With a new year on the horizon, successful startup companies will be regrouping from past failures and capitalizing on any successes the previous year may have brought. The companies who don’t, may not make it to another new year.
Aside from looking back on past successes and failures, what other strategies can a startup company implement early in the year to secure greater success in the future? Find your answers in the tips for startups below.
Focus on Branding
Having a purposeful brand image that really ties in well with the product and desired audience of your company makes a difference in the effectiveness of marketing. By updating brands to fall in line with the expectations of the new year, startups eliminate the risk of falling behind or completely off the map.
Making sure that the company is still using relevant marketing tactics to promote also plays into this step. As time goes on, traditional lines of advertisement like TV and radio fade in effectiveness. Therefore, with social media being slated to reign supreme in 2017, online image and presence should be the object of review for any startup company.
Even if Sales are Good, Find Room for Improvement
For a startup company, enough should never be enough. This holds true even at times of significant success or stability. Without reaching for the limits of performance, profitability, and productivity, a startup can easily come face to face with stagnation. To avoid this grim fate, funnels must be restructured and the sales process regularly overhauled.
The saying may go, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but in business, innovation is the key to long-term success.
Focus on Scaling
Without growth, a company again faces the risk of stagnation or possibly decline. Scaling up may be hard, but it is a necessary step to avoid being forced to scale down. This begs the question: How can the average startup company take steps to encourage scaling of the organization this new year?
- Determine whether there is any new need for investors.
- Automate as many functions within the company as possible.
- Polish the business model as necessary.
- Measure the data, understand the statistical likelihood of successful growth and act on it.
- Ensure that the startup is continuously improving every process.
- Take action
By implementing these steps when possible, any startup should be able to find the growth that will push their company to the next level in this upcoming year.
Seek Advice and Criticism from Mentors
The best way to find the solution to a problem without actually experiencing it first hand is by speaking to someone who has experienced it. The last thing a startup CEO should do is discard criticism from peers and mentors.
Every conversation should hold some value and can provide insight into the problems the company may currently be facing or have on the horizon. Mentors are also key players in scaling a startup. To lessen the risk of a misstep during crucial moments, leverage the knowledge of successful mentors to find the most lucrative steps.
Constantly Ask, “Why Not?”.
When a startup faces obstacles, there are two options: walk towards it or run in the other direction. By constantly asking why not, the reasons not to take action and the reasons to take immediate action can be clearly outlined.
With clearly fleshed out reasons, CEO and staff alike will have no reason to ignore an opportunity to find a solution to problematic situations. For instance, any company at any level faces risks that can either increase the bottom line or end up very costly. Accurately determining which risks are safe to take is essential for the leader of a startup looking to grow. So ask why not as often as possible. There will be a noticeable difference in the strategic decision-making process.
Test Products with a Beta Platform
By performing beta tests in the new year, startups can get a grasp on what the expectations are from their audience coming into the new year. This information is valuable alone, but beta tests will also root out any bugs or issues in the product and provide ideas for future business innovations.
Testing is an essential step for any product release and provides vital information for use in marketing strategies. To ensure that they are competitive, startups must take advantage of the new year by implementing a beta platform program for testing.
Build Relationships
While it is important that a company stay focused on reaching goals, it is equally important that a startup remains relevant within its industry. By reaching out to clients, peers, and competitors a startup can stay actively engaged in the marketplace.
Communication with past, current, and potential customers is necessary to drive referrals and establish footholds in the market. In today’s competitive marketplaces, knowing the landscape is absolutely necessary for attaining long-term success.
Great points. It's important to note that no matter how fantastic your product is, you won’t have any customers if they don't know about you. For me, the tough part was figuring out how to attract my first customers with a very limited budget. You've got to have a lot of patience and determination.