This age is driven by start-ups, owing to the increased ease of doing business coupled with the skyrocketing availability of resources to ‘start something of one’s own’, individuals are hoping on their journeys to build start-ups on a host of different ideas.
As per the report by startupindia.gov, India stands on rank 3 as the largest startup ecosystem in the world, it has also highlighted that each day 2-3 tech startups are born in the country.
A start-up is the early phase of any business/entrepreneur towards becoming a bigger economic model. Building one’s own brand might look like a very cool or lucrative idea but not all these startups are successful, in fact a jarring 9 out of 10 startups fail in the long run across the globe simply because of some factors that most businesses are not able to estimate wisely, and even if they do, they lag on the execution part of it.
Having founded a media company that was bootstrapped right in the middle of the pandemic called Teamology Softech and Media Services Pvt Ltd, I along with my co-founding partner have faced some testing times before our venture picked up.
Everyone wants to spend less time worrying about those early falls and more on attracting better customers, partners, employees and also investors, having founded two startups that have seen the light of the day, we bring to you our time tested rituals that we bet can lead you to driving a successful startup months into incepting it.
Each startup is certainly unique in its ideation but we have been able to discuss below those parameters which have been rigorously deployed by us in our bootstrapped ventures and have made them perform decently despite being born at unconventional timings and concepts, some of our key takeaways from the same are –
- Measure Everything – Have you ever taken a dive in the waters without being familiar with the water level and being devoid of the gears that one must wear when they are a beginner? You might think, obviously no, who does that ? Correct! With the same analogy, you wouldn’t want to dive into risking all your time, money and efforts at building your own startup, hiring people, investing your hard earned money and time into it, only to know that it will drown you.
Therefore, in any new ecosystem that you dive in, it is very important to make a thorough analysis of your current gears and what it needs to be on the other side of the pool. No matter which industry you are looking to build your startup in, a complete SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, threat) analysis coupled with robust know-how of your existing arms and ammunition for the related field is 100 percent necessary.
It took months of deliberations, observations and many plans to finally figure out if incepting a media company in the eastern state of West Bengal in India would be an idea that would prove to be profitable in the long run.
Whereas it is completely okay to not begin earning profits in the starting few months (maybe some years) of building your startup but it should definitely be able to cover all your costs.
- Finding a (compatible) team – Some people begin their startups from their very homes, which is a decent idea to begin with but even if your team consists of your siblings, you must make sure that they are equipped with the both the information (experience is much better) and the passion (more important) to handle a baby that might toss on any side of the bed.
A start-up is the responsibility of not only the owner but the drive of its team in following goals leads it to becoming a unicorn. You must be 120 % motivated to pump up the people around you because there will be irregularities more than usual when you are starting out, that doesn’t mean that you don’t need to give up, staying put is key when you don’t know where to head.
- Let the world know about your existence – This is certainly one of the most important aspects of leading your startup, let’s suppose you have a great idea and a great team and some great products/services to offer but no one knows about you and your brand, will you be able to make it through?
Obviously NO! No matter if you have an insanely good business model but if you don’t promote it enough, you would never be able to grow, let alone be profitable. Thankfully, me and my co-founder Badshah Ansari, both being digital marketers, had the required knowledge to get our company the much needed exposure for being accepted amongst our target audience.
Branding and promotions have revoluntiarised in today’s age and the best part is that it gets you returns many times of what you invest into it. We have ourselves seen an unprecedented rise in the reach, customers and value of several micro and small startups post working on their PR and Branding.
This strategy is much cheaper and long lasting than expensive ads and it can do wonders for establishing brand value and giving a startup the required audience that it is looking for.