Being a new business owner can be challenging. You want your startup to succeed, but there’s a lot to do before you can get it off the ground. Not only do you have to sell your product, but on top of that, you also have to deal with a load of admin-related responsibilities. Entrepreneur success can be fleeting.
Related: Entrepreneurs: Keeping your remote staff on track
If you feel overwhelmed, don’t worry — it’s perfectly fine to feel that way. To help you out, we’ve put together a couple of tips to ensure your startup’s success.
Process data with BI tools
A common misconception is that startups don’t deal with massive amounts of data. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as newly established businesses do need data to move forward. With data, you’ll be able to get insights that will allow you to monitor the market, compute your KPIs, make better business decisions, and more.
The truth is that you’ll be dealing with a ginormous amount of data. But what’s the proper way to put that data to use? By using business intelligence software or BI tools, you’ll be able to process that data on autopilot. BI tools help you create accurate reports, manage large amounts of data, aggregate that data, and more. That way, you can spend less time making sense of the data, and more time making use of it.
Recruit the top talent
Don’t allow your ego to get in the way. You should be willing to work with people whom you think are better than you. This is the most practical solution to ensure your business gets to where you want it to be. With that said, you should strive to recruit the top talent for every area of operations.
To start, you should be able to get CXOs (CEO, CTO, CSO, etc.), sales managers, product managers, and public relations people on board. To do this, you need to begin networking with the right people. Sign up on LinkedIn or go to networking events — you could even look within your network to find people with potential.
Entrepreneur: Identify your niche
As a rule of thumb, you should be able to make your business stand out. This is what sets the successful entrepreneur startup apart — they take the time to identify their market. Once they identify their niche, they can create products that meet people’s specific needs. That way, they don’t waste their time (and money) on products that are already on the market.
Consider partnering with companies that can help you choose your target niche. Alternatively, you could survey the market to find out what they want. Like audience measurement, a market survey is a way to find out how many people are in your market, what that market specifically wants, what the market prefers, and so on.
Invest in digital real estate
Digital real estate is everything that you see on the internet, including websites, email domains, domain names, blogs, URLs, and more. If your company doesn’t have any of these (even if it’s simply social media), you’ll be way behind the competition.
Social media
There are more than 50 million businesses on Facebook. If your business isn’t part of that number, it’s about time that you created a social media account. After all, more than 90 percent of businesses say that social media has helped them with exposure. Plus, 71 percent of customers are more likely to talk about your business if they’ve had a positive experience with you on social media.
Websites
Does your business have a website or even own a domain name? If it doesn’t, you need to build a website today. About 84 percent of customers think that a website makes a business look more credible.
Besides, with a website, you’ll be able to provide your potential customers with vital information about your business. They won’t have to scour the web to find out what your business does, specifically.
Mobile apps
Apps allow your customers to complete transactions whenever and wherever they want. Apps are also convenient, considering that over 82 percent of the whole world owns a smartphone.
However, it should be mentioned that not every business needs to invest in a mobile app. What’s important is that your website can be viewed on mobile, as most eCommerce purchases are made on smartphones.
The successful entrepreneur: Keep up with the trends
Don’t allow your business to be wiped from the face of the industry because you refuse to follow the trends. Companies that can’t keep up with their ever-evolving industry are at risk of failure.
As an example, let’s take a look at remote work. More and more companies are allowing their employees to work wherever they want as long as they complete their to-dos. By saying yes to remote work, you can make sure that your employees stay with your startup. If not, they’ll likely find another business that offers that work-life balance.
As a startup, it can be a challenge to detach from the “traditional” way of doing things, but know this — if your competitors are doing it, it’s probably a sign that you should do it, too.
Don’t put yourself last
The first year of business is going to be incredibly difficult, but that doesn’t mean you should drown yourself in your work. That includes the legal side of your business – Zenbusiness can help with business formation, check out zenbusiness llc review for details on what they can to streamline the process. Established business owners have said it before, but we’ll say it again — you have to find time for life, as well. If you give everything to your business, you’ll eventually feel burnt out.
Have a break from your business and take the time for your hobbies. Go to the gym and work out to feel good. Go for a bike ride around the neighborhood. Do whatever works for you.
Conclusion
According to the Small Business Administration, 90 percent of startups fail. The good news is that with these strategies, you can mitigate that risk and make sure your startup sees success. As you work on your business, remember to breathe and make time for yourself — networking, marketing, and more will be worth it in the long run.
Top image by Artem Beliaikin/Pexels
