech is the common thread through all of them. You do not necessarily need to be a tech-savvy entrepreneur. But it is helpful if you do understand the tech. Acquaint yourself with tech, and if you identify problems or some existing solutions that can be cost-effective if done with tech, go for it. Always be on the hunt for what could be new possibilities with emerging tech. You don’t necessarily need to build your business for the present. Sometimes, you just need enough traction to survive the present and gain enough experience to lead the future. But making sure that you have enough revenue for 1-2 years of runway increases the survival chances for your startup.
5. SWOT analysis of competitors
This is the usual drill for any business owner. You not only do the SWOT analysis for your business but also for your competitors. Doing so helps you discover gaps that your competitors are not addressing, and thus can help you gain a competitive edge. Also, your competitors might be excelling at a few things and could be weak at others. You need to be as much competitor-aware as possible. Then, you can take them head-on in the market. Don’t go the conventional path, be unconventional when you feel confident.
6. Pivot
At times, markets evolve in ways unforeseeable. Sometimes, things may not turn out to be as you expect them to. For instance, a lot of startups are staring at an existential crisis due to chatGPT. The same was true when the Internet first came into the picture. The publishing houses were apprehensive that it would become a trend, but it did. And today, every major media publishing house is into digital publishing. This is a common phenomenon that can be observed throughout the history of mankind. The new replaces the old. So, when you get signals that your brainchild may not survive because the market is not receptive or your business has hit a plateau, or the competition is getting saturated, all whilst the scope of innovation is minuscule… don’t wait for the penultimate last moment to pull the plug. Pivot early. How? Look for the emerging trends and new opportunities. See if there are products/services within your existing suite of offerings that are faring way better than the rest. Brainstorm and find out if not this then what? Once you can identify opportunities, tap them.
7. Be a jack of all trades, including marketing, sales, and culture
Build it and they will come is just not what happens in the market. You need to promote, you need to sell. You may not need to master every skill, but having a good understanding of the WHAT and the HOW of sales and marketing helps in business. In today’s global workforce, employee churn is a real problem. Just paying them enough is not good. You need to take care of the employee experience as well. Invest in building a joyful, psychologically safe, and growth-conducive culture too.
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Bonus Tip
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Okay, on a serious note, inculcating the above entrepreneurship traits in you can do many good things for your business. On GrowthRomeo blogs, we keep publishing awesome entrepreneurship resources for all sorts of entrepreneurs. You may want to read-
- 10 fatal mistakes entrepreneurs make that can kill their business.
- How to grow your business?
- How to overcome employee turnover and win the employee retention game?
Keep innovating & scaling! Feel free to reach out if you seek any help from me.
