Manuj Awwargal, an expert in Big Data and AI at the service of innovation, productivity and sustainability, shares 25 tips for the good health of your startup.
In the world of startups, networking is everything. Throughout your career as an entrepreneur you will come into contact with hundreds (if not thousands) of people, and most of them will not be meaningful contacts, but a few will be of great value.
Never stop learning. A learning culture is one of the most important things within a startup. Constantly learning is not only valuable for employees, but it is also very good for the company.
Be willing to fail. No one ever said starting a startup was easy. And it’s certainly not easy to fail for many entrepreneurs, but it’s part of the game and you have to be willing to fail if you want your startup to thrive.
Don’t be afraid to take risks. Starting a business is one thing, but taking risks is something entirely different: if you want to create a successful business, and a business that really has the chance to take off and become big, you have to be willing to take risks.
Always market your products. If you want your business to thrive, you must market your product. The idea that “if you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply to startups, not anymore, if it ever did.
Assemble the right team. Building a strong, long-lasting startup takes a lot of work. But one of the most important things about having a great startup is putting together the right team for the particular business in the first place.
Get the right financing. It’s one thing to launch a startup. It’s another thing to get it to prosper and get to where you really want it to be, but this requires financing. And if you do it right, you won’t have financing right away, so plan ahead.
Be an accomplished student. As an entrepreneur/founder, you have to become an accomplished student. You should not only learn the craft (web design, coding, writing, etc.), but also understand how people interact with each other and what has and hasn’t worked in the past. If you want your company to grow and prosper, don’t settle for being mediocre or doing well. Take a step forward. Become a student.
Prepare for everything. Being prepared for everything means not expecting every problem to be planned. Adapting to change means expecting the unexpected.
Don’t trust serendipity. I think we all have a tendency to rely on serendipity when it comes to things that will shape the destiny of our businesses. But don’t trust that coincidence alone. Although you may very well end up at another successful company, you won’t get there by accident.
Don’t complicate the idea. Startups are complicated: there are a lot of moving parts and many people don’t immediately understand what the company does. The key is to remember that you are building a business, not a product, and to be successful you must keep things simple.
Know the processes. Running a startup is difficult. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s super easy to make mistakes, which will cost you time, money, and ultimately make your efforts a waste of energy. You have to know two things well when running a startup if you want to be successful.
Share responsibilities. If your startup is a pie, each person involved in the team shares responsibilities and tasks. It’s not like in the movies, where there is always a person who carries the startup on his shoulders. Startups are based on teamwork.
Get organized. From your morning routine and making a to-do list every night, to writing down your ideas, to tracking metrics, there’s one common denominator: you won’t get anything done until you get organized.
Keep detailed records: Keeping detailed records seems like a very boring task, but it’s important because there are a lot of things you’ll want to revisit later, so it’s best to keep track of everything now so you don’t have to go back and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together later. .
Understand the risks and rewards. Founding and growing a business carries significant risk. And understanding how to manage that risk is an important part of your role as an entrepreneur. If you are going to embark on such a venture, you have to understand the risks and rewards that come with it.
Be creative: Starting a new business is hard. Creating something new is always difficult. But there is a secret that you may not know. Being creative in how you solve problems not only makes your life easier, it can unlock enormous opportunities for success.
Prepare to make sacrifices. Most people would love to start a company, and would even do it out of pure love of the idea, but there are many stages in a startup. If you want to build something that will last long term, there will be sacrifices along the way.
Offer great service: The success or failure of your startup depends on how well you serve others. If you provide as much value as possible to your customers, team members, and partners, your dream will flourish. Your startup will not live unless it takes care of others and adds more value than it receives.
Stay focused – It’s easy to get distracted when starting a business: there are so many things to do that can divert your attention and take you in another direction. But if you want your company to be successful, you have to focus on it.
Be consistent: Startups are exciting, and you want to keep the excitement going for as long as humanly possible. But the most important thing for a startup is to have a plan and execute that plan every day, consistently. Part of an entrepreneur’s success is being consistent. If we want to win, we have to be on top of our game all the time.
Give value to your potential customers – Never lose a potential customer: value your potential customers by giving them something valuable. Offer a free pdf, audiobook, free consultation, or whatever gives them tangible, valuable information to help them solve their problem.
Engage with your audience- Many people get carried away with growth, but how do you really grow your startup? Engagement is one of the main reasons why people decide to subscribe to your content and spend more time with you.
Get feedback- The answer to incremental improvement is to constantly get feedback from users or customers. If you want your startup to grow, find a way to ask for feedback regularly, from as many people as possible. Then, use different tools and strategies to collect that feedback.
Know when to pivot – Sometimes you get so caught up in the idea that when it doesn’t grow, you stop putting the time and effort into improving it, and then it dies. But there’s a smarter way to nurture your idea: pivot until you find something that grows.
