I understand that it's not easy building your own startup : might sound exciting and it is but be aware of the hard realities let's look at a few statistics in the USA over half of small businesses fail within the first 5 years and what about the ones that succeed keeping a start up going is tough and involves long working days and sleepless nights and just because you've made it doesn't mean it's all sipping cocktails on the beach actually not much of that at all 40 percent of small business owners say they don't take vacations and have almost all of their money tied up in their business the key is to work on something you're really passionate about which is worth skipping all those vacations for that passion is what will keep you going through the hard times
surround yourself with the best people possible : most of the time you'll build your start up as one of a team of founders the average size of a start up in the USA is 5 people make sure you have skills that complement each other and a similar idea of what everybody's tasks are added that everybody has a similar work ethic there's nothing worse than starting a company and finding out that one person slacking off if they're a partner it isn't as simple as just firing them and when you employ staff go for people that can see your vision and have a similar passion for your startup this will make them your best advocates as well as your best workers.
find a mentor : you can't possibly know everything yourself or have all the skills experience and insights needed to get your start up off the ground especially when you're new to it it's up to your mentor to guide you through your first steps and beyond in the area you live in checkout accelerator programs that help to get small businesses up and running they'll provide mentor schemes and may be able to help you get funding also try local business meetups or groups on social networking sites and even think of people you already know you might have an acquaintance that you've overlooked could give you valuable insights.
research the market : do your homework on the market area you're aiming at research the demographics of your customer base and you know all about their habits look at your competitors websites and to see how you measure up to them and read what their customers say about them on social media this will help you understand what's going on in your area of the market what customers want and where you'll fit into it in terms of price quality and what you offer that's different
create a powerful message for you : when you're talking to potential customers and investors you'll need to clearly express the customer problem that you're solving a brief statement of what makes your start up so valuable is what's called a value proposition discover what yours is and use it to make a great sales pitch for more on how to do this take a look at our video how to sell your idea a great value proposition will help customers and investors see what's special about your business and when you spend time fine tuning it it'll also help you realize what the core of your business it is and what you need to focus on the first.
right a business plan : this is an essential step of starting any business it'll help you figure out what you need to do to get up and running and statistics show it makes you twice as likely to get an investment capital or alone simply put the business plan is an outline of what you want to do and how you're planning on getting there it will usually cover the first 3 to 5 years of your business strategy and some of the key points that should contain are a market analysis and how you'll fit a description of your management and organization a breakdown of your products and services sales and marketing strategies and forecast of sales and cash flow if it's your first time doing this you can find free templates online from Google and Microsoft and once you've got your business plan in place it'll guide you every step of the way and let you know if you're on track.
keep your day job : if you can but no one to take the plunge and go full time whether or not you can do this depends on what sector you're in but you may want to keep your day job early on this will help you to cover costs while your startup isn't yet making big Bucks but do you know when to take the plunge if you don't start investing all of your time and your business it just can't grow there are a lot of start ups that show promise but never really left off that's because their founders never really quit their day jobs once you start to get traction and generate interest this is the point to take the jump and go full time.
value your customers : customers are your number one priority you wouldn't be in the business you're in if it weren't for that so once you've got them keep up a great relationship with them and they'll keep coming back this is true of online stores as well as physical ones online shops get 43 percent of revenue from repeat purchasers can the secret is a great customer service listen to everything they have to say about your business and respond to their feedback and really make them feel valued thank them for their support with a discount a promotion or a hand written note
cover all of your legal requirements : make sure the company is set up properly with the help of a lawyer choose the most appropriate structure for your business in the USA this could be a sole proprietorship a partnership a limited liability company or corporation other countries have similar distinctions although the terms may vary get a qualified accountant to do your accounting make sure you're complying with the national tax regulations this will mean bringing in the professionals and yes it will cost you money but not doing these steps properly it will cost you a lot more in the long run.
reduce your overheads : co working spaces could be a solution spot unnecessary expenses and cut them out do you really need an office when you can work from home or a co working space co working spaces or business hubs can give you all kinds of benefits these include mentoring networking opportunities and meeting freelancers who can do jobs for you instead of hiring staff do you really need to hire employees outsourcing jobs to freelancers could well save you money and the people you're not working with and co working spaces can give you insights and even refer customers to you.
focus on what you're good at and delegate : watch or not it's important to understand your own strengths and skills and the time you have available most of your time should be spent doing what you're really good at other things you can delegate to someone in your company who is better suited to them yes it will cost you money but you can justify it like this do a cost analysis of jobs you're not specialized of the time it would take you to do that then calculate how much you would earn if you focused on your core tasks that make money it may well be cheaper to outsource and if that's the case then that's what you should do.
become a respected voice in your field : there are a few better ways of bringing customers your way and thanks to content marketing it's never been easier to demonstrate what expertise you have and to develop a following online and people who follow you will support your business and tell others about it if you've got something of value you can get featured in publications either local ones are leading ones in your industry you can create content on blog posts content on social networking sites or host webinars or appear at industry events these will work has free advertising and send more business your way.
know what options you have to get investment : start ups need money to get them going and you may not have all the money that's required to get the funding know about all the options you have available to you if you've spent a lot of time watching shark tank you might think venture capitalists or angel investors are the way forward in fact they often aren't the best approach as this means you'll be giving away equity and control if you've got a great idea that you can demonstrate how you can make it work you might see if your friends and family want to invest first after all that so Jeff bass set up Amazon or you could use crowd funding check out crowdfunding platforms that are relevant in your industry they can help get the word out on your start up an attract people who want to sign up as investors for put up cash as a future customer.
become an expert on marketing : if you're not one yet you need to become one soon you can have the best product or service in the world but if nobody knows about it you won't succeed get a good knowledge on the different types of online marketing content marketing affiliate marketing email marketing search engine optimization and pay per click advertising and if you don't know what these terms mean find out marketing is a crucial part of what you'll be doing so allocate a budget to it and if you can't do it yourself you could hire a team or outsource it and make sure you're on Facebook Twitter and Instagram that's where your prospective customers are and you should be too.
know your numbers inside and out numbers : that tell you how your business is doing and what you can expect it to do next numbers like a start up costs sales projections cash flow and more there are 2 reasons for this first you have to make a lot of spontaneous decisions without much time to think does it make business sense to give a discount to our loyal customer or to spend more than usual on marketing campaigns knowing your business numbers well we'll help you make the right choice and second whenever you're talking to potential investors partners or clients knowing these numbers will reassure them that you know what you're doing and the faith that they have been you will grow and with that a laxer throughout the end of our list for today whether you have experience of it or not we're really interested to know what do you think is the most challenging thing about building a startup
thank you for sticking with us until the end of that's right it's time for today's bonus so we've talked all about different kinds of challenges startups will bring but there is one vital thing you need to take care of that we haven't mentioned yet look after yourself building a startup is filled with high pressure and uncertainty so you need to be aware of your mental health it'll help you keep the clear mindset you'll need to make a start up a success as well as being really important in itself you could try meditation talk to a life coach to help you through it or get our mind mastery course all about meditation if your startup is taking on an emotional roller coaster share those emotions with those who are closest with you it could also be a good idea to limit alcohol intake as this won't help you deal with the pressure and well start ups do require really hard work give yourself breaks and time to do things you really enjoy your most important asset is you so take care of yourself. Thank you for spending sometime with us
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