What Makes or Breaks a Startup?

Startups are proving that there’s always room for innovation in the market. There are ideas that can become a harbinger of success for entrepreneurs, provided that they have the resources, the funding, the drive and the persistence to see through it.

A majority of startups fail in today’s economic and social climate (90% failure rate in 2014 alone). However, most entrepreneurs take these failures and learn from their mistakes, emerging stronger with their next entrepreneurial project.

The point is that it takes a lot to hack it out there as a startup. Unique problems require some out-of-the-box problem solving skills that no armchair consultant or businessmen can help you resolve. We can say that entrepreneurs need to learn lessons on the fly and not after the event. Startups are supposed to be disruptive and revolutionary and that means they got to be on their toes all the time.

There are however some pretty crucial things that can make all the difference between your startup becoming the next Uber or tanking like Friendster. Let’s take a look at those reasons:

Strike the Perfect Balance between Product, Business & Marketing

Oftentimes, startups get into catch-22 situation. They inevitably find themselves playing trapeze between engineering products, business goals or marketing push. Just look at the two-man duo that was Apple Inc. One Steve was the sales and marketing maven and the other Steve was the engineering guru, a winning formula. Wozniack made the products and Jobs took care of the sales and marketing aspect in perfect sync.

What this means for startups is that if you focus on one part of the process for too long, you risk failure before you even make it to the market.

Ideas are aplenty but its all about the execution

Make no mistake, ideas come and ideas go. It’s the ‘translating idea to reality’ part that’s the real kicker for a startup. 90% of startups fail because they don’t work on executing their idea.

Ideas can get entrepreneurs fired up, yet it is also important to back up on them with a sustainable business model. What you need is to set some clear-cut short-term and long-term goals for your company and get everyone on the program. You need dedication and ownership from all your team members in order to build a vision for your company and work towards a living, breathing product or service.

Location matters a LOT

Your startup is here to change the world right? And what better way to start than to be aware of your surroundings. Your superhero headquarters.. we mean business location can benefit immensely if it lays down its roots in the right place.

A startup needs to be in an optimum place where it is connected with all stakeholders and attract the right talent for your fledgling concern. It also helps you build your business faster. Catching the eye of incubators is also easier if you are situated at a good location, therefore resulting in ready access to capital and other resources.

You know what they say about customers, right?

All business (and non-business) students know it that the customer is always right. At their heart, successful businesses are those who strike a good rapport with their customers.

No amount of great product design is important if its backed up by shoddy customer support. People need brands they can trust and rely on. Brands that offer more value even after they’ve been purchased. If your customers see you working for their benefit by rolling out new features, content, etc., then that’s how you’ll get loyal customers for life.

Hire the most versatile people in the business

And by versatile we don’t mean people who are the jack of all trades but those who are committed to your vision and endgame. By versatile we mean human resources who can assume the role of leader and follower as the situation demands. This is why it is important to hire people who believe in the dream as much as you do; ones who will do everything to make it real and tangible.

Samir is the Head of Entertainment at Lens by ProPakistani. You can reach out to him at samir.ya...



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