Everyone knows most startups fail in their first year, and that’s not just because they face tremendous competition. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in your life as an entrepreneur, and some of them you can’t prevent. What you can do is make sure that your startup has the right priorities and strategies in place to make yourself as resistant to failure as possible. Here are seven things you can do to accomplish that:
1. Make Health a Priority
A sick employee or entrepreneur is hampered. They are distracted and thus cannot perform as well as they normally could. While the occasional cold is nothing to be worried about, but people constantly falling sick will inevitably hold the startup back. Putting the focus on maintaining physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being might seem expensive, but if you want your startup to stay afloat, everyone on the boat has to be as healthy as possible.
2. Understand Money
Money is a fickle thing. The way you view it changes depending on how much of it you have relative to how much you need. Personal issues can also complicate how you spend your startup’s capital, which can lead to sub-par decision-making. If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, you will need to understand money. You don’t need to become an accountant, but knowing just how your startup spends and makes money will keep your thought process pointed in the right direction.
3. The Brand is Consistent
Surprises are fun at times, but it’s not great for your startup. Consistency is a key part of developing customer loyalty. If people know what to expect from you, they will find it easier to come back to your services over and over again. This makes the creation of a brand bible one of the first things you should do. Whenever you present yourself to the world, it should be under the guidance of the brand bible.
| Related: How Entrepreneurs Can Build Stronger and More Recognizable Brands with guest K’teonia Gunder |
4. A Passionate Core
A startup without passion cannot succeed. There are too many things that will go wrong that will rob you of momentum. Without something driving you forward, you will inevitably choose to stop. If you want to make it as an entrepreneur, you had better make sure that your passion is a part of your endeavor. If it isn’t there, it will show.
5. Focus on Customers
Customers are what will drive your startup upward and onward. Without them, you cannot generate revenue. Understanding this makes the small business’s direction clear; it must focus its efforts on making everything as positive for the consumer as possible. This includes everything from making sure that the sales funnel is as frictionless as possible to innovating the product to serve the customer better.
6. Commit to Innovation
So your startup is out there. Your product is disruptive, and you’ve made some headway into your target market. While you should celebrate your victory, sitting on your laurels is the worst thing you can do. Constant innovation is at the heart of a small business’s success. Your customer’s needs will grow and change as they use your product. If you don’t match this growth, they will leave your business and find someone who will.
7. It Embraces the Value of Each Employee
No startup succeeds on the back on the entrepreneur alone. It doesn’t matter how brilliant you are. You cannot be everywhere, and you cannot do everything. However, that’s where employees come in. They extend the small business’s reach and allow it to do so much more. Additionally, understanding that you have limits and that your employees have skills can make it a lot easier to delegate tasks when it’s appropriate. Delegation empowers employees and frees you up for other tasks.
While these are far from the only things to keep in mind when running your startup, they should get you off to a good start. Being an entrepreneur means being open to new ideas. If you think it will work for your startup, apply it. Don’t let naysayers get you down. Focus on what you think, and you will find the way.
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