Everyone hears the stories. Apple was started in a garage. Musk slept in a rented office space while he was creating PayPal with his brother. Facebook was coded by a college student. But what are the underlying common ingredients? What makes a startup able to go the distance? Things have to go right obviously. But what? The right people? Is it the right idea? Right time? Right investment? Short answer, yes. Presented here are some of the top reasons why startups succeed. And, how you can make your startup succeed too.
1. The Right Investment – Capital
Capital. At the end of it all, this can take your startup from dead on the ground to flying with the best of the best. Finding the right funding for your business is in essence what the business is. While this can get into a gray area of what a company is estimated at versus what its actual grand-scale transactional value establishes, these two are indubitably tied.
The estimation comes in for amazing startups looking to garner capital through investors. These investors will assess the company, and the team, then look at the market and so on before deciding whether or not to pump money into the startup.
Conversely, a different way that is not mutually exclusive, is to run the business. Keeping the startup private but scaling it appropriately to get the proper capital coming through the margins. Often then, reinvesting it back into the work and company itself.
Regardless of method or speed of acquisition, having money is a surefire way to get the tools and talent you need to keep the business striving for sustainability.
2. The Right People – Talent
The right talent is key when putting together a startup. In the early stages of the company, this is the only thing you have. One part idea, one part team. The talent you have accessible is key on several fronts to a company’s success:
Craft
Technically-versed employees in your industry make much of the work easier. For a startup there simply isn’t the established bulk to foster individuals who are unable to net benefit the company. Having a talent that can carry their own on the technical aspect helps dig the startup out of many potential holes that may appear on the business end along the way.
Network
The right people will have connections to other people that could be right. Not only in building an effective, skilled team, but also to people in the market who can offer advice. Occasionally the network could include access to chief investors who may be looking for a company like yours to help build.
Experience
One of the hidden aspects of a team is market experience. Not just experience with the tangibilities of the craft. But the experience with the industry. Having individuals who know what to expect and the proper areas to watch and exploit can help guide a fledgling team out of potentially cataclysmic decisions.
Culture
Beyond all the aspects that deal with business and production, your starting team will by proxy decide much of the trajectory for the brand and energy that surrounds the startup. This comes in two parts. The first is finding the right entrepreneurial and stamina-bracing mindsets to push the company through to success. However, it also deals with the long-term environment of the company should the startup succeed. Think about the tone of the workplace environment. It is likely that the people that take place in the company’s early days will go on to become the directors responsible for building the next teams and further on down the line.
3. The Right Idea – The Vision
This comes down to: can your idea compete in the market? Has it been done? Can it be done better? What’s comparable within the aspects of the market share? Knowing the current position of all of your competitors and your stance within them will let you know exactly what the startup company is getting into.
Is there something unique about your company? Is there a way to get things done more effectively? Or is this startup truly something novel? The questions here are highly industry-based. Having great advisors and incredible thinkers within the industry can help leaps and bounds here. Just as important is the idea and the scalability of it. Unless you are generating new business you will be taking it from another company.
Timing Is Everything
Additionally, understanding the timing of the industry. This can be with regard to trends but also play out with any new technology that comes out. Both Apple and Tesla have made huge leaps and bounds with their respective technology. Apple by their approach to a concept, and Tesla by pushing the industry forward with new distinguishing functionalities.
Keep in mind, however, this does not have to be in Science or Technology. The way you cook a burger or prepare a building’s foundation could be a novel approach new to an industry. Even how you actually conduct the business itself could be defining. One last aspect that should not go without mentioning is the belief in the vision and the willingness to push through to completion or indisputable failure.
Consider ideas like this when wondering why a startup succeeds. Not only is it huge massive ideas, recruiting experts, or landing huge investors. While these are all parts, knowing your positioning, having a refreshing idea and even understanding the scale – ok that’s obvious, can all be huge leaps in making your startup succeed.
