90% of the startups fail and barely 50% of them even make it to the fifth year. It’s not that they were not taking their business seriously. They just lacked some experience and the skills to foresee things. It’s a challenge to get through the first year without crashing, but things don’t get easy even after that.
You have to make and maintain a strong position in the market while dealing with tough competition. This article has some tips shared by experienced businessmen to help you succeed in your startup.
Do What You Love
If you really want to succeed in a competitive market, you must have a passion for what you do. The thing is, every market is competitive these days. You have to work really hard and smart and go out of the way for the success of the startup.
You can’t work hard enough if you don’t love what you do. You will get easily tired and won’t be able to bring out your best. It will get a lot easier if you really like the work you are doing.
The work will not feel like work if you are enjoying it. You will be able to spend hours without feeling tired and you will look forward to it instead of worrying about working again.
Find Yourself a Mentor
Everyone needs a mentor but very few. A mentor is an experienced person who has already done most of what you are already doing. If you were to learn things on your own, you will have to do a lot of research and experimentation and bear losses for each lesson.
It would be smart to take the help of business coaches. You can now easily find a qualified mentor on websites like Lisnic. They have already done what you are doing and helped many others like you. You can take advantage of their experience to ensure you don’t make any fatal mistake that could lead to the demise of your business.
Don’t Do Everything Yourself
You might be trying to save money, so you will avoid paying anyone for anything you think you can do yourself. Remember, the most important thing at the beginning phase of a startup is the time of its leader. You should only focus on the things that are more important and only you can do.
Anything that is not directly related to your job should be outsourced. For example, you will need marketing, accounting, and legal services. Instead of learning all these fields, you should outsource them or hire people for it.
Focus on Quality Service
Many startups are eager to make profits. This is one of the most common and biggest mistakes a new businessman can make. Don’t be greedy at the start and only focus on attracting and retaining customers. Your goal should be to build trust and authority in the market.
Once you are in a stable position then you can start increasing your prices. However, don’t compromise on the quality of your service no matter what.
Don’t Follow What You Hear
You will hear a lot of things in the market about the field. Some will say there is a threat coming and some might suggest you seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There will be threats and opportunities, but you should not believe everything you hear without doing research of your own.
Make sure you keep yourself up to date with every trend and thoroughly question and scrutinize before you believe anything.
Don’t Become a Boss too Soon
When you have people working for you and you see cash flowing in, you are likely to start feeling like a boss. That’s a serious problem that could lead to the failure of your business. You should work like an employee of the company instead of taking rest and enjoying profits for doing nothing.
You might feel like why do I have to work if I am the boss. You are the leader of the company who is supposed to take it to new heights of success. You can someday hire someone else for the lead role and retire. Until then, you should focus on building a business big enough to let you retire in peace and luxury.
Get Used to Facing Challenges
The main and most important job of a businessman is to foresee threats and deal with them every day. You won’t be able to predict most of the problems coming your way, but you have to build a mentality that is always ready to take on challenges.
You should enhance your problem solving skills and make sure you don’t lose your cool. Stay calm and face each threat like a pro, and you have to do this on a regular basis.