Whether you’re using fun promotional merchandise to spread your message or doing it by word of mouth, starting a business is both thrilling and daunting. Passion provides strong motivational fuel at the start, but turning a big dream into a thriving company requires a hefty dose of strategic planning as well.
Leverage these six
unorthodox approaches to make early progress while setting yourself up for
long-term success:
Avoid Perfectionism
Business owners putting
their resources and reputations on the line want their launch to be perfect.
They nitpick branding, design, marketing, product specs, and everything else to
ensure it’s flawless. All too often, however, that desire for flawless perfection
results in the launch never launching. Instead, analysis paralysis takes over
and delays go on indefinitely.
Combat that perfectionist
urge by launching your minimum viable product early on to see if it satisfies
core customer needs. Then, allow customer feedback to guide the evolution.
Don’t Silo Your Startup Responsibilities
Although trying to do
everything can create its own set of problems, it also has some unique benefits
early on. That’s largely because doing the opposite—dividing teams into tightly
siloed departments, for example—can lead to communication breakdowns which
result in strategic misalignment.
Must Read: Grafting For Growth: Taking The Next Steps With Your Startup
At least in the early
phases of launching a business, resist the urge to separate sales, marketing,
finance, product development, design, and other functions. Instead,
cross-collaborate on decisions from an integrated point of view until the
complexity of scaling requires a more siloed structure.
Keep Your Business Plan Simple
Conventional wisdom says
that you should craft a meticulously detailed business plan right from the
start. However, rigidly planning everything takes away your ability to be
nimble, which newly launched businesses need when trying to gauge new ideas,
product viability, and customer demand.
Instead, write up a simple business model canvas. This highly influential one-page plan captures essential assumptions around target demographics, value propositions, distribution channels, revenue generation, cost structure, and competitive advantages.
Refer to this fluid
blueprint to run small-scale experiments that prove or disprove key ideas.
Then, gradually build in more detail and structure around proven concepts.
Forgo Large Injections
of Capital
Eager first-time
entrepreneurs often seek out banks, angel investors, or venture capitalists to
secure the capital they need to scale quickly. Although understandable,
securing a lot of funding too early in the process can be a burden because that
funding comes with enormous pressure to deliver rapid returns.
Instead of seeking huge injections of outside capital, consider turning to crowdfunding campaigns, loans from friends or family, or personal savings to test the market and develop a minimal viable product. If it works, the early traction you build will attract external capital on better terms later on.
Keep Your Day Job for a While
When you’re passionate about a business idea, it’s incredibly tempting to leave your job to pursue it full-time. However, there are benefits to having a stable income during the incubation phase when so much is in flux.
As your business grows, pay close attention to key performance indicators to know when it’s time to part ways with your previous employer.
Expect Difficulty Early On
Although people tend to
mythologize overnight success, that kind of instant growth is rare. Launching a
successful company usually takes an intense commitment over an extended period
of time with plenty of challenges along the way.
Also See: 12 Marketing Mistakes that Could Kill Your Startup
To better adapt to the
difficult road ahead, set realistic expectations but continue to keep your
passion stoked.
Launching a business is
thrilling but rarely easy. Keep the above unconventional tips in mind to build
the resilience and strategies necessary to see yours thrive.
