Do you know what it actually takes to become a successful startup founder? Do you have plans to start your own startup one day? Today, in this article, I will try to unveil some pointers which can help a startup idea survive. I have a mixed experience of failed and successful startups, as I had a startup which failed and another which is still up and growing. I opened a startup in late 2013 called dataNcode which was shut down just after 3.5 months. I started SSChelp in early 2015. SSChelp is now one of the most used websites for Hindi medium graduate students who are preparing for government services in India. So, I will try to give you an important insight which might be of help if you are thinking of joining the club of successful entrepreneurs.
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Tip 1: Think, think & think again about your idea.
In the current scenario, the situation is that either people do not think about starting up at all or people do not think much before starting a startup. I can bet if you have given spme thought to your startup idea before bringing it to life in the market, then you at least won't fall that badly if it fails by any chance because you would have a little better idea of where things might go wrong. I know that a few scenarios might just come up at runtime. Let me give an analogy as a coder, if we have given a thought to what all types of exceptions can occur in our code at runtime then we can write specific catch statements in our try catch block which ensures proper handling of some of runtime issues our program execution might face. It does not guarantee us that all the cases will be properly given the right execution plan but pre-planning and pre-visualization helps us in writing a good program. Similarly if we can think over our startup idea it helps us in bringing a little better approach and sometimes we get to know very early whether this idea is worth it or not. So do think, think & think over your idea before starting the startup journey.
Tip 2: Check whether you have enough money or a concrete plan which can get money for you startup.
Sometimes when we start planing for a startup, we are not clear with a financial roadmap for our startup. Let me tell you money actually matters. It depends basically on the idea how much money is needed for its beginning, but we must analyze this beforehand, like how much money will be needed for this startup at least to run it for a year or two. There can be any sort of situations in the begining, like for the initial months you might not have any customers. So we must make sure that we have enough money to fund our regular organizational needs and money to fund our team members.
Tip 3: Assess the market even before you follow the tip to Think, Think, Think.
Sometimes startups have been launched which were needed in the market. In those cases your idea does not even get any recognition.
There can be a saturation in the market for a particular business. It might be the case that people are already happy with the current available options.
Might be the thing you want to start is having a strong competition in terms of your competition is having a similar idea and they have more money. Maybe you are starting at the wrong place. Geography also matters a lot. In all such cases your entry into the market and exit from the market will be very fast.
You will have to pack your bags even before you actually opened them fully. For example, If you start an startup of a carpool business in a locality of billionaires then would it work? The chances aren't great, because people in such a locality would have multiple cars and they won't like to share them. So you must verify whether the idea is needed in that market or not.
Tip 4: Do you have the right team of people?
I have a seen a startup fail because of an unbalance in the mix of team experience. There was a startup of someone I know (I cannot name it here) but it broke apart just because the cofounders were not supportive to each other. I had a chance to listen to their idea. It was sustainable and the need was there for such a thing in the market. But that team could not start it. So the group that launches the startup and lays the foundation really matters. Startups only survive if we have a good mix of talent with the correct attitude towards doing things. It is good to have a mix of technical and management experience in your team. Have good people around.
Tip 5: Be passionate about your idea
If you have got an idea to have a startup, and you've thought about it and realized that you can do it, and you have all other things to bring this startup to fruition, but you have no passion, then you will not be on the road for too long. I myself faced this once.When I was in the process of starting SSChelp, I was working on this market analysis where internally I was positive about it but there were a few people around saying there is so much competition and this idea won't survive. It is the passion that comes into play which keeps you going. Startups are never a smooth and straight road. You will face all kind of situations in your journey before it actually gets the first successful milestone. Passion always plays an important role in your entrepreneurial journey.
Conclusion
There are a lot more factors and tips but they all change a little bit based on your idea. I discussed five generic tips which almost apply to all situations. I believe in going step by step, so I do not want to make this article too long by going into too much detail. I believe if you want to start a startup just think about it. If after reading this article you find that you have thought about all this and related aspects to your idea then you are good to go. In the end, I will say one more thing. Don't overthink and dont underthink -- just go the middle route. Think in a balanced manner with an open mind and logical thinking and come to the decision.
Comment below if you have more tips. I will go through each of them and will try to include them in my next articles. Also if it gave you an insight then do like & share the article.