Top 6 startup risks to avoid
Startup Risks – the newly evolving and trending thing of the current generation. What is a startup? And what is the difference between the startup and business in the very first place?
People think startups mean business well won’t deny it is not that but, startups are basically and literally the start of the organization, the initial phase before setting up their business models and turning into a kind of sustainable fully functional, and working business.
The intention of the start of any kind of business is solely focused on making or providing a good experience to the consumers to identify the problems they face. So, during this process, there are several things that startups learn and grow.
However, the startup founders should keep in mind certain key points to leverage their results and avoid the risks. Some signs make you aware to take actions to avoid some foreseen risks, which I would discuss in this blog and are as follows:
Check – TIPS FOR RISK MANAGEMENT IN STARTUPS.
You don’t know your target audience (know the areas of the problem):
The whole venture relies on what problem statement is resolved and knows that the first step is to know who are targeted with these problems to cater to the needs of the targeted audience.
The startup thrives on the response of the target audience if you do not the specific target audience how are you supposedly going to grow? You need to keep up with your social media presence, get to know constant feedback from the target audience.
If you do not know the exact set of audience you are targeting with your service or product you are at a risky place and should very quickly try to get to know it and work on the feedback generated by them.
You don’t know what your consumers/clients/customers want:
Even after knowing your target audience, if you don’t exactly know what they want and how your product or service is going to help them then you are soon going to hit rock bottom.
The process of getting to know what the consumer of your product or service demands can be a little difficult at times but you have to stick to it in order to thrive and succeed.
The gap between what you are offering and what customer or consumer needs is exactly what decides the growth of the startup. All the strategies of making the startup grow must be applied here.
Check – Survival Tips for Startups after Pandemic.
You aren’t in constant touch with the market.
Even the brightest idea fails if they do not align with the constant updates of the market. If your startup does not evolve with time, with the market the startup will soon fail miserably. Your startup grows when it adapts to the market forces.
The market can be very unpredictable, fast-paced, and sometimes extremely frustrating to deal with but you need to strike your middle ground for your startup to sustain. You need to look out and be in constant touch with the market and your competitors.
You don’t adapt fast to the market.
If you do not adapt to the changes and take actions accordingly on time there are high chances of failure because as the saying goes “If you don’t work on your dream someone else will”, it’s a competitive world, and the only way out is to evolve and adapt with time if you don’t your competitors will, so better buckle up.
Take actions and decisions very wisely at the right time. If you are slow or delay in taking action, there are higher chances of risk and your startup to cease. The quote “better late than never” DOES NOT work in startups. You need to make smarter decisions at the right time.
You do not have a mentor or you aren’t listening to your mentor and your team:
Without a blink of an eye, I can say that any kind of business is teamwork, it does not matter if it’s a small business, handled by solopreneurs. Business revolves around people.
They are led by people for the betterment of people so without a doubt, you need to have a rock-solid team and have extremely good relationships with them and within them.
The communication between you and your team must be extremely transparent and your first priority must always be to be in touch with them and listen to them, if they have any concerns, ideas, or anything you should listen and act accordingly.
If any kind of dispute here the startup will be hugely affected, it affects your brand name and also other things.
Secondly, the major investment personally and professionally is to have a mentor. You do not necessarily have only one mentor because there is no ‘one size fits all here.
You can have various mentors to guide you about various departments, the one in which they have their expertise and experience, so always have a strong professional network and listen to them however harsh it might sound at times, mentor’s words come out of depth and plethora of knowledge they have with the years of experience they have.
Check – TOP 8 HIRING TALENT SKILLS FOR STARTUPS.
You are not managing or generating revenue: Most Important Startup Risks
One of the major reasons for most startups to fail. It is very understandable for your startups to face immense issues in generating revenue in the first year of setting up, it is difficult but you cannot and should not stop focusing on this aspect.
This is the main aim of your startup and one which will keep your startup afloat. If you are not generating revenue your startup ceases sooner than you think, you won’t be able to sustain or fulfill the targets you have set.
It reduces your credibility in the market and the worst case is your startup ending with mounts of debt which is extremely bad. So, you must make it a point to generate recurring revenue as well as always keep a focus on it to maintain the same.
These were some of the most common yet very powerful risks that must be taken care of to not let your startup fail. If you wisely balance out with the above-mentioned points you will most likely not end up with a failed startup.
However, it might seem easier said than done. Believe me, all businesses start with one thing which determines their fate from time to time and that is the’ ATTITUDE’.
Fix your attitude and the rest will follow, leaving you with a positive quote by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon “ We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.”, with hope this article helps you and your venture succeed and keeps on flourishing and reaching higher heights. Good luck!
