When just about everything demands your attention, how do you know where to focus your attention?
There is no doubt that, as the founder of an early-stage startup, you’ll wear multiple hats. This may make you feel disgruntled and overwhelmed at times, however, truly understanding each and every area of your business increases your chances of future success.
Let’s take a look at six critical success factors for early-stage startups, courtesy of Global Resources experts.
Your Founders
Eliminate the potential for founder in-fighting, which can ruin a startup, by choosing the right people and planning to succeed together.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how many founders a business has, there is never a time when it makes sense to skip the creation of a solid business plan.
Each founder should be involved in the intricate details of the business from day one. This ensures that he or she is comfortable with each and every aspect of the business plan, including the direction the company is moving.
Your Growth Strategy
This comes down to one simple fact: feeding your business will help it to grow. A business that is starving will eventually die out, some more quickly than others.
While your business, at times, may feel like your personal bank, you need to sit down and consider whether or not you’re truly feeding your business the way you should be. You may soon realize that paying yourself a lower salary and reinvesting in your business was the best way to accelerate growth.
Your Product
Sure, your product may be perfect. Having said that, this doesn’t mean that others will feel the same way as you. If you are too eager to launch, it could turn around and bite you in the back soon enough.
Rather than launching too early, take time to perfect your product while shutting out the prying eyes of the media before spreading the word.
Your Attitude
As you know, you are in total control of your attitude. If you have a bad attitude, well, it’s on you.
Sure, there will be times when you doubt your approach. There will also be times when you are unsure of which steps to take next.
Keep your doubts to yourself and move forward With a positive attitude, the sky’s the limit. With a negative outlook, you are holding yourself and your business back.
Your Funding Strategy
There will come a time when you’ll need to raise money for your startup:
When that time comes…
- Get to know potential funders before you ask for money.
- Build relationships with those who show interest.
There are thousands of venture capitalists and angel investors out there who are into early stage investment, some of whom are a better fit than others for your startup. Get to know who’s who too quickly to find the right funders.
