Running a start-up is really challenging because of the many obstacles on the way such as lack of adequate funding, poor communication tools, storage issues, etc. Indeed, the contemporary generation of businesspeople has a fair share of problems, but most of them are relatively easy to tackle today – thanks to technological tinkering. That is why start-ups have been mushrooming left, right, and center. The uptick is certainly unprecedented.
However, still, nearly a whopping 90 percent of the start-up owners have to wrap up their business within only three years. If you are all set to kick-off a start-up, there is a good chance that you may also be heading towards the same fate. The only way out is to stick to the following tried and trusted survival strategies:
1. Comply with the changing circumstances
The business world always goes through the fluctuation. Some changes can be anticipated before they actually take place, but some of them hit the scene out of nowhere. For example, if you own an advertising agency, you can’t overlook a new trend of inbound marketing. You will have to adopt that change then and there. The success rate of your business increases when you show flexibility.
2. Avoid being unrealistic
When an organization jumpstarts with decent performance, sometimes entrepreneurs tend to become over-ambitious. They begin to incorporate unrealistic goals in their business proposals. There is nothing wrong with taking a leap forward, but it has to be done with a rational approach. If not, your start-up could collapse at any time.
3. Cut corners
Customers always take time before they start trusting your products or services, but you will be liable to pay rent, salaries, energy bills, etc. right from the get-go. Since start-ups generally don’t rely upon a lot of reserves, every penny counts. Especially in the initial phase when you are a nobody in the respective market. Therefore, apart from boosting sales, you should also cut expenses wherever possible. The following money-saving strategies are worth considering:
- Hire freelancers: Getting hooked up with a remote workforce means you can operate in a relatively small office, which is going to be pocket-friendly. Moreover, you will also save money on equipment, transportation, energy bills, and so on.
- Slash inventory costs: If your business involves buying inventory on a regular basis, you can get a better deal by shopping around. Understandably, not all the start-up owners may have enough time required for hunting. In that case, you can ask for discounts on early payments.
4. Don’t be afraid of failure
It is human to be scared of failures because they can potentially give us sleepless nights. Being an entrepreneur, you should not be all that vulnerable when it comes to facing a defeat. The reason behind this is that the fear of failure will keep you from trying out new ideas, which is the last thing a start-up can afford. If there is anything familiar among all the owners of successful start-ups, it is their audacity to be constantly innovative.
Furthermore, failures come up with invaluable experience. For example, we all know that a stable business can come crashing down with a single wrong decision. That’s the nature of almost every industry. Having confronted enough failures down the road, you would know to get your company back to the track from such a dicey scenario.
5. Invest in your employees
Given the growing footprint of artificial intelligence, experts are engaged in a heated debate regarding whether workers will be entirely replaced by robots or not in the coming years. So apparently it is too early to predict anything about the future.
However, as things stand now, employees are hands down the biggest asset of a company. No matter how highly sophisticated devices you may install, you still need skillful people to operate them effectively. It is precisely why a well-structured employee development program must be an inevitable part of your strategy to stay afloat.
Nearly as many as 74 percents of the employees believe that their performance does not reflect their true potential. In simple words, your workers are going to underperform without proper training. And, the absence of a training program is one of the biggest reasons behind the higher employee turnover rate in start-ups as well as established organizations.
6. Value customers’ feedback
Being a newbie in the field of business, a start-up owner must listen to his customers and always take their feedback into account. Because the honest feedback of your customers will help you improve your services or product. Your business will definitely doom if you do not value the input of customers.
7. Improve the recruitment process
Often a start-up owner has to wear multiple hats until the company is well on its way to financial stability. Therefore, among other things, you might have to take up the role of HR as well. But it is a specialized job. Acting as a make-shift HR, you could recruit the wrong employees, which will be a liability to your organization. This is one of the major root causes of a start-up’s poor longevity.
You must take the following measures to strengthen the recruitment process so that you can easily filter out the mediocre candidates and cherry-pick the most exceptional talent:
- First thing first; narrowing down the skills you are looking for. It will give you a much-needed clarity of thought.
- Take tests. For example, if you are hunting for a copywriter, ask him to come up with a draft of a press release. This process will unveil whether a candidate is capable of working under a tight and time-bound atmosphere or not.
- Dive into the applicants’ profiles before inviting them for the interview. That way, you can make your mind beforehand what types of questions you should toss-up to an individual applicant to extract the maximum information. Also, when you are thoroughly aware of the background, the interviewee can’t lie to you.
Conclusion
Indeed, running a start-up is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, it is not as difficult as the numbers might convey. You can survive and thrive by subscribing to the survival strategies, regardless of how competitive the market may be.
Mathew Jade
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