Category: Startups

These 5 Factors Ensure the Success of a Start-up

Start-ups have been the trend for a while now and will continue being so in the future as well. While the idea of starting your own business and being your boss sounds exciting, ensuring the success of a start-up involves consistent effort and persistence. Multiple factors determine the success of a start-up and the same was explained extremely well in a TED talk by Bill Gross. Gross has been a founder of multiple start-ups and incubated many of them. He was curious about how some companies could make it while some could not. He used his connections and experience with start-ups, gathered data and ranked the companies based on these following five factors: 

1. Timing of the Start-up 

According to his research, timing is the biggest factor that determines the success of a start-up. It might be a common conception that the idea or the execution could be the biggest factor, but it is not. Here’s the theory, no matter how great an idea you have or a company you build, your potential customers and the world must be ready to accept your product/service. They need to connect the solution you provide to the need they have. Sometimes, an idea could be too early for which the world needs to acclimatize. Other times, it could be too late when there are already too many similar start-ups in the market. 

2. Team and Execution 

A good team is another strong factor that determines a start-up’s success. Throughout the journey of a start-up, there will be multiple unforeseen situations. The team must be able to steer the company through them by constantly coming up with creative and effective solutions. This ability comes from the skills of the members and their passion for making the start-up succeed. 

3. Idea

This is the one factor that most amateur entrepreneurs think is more important. Yes, an idea is a starting point for sure as, without it, there won’t be any company. But the success lies much beyond that in the hands of the customer and the team executing it. Coming to ideas, they need to solve something for the user. Most importantly, the user must know that they have a need and they need a solution to fulfil the same. This makes ideas more effective and is the first step to success. 

4. Business Model 

The business model is vital but there have been many instances where a start-up has survived despite it. But as the demand for your product/service increases, it is essential to plan how to consistently make money from it and how to grow it in the short and the long term. That is done through a business model. Also, a business model is an important document required to procure funding for your start-up. 

5. Funding 

If your start-up has the potential in terms of its idea and has timed well in the market backed by skilled and passionate team members, it might not be very hard to procure funding. Some ideas are of the nature that they need funding to grow in the long – term. Funding can come in multiple stages of the company starting from the seed stage until the IPO. Once your product has the demand in the market, get started with looking for potential investors and venture capitalists. 

No matter what field or domain the start-up belongs to, these are the fundamental factors that determine its success. Come up with an idea that solves some real problems in the world, but more importantly, the time it well and have a great team in place.

How to Better the Performance of your Staff

The success of your company will significantly depend on how well your employees are doing their job. Knowing how to maximise the potential that your employees have can be hard. Before trying to find solutions as to why your staff isn’t performing, you need to understand why your team are underperforming in the first place.

Why does staff underperform?

Start by gaining an understanding. There will be reasons why the staff are not performing at their best. Some reasons will hold the cues for fixing the problem without recruiting replacements. You need to have an open mind and ensure you don’t jump to conclusions. Ensure that the door for communications stays open so concerns can be addressed in person.

For example, you may notice that the attendance record shows excessive tardiness in an employee. Here is where you can gently ask why they have turned up late to work during the period.

Your objective now is to find a solution. The cause might be domestic in nature or personal, and this is where you can adjust the regular duties and standards while the employee works through the problem. Tell your employees there is an ongoing issue without giving details. This will ensure your team doesn’t see favouritism and understand why that employee might be getting it easier than they are at the current time.

Inadequate Capabilities

For some staff, lacking experience and skills can inhibit the ability of the employees to get the job done right. If a factor is missing, then the chances of employees underperforming are expected. To fix these inadequate capabilities you can implement further team development to the employees that you think might need it.

Unclear accountabilities

Employees need clear and straightforward directions about their job roles and the expectations for achievement. Work schedules that include the priorities can get bumped via a change in direction or from a crisis. Keeping the accountabilities simple and clear will help to lower the conflict.

Communicate clear expectations

Make sure that the staff have a clear understanding of their work assignments and also ensure you are communicating those expectations. Ensure you are continuing to manage what is expected through regular communication. If your employees can explain the objectives in their own words, then there is a good chance they know how to get the job done.

Make sure performance appraisals are constant

Timely and regular assessments help employees know where they are standing.  Do performance appraisals often which will keep everyone up to date with their daily tasks and ensure that you have a continuous high-performance team working for you.

Take steps to improve morale

It is no secret that staff do perform better when they are satisfied with their job. Ensure you are checking over things like:

  • Salary level
  • Benefits
  • Work environment
  • Employee understanding of the vision and the mission

Empower employees 

Empowering the staff can be done in various forms like giving them the authority to make individual decisions that are going to impact their success positively. Whether it means giving them input on the objectives and their goals or giving them access to their data without needing to go to HR. They are now being held accountable without being micromanaged.

Utilising the right technologies

You can implement different technology platforms that can drive their performance and engagement. The use of technology is crucial in the workforce now.

Your online staff will still be part of the work team via communication channels like email, conferences, and video chats that aid in keeping everyone on the same page. Create times that are specifically for discussions and meetings. Don’t wait until the performance appraisal day to talk about some regions of worry.

And most importantly, don’t wait until the company faces losses as this is the worse time to take action. Start early at the first sign of an issue to find the best solution to change the underperforming staff into a reliable team.

5 Keys to Starting a New Business!

A key of starting a new company is doing things in a means which makes the most sense to you personally, but a little advice can help also. Consider these hints for starting your own Business and integrate them as required:

1. Understanding your strength and limitations

Every small business owner has particular skills, knowledge and expertise that provide them with an edge when it is time to develop a company and begin working. But, no small business owner is so proficient they could be a specialist in each and every process linked to creating a new business.

As you are going to need to put on a good deal of different hats, particularly during the company’s earliest stages, do not put too much burden on your self for too long or anticipate to dive right into an extremely complicated task without any previous training.

Do not be fearful when understanding how to manage new responsibilities and workloads — it is basically a requirement for developing small businesses. Additionally, you should not shy away from working together with business partners, relatives, workers or experts in Business leadership coaching to deal with big requirements and ensure crucial concerns are managed successfully.

2. Begin with a simple business strategy and expand it as needed

Among the first things that you ought to do as a company owner is to develop a company program. It is imperative that you create this critical record to maneuver future job and hold yourself accountable, but it’s also very important not to go too comprehensive during the first phases of developing your own concept.

As work progresses along with your thought moving nearer to real situations, you can enlarge your business program. As time passes, include more precise estimates, actual expenses, longer-reaching projections, mission statement, business summary and other components commonly seen in entirely developed records.

3. Concentrate on something that you have a fire for

Using a passion for something does not necessarily mean it is your all-time preferred action or type of company. It will help to ensure that you won’t quickly grow tired of conducting that sort of company, which portions of it appeal to you personally and, ideally, you may use some mix of current knowledge or skills associated with parts or all the operation to your benefit.

Locating a present requirement and targeting it is a significant element of establishing a successful business, whether it’s providing accounting services to other businesses or establishing a bakery. Combining that need with something which peeks interests and inspires one can result in significant development and rewards.

This bit of information is comparatively simple and predominately useful when determining which sort of company to begin rather than getting a particular concept off the floor. Concentrate on your fire early on and set it with a solid business plan to provide the best chance of creating a lasting and popular business.

4. Know your target clients and present market

It is possible to come up with a superb business concept and conduct it in the wrong location. That is why it’s important to comprehend the space where you would like to begin your small business in addition to your target clients. An idea that may work out quite nicely in a large, densely populated region simply may not obtain the total amount of foot traffic or number of clients it requires within a place with fewer citizens.

Assessing the market for your services or products, looking for the existence of possible opponents and conducting an appraisal of how your company will hypothetically perform can move your thought in the ideal direction.

It is also possible to look to rivals and similar companies for suggestions and advice, but indirectly. Seeing their shops, taking a look at their sites and advertising materials along with other intelligence-gathering initiatives are able to allow you to fill in bits of this mystery.

5. Do not be afraid to Request Support

Even if a company is on the ideal path, sudden issues and opportunities for expansion and advancement could easily pop up. Taking on these issues is essential for the potential growth and longevity of a company. As a small company starter, there is no reason to feel fearful towards reaching out for help. Contact a specialist in Mindset coaching for small business owners for advice on company matters and issues faced.