Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. All businesses initially go through the ‘startup’ phase. If you have the training and experience, the steps to this are obvious. If it’s your first time, you may need some guidance. The following contributed post is thus entitled, What Do You Need For A Successful Startup.
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Starting a business requires you to have certain things in place to give yourself the best chance at success. Without these things, you could be in the 97% of startups that fail every year. We know that you don’t want that, so you are going to have to ensure that you have got everything on the list we are about to give you to avoid this from happening. You might think that you already have everything you need, and if that’s true then great, you’re good to go. But, we suggest that you read this article first, and make sure that you have thought of everything that we have.
An Awesome Website
The first thing that you are going to need is an awesome website. If you don’t have one of these, you are going to have a high bounce rate meaning that people are going to click onto your website, and then click straight back off. You need to have content that grabs peoples attention, you need to have images and videos to engage with them, and perhaps most importantly you need to have a great web design. You can hire a professional to take care of this for you, and we would highly recommend that you do as they know what clients are looking for.
By doing this, you are giving your business the best possible chance of success by ensuring that you have a website that is easy to use. Your clients aren’t going to spend more than two minutes trying to figure out how to work your site, so you need to ensure that they can do this in one.
Money, Money, Money
People say that you can start a company with next to no money, and while this is true, it is only going to make your challenge all the more difficult. You may also have heard those same people say you need to spend money to make money, and this is also true. It is possible to do it both ways, but one gives you a better chance. Yout business is going to have an easier time if you have the money to invest in it. You need resources, employees, and so on which don’t grow on trees.
If you are struggling to find the money yourself, you could always take your business idea to a tradeshow. Here you will find investors and other companies like yours who are looking for something new to try out. So, if you can get the attention of an investor, or a bigger company here, they may be able to help you fund your startup.
A USP
USP stands for unique selling point. While you might think that you are offering your customers something they need, other companies on the market are going to be offering the same thing. What you need to do is find something that you can offer that nobody else can. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it is going to appeal to your customer base. People like to go to a business that knows who they are, and what they can do for their clients. By establishing a USP for your business, you are doing just that. Ensure that you market this effectively to get the best results when you enter the market.
Marketing Strategy
The final thing that you are going to need is a marketing strategy. Without one of these, your business is doomed to fail before you have even started. If you don’t know anything about marketing, then you are going to need to hire a team to take care of this for you. It might be a little pricey for you in the beginning, but if you have no prior knowledge of how to market effectively, you are going to have to take this chance and run with it.
You should make sure that your company is going to be utilizing all of the main marketing strategies both online and offline. Getting your content to be a little different from the current trend in your industry is more likely to make you stand out to prospective clients. The marketing is all about targeting your customer, and telling them why they need you, so keep this in mind when you are strategizing.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now know some of the things that you are going to need for a successful startup. Following this advice will help you to hit the ground running as soon as your business is ready to launch, good luck!
