Not everyone wants to work as an employee and give his/her 100% in scaling someone else’s business. To be your own boss and follow your passion have been the key driving factors that have led to the rise of startup culture. While startup culture has become so popular, not all startups succeed. 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years of starting.
From recognizing a business idea to arranging finances for your startup, it needs a well-planned strategy to keep a startup running efficiently. Here we will be discussing in detail all about how to set up a startup and drive it to success:
The first step towards setting up a successful startup is to have a business idea that aligns well with your knowledge and passion. While many have an idea, not all are bold enough to take a step forward. So, apart from having an idea, what’s even more important is the courage to take the risk.
Once you know what you are best at, it's time to study the market trends and gain industry knowledge. One of the ways to get started is by attending workshops on entrepreneurship and other industry related conferences where you can meet like minded people and learn from their experience. Before entering into the market it is very crucial to know what your aims are, who are your competitors, who will be your audience,etc.
‘Cash is king’ and of the utmost importance to set up a business as well as grow it. Without a capital one can’t possibly start a business. Here are a few common ways to arrange finances for your startup idea:
Self-funding which is also referred to as bootstrapping means that you get your business self-financed either from your savings, borrow from family, friends or other close people.
Angel Investors are individuals that offer financial support to businesses(mainly startups), during the starting phase of the business when other investors aren’t ready to fund your idea.
These are firms that invest other people’s money into businesses that they seem to have a potential to grow.
A working capital loan is a short-term loan taken from a bank to fund a business’ daily operational needs like employee payroll, company rent, etc.
Hiring a dedicated team where each member’s goals and ideas aligns with your business ideas is a top priority when looking for potential employees. Every successful startup has one thing in common i,e., that they all have dedicated and smart employees who are working hard each day to grow both personally and professionally.
In today’s digital world, every business and specially startups need a website to announce their online presence. Building an online presence is very crucial as it lets the netizens know all about your business.
Once you have a business website, the next thing that is required is to optimize it for the search engine which is also known as Search Engine Optimization(SEO). SEO helps a website in ranking for specific keywords on the search engine thereby increasing the online traffic. Other ways to market your business are running Ads, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing and content marketing.
Once you are done with the basics of setting a startup, it’s important to build a long-term strategy for your startup that aligns with your goals and objectives. This long-term planning involves financial management, cash-flow management, risk management and business growth planning.
Remember getting started is important but what’s even more important is to keep the business running efficiently.
So here were the basics of getting started with your startup. It may sound a bit difficult but once you have decided to follow your passion, things will eventually get easier as you learn from experience.