From the moment you decide to start a business, you can expect your life to change in many ways. A start-up is a huge undertaking that requires time, money, hard work and a lot of patience. Aside from searching for good office suites, you also need to look for funding, comply with legal requirements, plan your marketing strategies, hire employees and do many other things to make sure that your start-up will be successful.
With everything that you need to do, it’s easy to get caught up in the chaos and commit mistakes that could cause serious damage to your business. To keep this from happening, we’ve gathered some useful tips from top entrepreneurs:
1. Don’t get stuck on planning for too long.
It’s true that careful planning is required to make a start-up successful, but if you get stuck with this phase for too long, you might lose good opportunities along the way. The co-founder of Freshbooks Levi Cooperman said, “planning and modelling out your business is always a good idea, but don’t get stuck planning too long, build something and push it out to your users as fast as you possibly can.” You might have some fears that your product or service will not gain good reception, but you’ll never know if they’re good or not unless you put them out in the market. So go ahead, launch, take note of any reviews and make some changes if needed.
2. Enter the battle with a mission.
Why do you want to start a business? This is the most important question that you should ask yourself before venturing into entrepreneurship. Treehouse co-founder Alan Johnson said, “…the biggest thing I’d recommend is to start a company that’s on a mission, not just a company that’s building a nifty product.” Your mission or goal will not only keep you on track with your business, but it will also make a lot of things easier for you, whether it’s deciding on a marketing strategy or hiring employees.
3. Do everything because failure is never an option.
You build a business because you want to succeed, and that’s exactly what you should do. Sometimes, you might feel overwhelmed with all the things thrown your way and the challenges that you need to face. But to give up on your business should never be an option. Leo Rocco, the founder of GoPago went through so much before he succeeded with his business. But he said, “When failure isn’t an option, you promise yourself you won’t fail. It’s not crazy. It’s hard work.” A start-up has many challenges, but if you do everything possible, you can always expect something good for your business. Reaching top entrepreneur status may not be the easiest thing to do, but if you put your mind to it, you’ll surely have a good shot at achieving it.
Finally, you should find your niche, that one area in business where you fit the most. Christian Reber, the founder and CEO of 6Wunderkinder said, “Don’t try to be everything to everyone right away. If you pick one vertical and do it well, other folks will find you.” By choosing your niche, you can keep your efforts focused and avoid doing things that aren’t beneficial for your business. Once you’ve built credibility on the niche you picked, then you can start expanding so you’ll have a wider customer base.
Indeed, starting a business is both an exciting and challenging step. But if you take the right steps and learn how to make the right decisions, success is always possible. As Shapeways CEO Pete Weijmarshausen puts it, “always push for yes!”
About the Author:
Jenna Cruz has been in the writing business for a few years now and she is currently creating articles for Regus, a multinational company with branches in the Philippines to cater to the office space needs of local entrepreneurs.
