8 Tips for turning a bright idea into a successful startup

Ever had a lightbulb moment for a new business? It can happen anywhere, any time – while you’re at work, out for a run or in the shower. Taking your idea and turning it into something tangible can be an exciting prospect. There are probably lots of questions flying around in your head: Is my idea good enough? Will I be able to do it in my free time? Do I eventually want to work for myself? Has someone done it before etc., etc.? While you might feel like dropping everything and going for it.

Here are 6 tips that will help entrepreneurs take their startup to the next level:

1. Find out if your idea is unique

Think you’ve come up with something no one else has? Make sure you do some research to find out if you’re correct. If your idea is for a new product, you can search for patented inventions to see whether that is actually the case. Some simple desk research (Google is your friend) will also help shed some light on whether someone else has been there and done it. If you find they have – don’t be put off. Do some competitor analysis and see if you can do it better or with a different approach. Maybe a similar business exists in another country but you need the service locally. Keep note of what your competition do well and what could be improved – and voilà you’ve identified a gap for something new!

2. Do some market research

So you’ve identified something no one has done before but will anyone buy into it? It’s important that your product or service meets an identified demand or solves a problem for people. Thorough market research gives new businesses like yours the ability to make informed decisions about the way you position your products and services to consumers. A simple way to start this is by doing some desk research at the British Library.

3. Start with a well-constructed plan

Planning and strategy are key when it comes to building a startup. Having a well-constructed plan in mind before getting started can save entrepreneurs both time and money.

Before turning an idea into a product, it’s important to consider these three key elements:

• Your product’s key value proposition
• How your product will test against the marketplace
• How to build and define a roadmap for the future.

4. Know if your product is “nice-to-have” or a “must-have”

It’s common for startup founders to love their idea, but how do they know if their users will? Talking to potential customers is the only way to determine how a product will perform in the marketplace.

Entrepreneurs should define their target market and ideal users by speaking to customers, getting feedback and thinking of ways to develop a product with those users in mind. This allows startup founders to narrow their target market and fully understand their user base before building their product, a factor that can lead to a successful product launch.

5. Understand the critical features of your product early on

It’s typical for startup founders to get stuck on an idea and build it out until it’s perfect. This can be a time consuming and costly process though.

Before getting started, it’s best to understand your true Minimum Viable Product (“MVP”) to pinpoint your product’s most critical features. Building a product with your user’s needs in mind will help reduce costs by allowing entrepreneurs to make informed decisions about launching, marketing and communicating their product to the public.

6. Learn to identify problem areas in your concept and model

Being able to identify problem areas in your concept and model early on will also help founders make better-informed decisions as they move forward. For instance, rejection from investors and venture capitalists is common in the startup world. However, entrepreneurs must adopt the mindset that they can learn from their mistakes.

Listening to feedback from investors whom initially reject your ideas can help you bounce back next time. Fixing your product based on investor and user feedback is a best practice when it comes to building a successful startup.

7. Get users to love your idea and use your product

A recent survey noted that the average app loses 77 percent of its daily active users (DAUs) in the first three days. Within 30 days, the average app loses 90 percent of its DAUs.

Understanding these 5 elements will help ensure retention of your DAUs:

• How do users find you?
• Do users have a great first experience?
• Do users come back?
• How do you generate income?
• Do users tell others about your product?

8. Know Before You Go

Having a great idea, a domain name and a mobile app that you love might seem like the best way to get your startup up and running. However, having a set plan in mind will help ensure that your product is successful.
The thought of starting a business on your own can be daunting. Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance along the way. Running a business is hard work so make sure it’s something you’re passionate about and then the enjoyment of running your own business will never waver, even when times get tough.

10 Success lessons from Sam Walton – “From Rags to Riches” for entrepreneurs

Success lessons

Samuel Walton built a small grocery store into the giant Walmart supermarket chain, amassing a fortune of over $23 billion, grew up during the Great Depression. He had numerous chores to help make financial ends meet for his family as was common at the time. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers.

He took a loan to buy his first store, and thanks to simple innovations in business, he soon bought his second store. Within 3 years, his sales volume grew to $225,000. The first true Wal-Mart opened on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. The rest is history. Forbes ranked Sam Walton as the richest person in the United States from 1982 to 1988. At the time of his death in 1992, he had 1,960 Wal-Mart stores, employed 380,000 people and clocked annual sales of about $50 billion.


Here are the 10 Success lessons from Sam Walton – “From Rags to Riches” for entrepreneurs,

1. Stick to fundamental values

Sam Walton had simple values that guided him through his life and business. He didn’t follow the latest management fad, nor did he believe in any of the get-rich-quick ideas. He was solidly living his life by the values that he grew up with.
Similarly, as a leader building a team or an organization, you need to get away from all the ‘noise’ about the latest management framework, or the next idea about how leadership should be done.

2. Take care of your people

Sam Walton took extremely good care of his employees and he gave very employee a chance to become successful with him by allowing them to purchase stock options of Wal-mart at a discount. He treated them as associates of the business and wanted them to enjoy part of Wal-mart’s success.
If you can value every single employee or team member in your organization, it will help toward your personal success as well. But do it only because you genuinely care. Make them part of the organization by allowing them to share the organization’s success, be it by stock options or other forms of rewards.

3. Motivate your partners

Money and ownership alone aren’t enough. Constantly, day by day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score. Make bets with outrageous payoffs. If things get stale, cross-pollinate; have managers switch jobs with one another to stay challenged. Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don’t become too predictable.

4. Don’t follow the money, follow your passion

Sam Walton didn’t start off his variety stores with an ambition to become rich; he simply had a passion for his craft and at each point in time, he only wanted to do it better and better.
If you follow the money, you’ll be running from one business opportunity to another without any focus. But Sam Walton had one focus: retail and so should you. When you follow your passion, you’ll be successful in whatever craft you do, and you will become a leader in that field that you commit yourself to.

5. Control your expenses better than your competition

This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running – long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation’s largest retailer. You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you’re too inefficient.

6. Communicate everything

Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care. Once they care, there’s no stopping them. Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitors.

7. Treat the customer as the boss

Sam Walton was a true believer that the customer was his boss. This idea made Walton implement many services and customer friendly activities that were designed around the attitudes of small-town America.
From the greeter at the door of every Wal-Mart to the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” signs he would place on his first Wal-Mart store in 1962, Wal-Mart would distinguish itself from other retailers by maintaining the philosophy that the customer was always in charge.

8. Appreciate

Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune. A paycheck and a stock option will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we’re really proud of.

9. Embrace new technology

Before the age of the Internet and instant e-commerce, stores across America were relatively low-tech. It wasn’t until a select few entrepreneurs, including Sam Walton, decided to push the boundaries of the retail industry that new technologies began to be embraced.
He went to the IBM school in upstate New York in 1966 to find the best technology students so Wal-Mart would always be on the cutting edge. As an example, Wal-Mart became one of the first stores to develop universal bar codes and was the first retail chain to use electronic scanners as cash registers. Not only did the cash registers scan the individual items, it was networked to the inventory-control computer, so the stores would know when stock was running low and re-order was necessary.

10. Swim upstream

Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there’s a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you’re headed the wrong way.

Staying focussed as an entrepreneur

Distractions are a common phenomenon for any human being and entrepreneurs are no exception to that rule. So if at any point as an entrepreneur you feel that you are distracted, you’re not alone when it comes to distractions. It’s not easy staying on task when you need to work for hours at a time, but some people are able to do it. There’s no time to fully clock out, founders work endlessly and having to be a Jack-of-all-trades means maintaining focus can be difficult.

To help entrepreneurs get out of this situation and help them focus more we have compiled a list of  top 10 tips for refusing to succumb to distractions in order to get as much done as possible.

1. Maintain a healthy work routine

This one might sound a no-brainer, but it is much easier said then done. While we are busy making things happen on the work front, what we end up ignoring the most is our physical and mental health. A lot of mental distraction happens when we are physically and mentally tired. This fatigue can only be put to rest by developing a daily routine that involves good sleep, exercise, plenty of water, and healthy food all of which feed your brain and help keep it working at optimum levels. Hence, like your business, your life also starts with planning, so, plan out your day and evening to ensure that all of these aspects of a healthy routine are included.

2. Take power naps occasionally

Well, now that you decide to be the entrepreneur, one of the biggest perks is that you don’t have a boss sitting on your head all the time. So, it is advisable to take power naps in between your work schedule. The name power naps is for a reason and the reason is that this allows your body and mind to destress and thereby increases your productivity and cuts down distractions which you might encounter otherwise due to fatigue. Because at the end your actions are responsible for the success or failure of your company — not when you show up or leave work or how long your lunch break is.

3. Stay away from negativity

Negativity around you not only hampers your work, but also your relations. Hence, to stay focused it is very important to keep your mental energy away from negativity. Many distractions come in the form of worry or emotional imbalance created from negative people, experiences, or environments. Your mental energy will be wasted on these but it’s natural to be drawn to them mentally as you try and understand why they are happening. In the meantime, you’ve been pulled away from what you need to be doing with that mental energy. Hence, ensure you keep such negative energies out of your work and work environment. It is also advisable to practice Yoga or meditation to help you stay away from negativity.

4. Music sometimes is the mantra

Music has great healing powers and one of the biggest advantages of surrounding yourself with music is that it cuts down the other unnecessary noises and helps us get rid of distractions. You can also try out some playlists that have been specifically designed to help you focus better by cutting down distractions, one such playlist is the “Deep Focus” playlist on Spotify.

5. De-clutter your physical and digital workspaces

It’s a well established fact that clutter around you does a number on your brain and causes it to become just as cluttered mentally. However, a clean desk, computer screen, and surroundings won’t distract you. Instead, you will have a blank canvas that will help you focus on your work.  So to keep your focus on the work in hand just de-clutter your physical and Digital workspace.

6. Prioritizing your tasks

It is a good habit to prioritize your tasks both as an entrepreneur and otherwise. This gives you clarity on what needs to be kept first in your to do list. Powering through a bunch of little things before diving into something big, makes the big task go much smoother. And keyboard shortcuts – keyboard shortcuts are game changing.

7. Keep a notebook

In order to stay focussed, it is a good idea to keep a note of the tasks at hand so that you won’t miss out on anything. Keeping a note of things to do can help organise tasks and in addition to this, keeping a note of distracting thought that pops into your head helps you focus better. So, keep a notebook with you while working on the day’s projects. You can reflect on these other ideas and give them your full attention. Some of these ideas are worthwhile, maybe even brilliant while others have merit but not quite enough to engage your time and energy.

8.  Scheduling device use

The reason why our brains have become more scattered is the constant bombardment of information that we hit it with thanks to our smartphones, messaging channels, and social media platforms. When you want to focus on your work, the best thing you can do is turn that smartphone off or put on mute and tuck it away from your line of vision so you won’t wander.

9. Blocking Time

It is a great  idea to put everything on calendar, everything including meals, email, sleep. You might miss out on these on busy days, hence blocking time ensures that you don’t miss out on any of these. For bonus points, block out an hour each day for exercise.

10. Keeping time bound goals

Each week set goals for what you want to accomplish that week, so you can use it as a productivity checklist. At the end of each week, go through each bullet point, introspect about if you accomplished it and if not, why not, and based on this set the goals for the following week. It helps keep you in check and move forward.

Federal Civil Service Commission is Recruiting Now!

Available Jobs

A070203-2016 Senior Education Officer, Grade Level 10 Federal Ministry Of Education- Internal & External

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A070202-2016 Education Officer Grade I, Grade Level 09 Federal Ministry Of Education- Internal & External

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A070201-2016 Education Officer Grade II, Grade Level 08 Federal Ministry Of Education- Internal & External

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A070503-2016 Technical Instructor I, Grade Level 09 Federal Ministry Of Education- Internal & External

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A070502-2016 Technical Instructor II, Grade Level 08 Federal Ministry Of Education- Internal & External

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B190303-2016 Senior Inspector of Factories, Grade Level 10 Federal Ministry Of Labour And Employment- Internal & External

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B190302-2016 Inspector of Factories Grade I, Grade Level 09 Federal Ministry Of Labour And Employment- Internal & External

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B190503-2016 Senior Labour Officer, Grade Level 10 Federal Ministry Of Labour And Employment- Internal & External

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B190602-2016 Registrar of Cooperative Societies Grade I, Grade Level 09 Federal Ministry Of Labour And Employment- Internal & External

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B190601-2016 Registrar of Cooperative Societies Grade II, Grade Level 08 Federal Ministry Of Labour And Employment- Internal & External

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C210803-2016 Senior Statistician , Grade Level 10 Federal Ministry Of Finance- Internal & External

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C210802-2016 Statistician Grade I, Grade Level 09 Federal Ministry Of Finance- Internal & External

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C210203-2016 Higher Data Processing Officer, Grade Level 08 Federal Ministry Of Finance- Internal & External

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D090301-2016 Foreign Service Officer VIII, Grade Level 08 Federal Ministry Of Foreign Affairs- Internal & External

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E060303-2016 Senior Cultural Officer, Grade Level 10 Federal Ministry Of Information And Culture- Internal & External

 

 

follow the link below http://vacancy.fedcivilservice.gov.ng

What do you think about yourself

This touched me.

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind.

She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her.

She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.'

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her,’ Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?'

The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left her in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes.

Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Life Is a Gift

Today before you say an unkind word -

Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to ALMIGHTY GOD for a companion.

Today before you complain about life -

Think of someone who died too young.

Before you complain about your children -

Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep -

Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive

Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job -

Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another -

Remember that not one of us is without sin and we all answer to one MAKER.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down -

Put a smile on your face and thank GOD you're alive and still around.

And before you think of closing your Whatsapp messenger, Please think of sending this to as many people as you like...It might change someone's thinking towards Life.
Remain blessed.

Driver needed at world bank

Job Details

The World Bank Group is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help our client countries to reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve quality of life. To ensure that countries can access the best global expertise and help generate cutting-edge knowledge, the World Bank Group is constantly seeking to improve the way it works. Key priorities include delivering measurable results, promoting openness and transparency in development, and improving access to development information and data.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Driver

Job No.: 162041
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Grade: GA
Recruitment Type: Local Hire

Background / General Descriptions

• The World Bank, a leading multi-lateral institution in global economic development, is currently looking for a highly organized, energized and experienced person capable of operating effectively in a very demanding, fast-paced environment to serve as Driver.
• The driver will be under direct supervision of the Resource Management Officer (RMO) who has delegated responsibility for technical and professional development and performance evaluation of the Driver.
• The Driver is an integral part of the Nigeria Country Office Administrative and Logistics support team. Under the general supervision of the Country Director, the incumbent would report directly to the RMO.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 2 year term appointment.

Job Description and Accountabilities
The Incumbent’s duties include but are not limited to:

• Transport of authorized personnel to/from airports, meetings, appointments and other official duties.
• Transport authorized personnel on business travel to/from locations throughout Nigeria and surrounding countries.
• Offer logistic support to staff before, during and after meetings.
• Delivery and collection of official mails, documents and other items.
• Meeting official personnel at the airport and facilitating immigration and customs formalities and any other protocol matter.
• Responsible for day-to-day maintenance of vehicles, checking oil, water, battery, brakes, tyres and any other normal basic checks on official vehicles to ascertain their motorable and road-worthy condition.
• Perform minor repairs and arrange for other repairs.
• Ensure that vehicles are kept clean at all times and in a ready-to-go condition.
• Follow all steps required by Bank rules in case of accident or near-accident.
• Log all trips, daily mileage, fuel consumption, changing of oil, lubrication, etc.
• Ability to conduct hands-on coaching for staff and colleagues, especially on defensive driving.
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by Management or any other person acting on behalf of management.

Job Requirements

Min Required Experience:

5 year(s)

Min Qualification:

High School

Desired Courses:

Not Specified

Other Requirements:

Selection Criteria

• Secondary level education with at least 3 passes in WASCE or equivalent training.
• At least 5 years driving experience, defensive driving skills being an advantage.
• Possess a valid National driving License.
• Ability to speak and write English fluently.
• Ability to interact in the Local Language is desirable.
• Working knowledge of the City of Abuja.

FRSC not recruiting now.... Be ware!

The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, on Wednesday advised Nigerians to disregard the information that the Corps was recruiting or doing staff replacement. This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, FRSC, Abuja. The statement quoted the Corps Marshal as advising the public to be wary of the activities of fraudsters parading themselves as agents to extort money from innocent job-seekers. “Contrary to reports making rounds that the FRSC is conducting a fresh recruitment and replacement exercises, and has dispatched recruitment forms to the states for interested candidates to apply. “This is not true; so, I call on Nigerians to disregard the information that the Corps is recruiting or doing a replacement.

 “I urge you to be wary of the activities of fraudsters who are parading themselves as agents to extort money from innocent job-seekers,’’ he said. According to him, the activities of the fraudsters are being investigated by relevant authorities, and that the Corps Marshal is concerned about this worrisome development. “Hence, using this medium to clarify that FRSC is not conducting any form of recruitment or replacement exercise, and will make it public knowledge whenever such recruitment is approved by the Federal Government. “No government agency recruits without due approval; it is equally a standard practice for recruitment exercises to be advertised on radio, television, and through the print media,” he said. Oyeyemi said that proper screening was part of the procedure for recruitment or replacement, and would not be bypassed during such exercises.

According to him, when the Corps is recruiting, information on such is readily made available through the following official platforms www.frsc.gov.ng, www.fb.com/federalroadsafetycorps or @FRSCNigeria on Twitter. He said that the Corps could be reached through a toll-free line 122 or 070022553772, 08077690055 and 08077690397 for any confirmation or clarification on recruitment and other matters concerning the organisation. The corps marshal assured Nigerians that the FRSC, in collaboration with security agencies, was on the trail of these criminal elements, who were out to swindle Nigerians under the guise that the establishment was recruiting.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/not-recruiting-now-frsc/

Youth Action: Digital Jobs Africa, Apply now

Click here to apply

This Rockefeller Foundation project- Digital Jobs Africa has an overall objective of helping disadvantaged and (minimally skilled) unskilled young men and women, move from unemployment into employment through relevant skills development training. This is in line with the Ghana Shared Growth Development Agenda, in which human development; productivity and employment are key thematic areas.

The training will include ICT skills, communication skills, customer relations, intercultural working, time management, self-management and other relevant soft skills. Participants will be provided an opportunity for face-to-face training, guided on-the-job training, facilitated peer-to-peer learning and some professional mentoring in a state of the art training facility.

The programme is targeted at providing 1000 high potential but disadvantaged young people with IT and soft skills training relevant for digital jobs and connecting them to relevant job opportunities. 

Course Areas

• Introduction to ICT  
• Understanding of the IT industry
• Call Centre Technology, Terminology, Structure
• E-Publishing
• Communication skills
• Customer relations
• Time management
• Self -Management
• Global and intercultural working

Eligibility Guidelines

To qualify, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Must be citizens of Ghana
• Must be between 18- 30 years
• Must be only Senior,Technical or Vocational High School graduates
• Must be currently unemployed
• Ability to communicate and be instructed in English
• Available to commit to a full month of training

NB: Please note that applicants with university degree or its equivalent are not eligible.

Benefits of Participating in training

Training offers unique opportunity to participants to acquire the following:

• ICT skills for digital jobs
• Practical skills for the modern workplace
• Links to careers in IT
• Introduction to Digital Entrepreneurship 

Duration of the Course and Cost Involved

Each course will be for duration of one month and successful applicants will be certified upon completion. The training is absolutely free once participants are selected

How to apply

Applicants should please read the requirements of the application form before they apply.

Kindly click here to apply

Deadline for this cohort of application is 31 August 2016

For further enquiries contact the British Council on 0302610090/0302610118

Fun setting up your own business

Tony Hsieh once said and I quote, “Happiness should be the business model for Startups.” And this does hold true in every sense of the word. Companies where employees are engaged have been shown to generate more profit and revenue growth, deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction, and overall work more productively. Now more than ever, companies are going all out to provide a wonderful experience for their workers. Ensuring that they’re happy, engaged, and having fun at work. Work-life integration is becoming common for companies of all sizes.

And it is of little surprise that founders of successful startups tend to epitomize what it means to have an engaged workforce driven by passion and yearning for success, and often parlaying full-time employment for the opportunity to create a meaningful career on their own terms. These are the employees that companies should cherish and should go that extra mile to ensure that they are happy at work.
There are a few ideas that organisations can look into, in order to ensure a work environment that is filled with positivity and above all “fun”.

• Fun must be promoted: The management and the leadership of the organisation should ensure that they themselves should be having fun and should joke around once in a while in order to communicate to the employees that it is okay to do so. This promotes a healthy work environment and release the pressure that builds up because of the kind of work pressure that builds up at the Startups.
• Setting the Tone: With Freedom comes responsibility and this tone should be set right, right from the beginning. While having fun at work can work wonders for the organisation, however, at the same time organisations should draw a line between healthy and unhealthy fun. It’s important to have boundaries. Things like racist or sexist remarks should have no place in an organisation that aspires for growth.
• Have a Fun Committee: Having a Fun committee is the best thing that management can plan. These committees ensure that they plan some activities where employees feel engaged and they have fun at the same time. This takes of a lot of work pressure that the companies face.
• Celebrating small Achievements: While everyone celebrates a big victory, it is equally important to celebrate every small win and especially in Startups, where every small victory is a big achievement in itself. It’s important to recognise hard work and this is one of the ways employees stay motivated.
• Team Games: Whether it is ping pong table, a foosball table, or an Xbox on a big screen, let your employees unwind after a long day or whenever they need a break with some fun games. These small things go a long way in helping to promote a fun environment.
• Birthday Celebrations: One’s birthday is the most important to them, so what best way to say you care about your employee than celebrating their Birthday. Sending birthday mailers, celebrating birthdays on floor, etc are some of the things that the startups can plan for their employees in order to make them feel important to the system.
• Group Assignments: Introducing aspects of competition, cause the employees to work together to win. Hence, it is a good idea to give group assignments to the employees. These teamwork exercises will be extended to the workplace and the company will start doing better because the employees will start working as a team. Indulging in such activities will give them an opportunity of getting to know each other and thus work to accommodate each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Now-a-days companies have a habit of poaching employees from each other.  If an employee is not satisfied at their current workplace, then they would easily fall for other companies providing better work environment, something that the Startups just can’t afford.  Getting the employees out of work to let them have fun is not a way of wasting time, but building the company.  Many loyal employees are fostered from such activities. And this should be a must have for the budding Startups.

How do you know your business idea is not going to work for you

9 Ways to know your startup idea is a flop

You think you have a great startup idea? You might want to think again. Entrepreneurs in their quest for businesses that can make them money, often goes through series of bad ideas before settling into one that works.
But how can you even know which idea of yours will be a total flop? While there are no derived criteria for evaluating a startup idea, but there are indicators which will guide you whether the idea that you are thinking of might be a waste of time and money.


So here are the 9 ways to know your startup idea is a flop.

1. Get someone to tell you its a flop

The sure way to know that your idea is a flop is if someone tells you that your idea will not work. Get in touch with experts, whom you trust in the similar field and take feedback from them. The question asked should be straight, that what they think of your idea.
Take them for a lunch, ask them straight, and respect their thoughts when they say your idea is a flop as they might be knowing something you don’t. It’s a good think to know in advance than to spend money and time over its bleak future.

2. If you’re not excited by the idea

Its always helpful to take others opinion on an idea, but the best person who can tell you with real certainty whether your idea is worth pursuing is – you. You are the best gauge of whether an idea is worthwhile, or not worth the trouble.
Ask one question to yourself: do you feel passionately about your idea? If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, then why should anyone else.

3. Not getting any help

As an entrepreneur, for pursuing your idea you might need outside help. The help might come from investors, experts or friends and family members.
However, if you can’t seem to find the support you need to get your business off the ground, that might be a sign that your idea isn’t very good.

4. It isn’t scalable

How big is the business that you want to start? If the answer restricts to be a small one, then rethink again. While some businesses are bigger than others, the most successful businesses can start out relatively small and grow bigger over time.
Brahm Kiran Singh, founder of CoachPal, a tutoring service for engineering students in India, also emphasized the importance of scalability in assessing business ideas.
“There should be a large number of target clients and it should be easy to scale to them,” Singh said in an email. “A restaurant business is not as scalable as a SAAS business.”

5. It’s overhyped

Many people get hyped about the cool new thing and try to get in on it. Don’t get into things because it’s the current trend as it might not last longer to be a good startup idea and can be a total flop. If its already cool, then you are late in the game.

6. Its not necessary

Your focus should be towards things which are must have rather than the good to have. The good to doesn’t offer something new, they must offer something people actually need.
Let’s take the situation of cloud based services. Its an area where entrepreneurs often make mistakes. They often confuse novelty and utility.

7. It’s not generating a buzz

To determine if your idea is worth pursuing, you might want to consider test your business idea in the largest pool of public opinion which is the internet. Get your idea tested, its not about making money out of the gate, but ensuring that the idea works well with people.

8. Your market is too small

If the market that you are targeting is too small, you might want to rethink your idea for a startup. If it is a niche product or service, it probably isn’t a good idea unless the niche market is substantial in size and test sales are tremendous.

9. Your idea is confusing

If no one, including you, can explain what exactly your business idea is all about, it’s probably not an idea worth pursuing. Start finding answers to –

• The purpose of your business
• Values of your business
• Main functions of your business
• What’s unique in your idea which others don’t have

Starting a business with No MONEY

Have a business idea but no money? Here is how to startup with no money!

A lot of potential entrepreneurs have been asking us- we have a good business idea but little/no money to invest into it, what should we do. Let me assure you – nothing is impossible if you have the determination to do it. It shouldn’t be just a dream but a passion. What is required  for Business success is combination of skills for your area of business, discipline in your work and marketing skills.
Sadly a lot of people leave their startup dreams just because they think that they don’t have a lot of money to back their business idea. But believe me, money is not the most important factor- neither absence nor abundance of it.
Here is what you need to focus on, to startup with no money :
Make your expertise your capital: When you are venturing with very less capital be sure that you are venturing into something you have knowledge and skills for. This will minimize your need to rely on outside sources like consultants,  who will  obviously need to be paid if consulted. If you have the required level of expertise in the domain you can cut down on this cost and use it where absolutely required.
Marketing Marketing and Marketing: Marketing is the mantra. Let the word spread..tell everyone you know, family, friends, ex- colleagues about your venture. Use all available networking/ social media platforms that obviously you can signup for free and let the world know about your venture. This is how you can market your business without incurring any cost and this is how you will get to meet people who directly or indirectly might be interested in your venture. Along with that these platform will help you expose your product to a much larger audience. This is just like your marketing and advertising department working on little/no money.

Cap your expenses: Whenever you are venturing into some business you will certainly have a number of expenses. If we classify these on the basis on absolute requirement, they are – Avoidable expenses and Unavoidable expenses. Also make sure that you are utilizing your existing assets judiciously. Unavoidable expenses is something that you don’t have a substitute for, Avoidable once are those you can do without or have a much cheaper substitute for. Lets start from the very basic things. If for start you can work from your home, there is no need to spend all your cash in hand on a fancy office. Remember Google started from a garage. Keep your focus and your money for the product you are about to launch, a grand office will follow suite.
Keep the Credit Card away, make purchases only when required: Personally, I feel, Credit Card is pure evil. Buying new computers, furniture, phone, office supplies using your credit card might look tempting but remember it will drag away your focus and your money from your goal. If it is absolutely necessary for you to buy – a) Buy in parts not everything at once, make a preference list of what is required first. Once you start making money you can use that to buy the second in preference  b)For a start look up for things on reselling sites that will help you save money and get the same utility.
No Unnecessary staffing: Please do not hire unnecessarily, push your self to the limit and beyond only then look out for people. If you absolutely want more man power approach friends and family first, obviously after analyzing if they have the required skills for the piece of work you are offering them. They may be willing to work for you without a salary package. Yes, you can treat them regularly. Who knows one of them might actually become your partner if they really like it and are equally passionate about it. You will be cutting down on the pay part and still have your work done. A  lot of startups hire a lot of people and then later lay them off, which is absolutely not recommended.

Sweat Equity – power to you: What does sweat equity mean – it is your contribution to a venture/ product in the form of effort and toil(read sweat). You work round the clock for your business idea and thus increase your ownership interest. Sweat equity is claimed to be the most preferred mode of building equity for cash-strapped entrepreneurs in their start-up ventures, since their contribution may be little financially. You are working towards making your idea a brand name, you are working tirelessly towards it, marketing it, giving your time to build it and make it work, which is simultaneously increasing the value of your product. This equity will be of significance when you decide to sell off a stake of your company or get a partner. There is no substitute to Hard-work. It is especially important when this is all you can give to your business. Work hard and give it your all. All this is possible only when you are passionate about your business venture. You will have to wear many hats, be the boss and the worker yourself.
Unofficial / official loan:If you have absolutely no money and can’t do without it for your venture, seek help from family and friends financially. The advantage of this is that you will have more flexibility terms for  paying the loan back.
If you can’t take help from that front approach financial institutions for small business loan. You can also take help from Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises and gradually move towards other methods of funding 

Branding and Rebranding your business and its importance

Branding and Rebranding: What makes them important

Now that you have got an awesome business idea, have you ever thought “how you would brand your Startup?”
In today’s world of fierce competition, it is of utmost importance to get your brand registered in the customers mind. Many startups neglect spending the necessary time that they must on understanding their brand in this broad sense and the impact it has on their business. This is when they later on need to go for rebranding. Rebranding, however, can be an outcome of many other reasons about which we will discuss in the later part of this article.

Let’s begin by understanding why Branding is important and essential for the aspiring businesses.

• Recognition: Branding helps you position yourself or in other words register yourself in the customer’s or the end user’s mind. This recognition or familiarity is very important because people tend to do business with companies they are familiar with.
• Differentiates you from Competition: In current scenario where startups compete in global economy, branding is what makes you stand out from the crowd. A professional appearance builds credibility and trust. People are more likely to purchase from a business that appears polished and legitimate.
• Highlights your Business DNA: Your full brand experience, from the visual elements like the logo to the way that your phones are answered, tell your customer about the kind of company that you are.
• Direction and Motivation for Staff: A clear brand strategy provides the clarity that your staff needs to be successful. It tells them how to act, how to win, and how to meet the organization’s goals.
• Sets Customer Expectations: A brand image is what helps customers understand what to expect from the company. The products that the company produces are perceived by the customer in terms of the brand value of the company. Not just that, branding helps the customers connect emotionally to the company.
• Enhanced Business Value: A strong brand will provide value to your organization well beyond your physical assets. Proper branding creates a value for the company that far exceeds their physical value.

To sum it all up, Branding is the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
Sometimes, however, due to various reasons we need to rebrand ourselves. Rebranding occurs when a business or organization decides to change a significant element of the brand. Such a change could be glaringly obvious like a new brand name or logo, or it might be more subtle such as a slight shift in messaging to better communicate a more relevant brand promise.

Rebranding can be one of the most rewarding and transformational undertakings an established business can make. However, rebranding a business needs to be done for the right reasons, and we have tried to enlist a few of them for you to read through.

• Coming of Age: In the life cycle of the company there comes a time when your corporate identity is no longer up to scratch. Recognising this moment may seem difficult, but in the life of a business various situations arise that lend themselves very well to a change, or even necessitate one.
• Fundamental Changes: One of the most common reasons for undertaking a corporate rebranding project is modernisation. Trends mean that over time brands come across as old-fashioned if they have not been updated. Although in many cases it is not the main reason, a more modern image is often one of the motivations behind a rebranding project.
• Differentiating the business from competitors: One of the most common reasons for undertaking rebranding project is to differentiate your company from the competitors. Over time brands come across as old-fashioned if they have not been updated and this can provide an unwated edge to the competitors in similar line of business. Although in many cases it is not the main reason, a more modern image is often one of the motivations behind a rebranding project. Hence, in order to be differentiated from the crowd, rebranding becomes necessary at times.
• Relevance in changing marketplace: For some companies, changes in the market situation mean that their very existence comes under threat. The globalisation of society in particular is making it necessary for certain sectors to reinvent themselves. Different requirements call for a different product to be offered.
• Launching new products or services: Over the years, an organisation has to deal with the development and acquisition of numerous new brands. In time this results in an extremely diverse and broad brand portfolio that is no longer logical for anyone and is therefore only still understood by a handful of people. Furthermore, carrying many different brands often leads to high costs when it comes to maintaining and promoting the brand. In such cases, rebranding ensures that the entire brand portfolio is brought into line and tells a clear story about the organisation.
• Outdated Image: One of the most common reasons for undertaking a corporate rebranding project is modernisation. If we go by trends, over time brands come across as old-fashioned if they have not been updated. Although in many cases it is not the main reason, a more modern image is often one of the motivations behind a rebranding project.
• Bad Reputation: If a brand has a bad reputation and this is having a serious impact on its operating result, rebranding can ensure that negative associations with the brand are ameliorated or dispelled. It is important here that not only the exterior changes, but that the change is also implemented in all other aspects of the organisation.
• Merger or Acquisition: When companies merge or acquire other companies (and even when they break apart), rebranding are often required. These types of rebranding are very common and often go through multiple iterations.

The ubiquitous nature of a company/product brand across all customer touch points makes rebranding a heavy undertaking for companies. In rebranding the iceberg model holds true, 80% of the impact is hidden. The level of impact of changing a brand depends on the degree to which the brand is changed.
Rebranding can have a rejuvenating effect on the internal culture of your company as it calls for new levels of employee support, knowledge and feedback. It gives staff the chance to get involved in creating a new, positive business culture.
Hence, to conclude, we would say, that whether it is branding or rebranding, what holds importance is to register you brand with utmost care in your customer’s mind, and reap the benefits eventually.

Things you should avoid while creating a new business (Start-Up)

We all have ideas, but translating those ideas into something tangible -a product or a service- is what separates doers from thinkers. And while you are on the journey of creating a startup, you will find advice from all corners. The next time you tell someone you’re an entrepreneur and they raise their eyebrows skeptically, feel free to ignore these five startup myths they might recite to you.

There are various myths associated with Startups, which you need to clarify just from the word Go. We have tried to compile a few for you:

1. Unique business plan: While it is good to have a unique business plan, it is not the only way to build a great startup. The truth remains that there are very few original ideas. What makes business interesting is how you provide your product or service in a way that differentiates you from the competition. Focus on the quality of your product and the service that you provide to your customer instead.
2. Your Product should be self-sufficient: While we totally promote social media posting about the product, but that should not be your go-to way of promoting the products that you have to offer. For registering your product in the customer minds you will have to device a very good advertising and marketing campaign and there is no substitute for that.
3. Investors are inevitable for success: We often read about stories of how a wanna be entrepreneur is discovered by some investor and the business blossoms. But that is not the prerequisite for success and not finding an investor should not hold you back from chasing your dreams. In truth, only a very small subset of startups ever has investors behind them.
4. The Growth arrow must always be upwards: While your startup should grow, but, growth isn’t always the right goal for your company. Maybe your business operates better with a set number of employees. Your business’ size must be sustainable with your goals, or you can risk losing control over the entire operation.
5. Failing should not determine your entrepreneurial goals: While failures are disheartening, it is a myth that asks entrepreneurs to stop after initial failures. You need to learn from your mistakes and come at the problem from a new angle. According to the economists from The University of Michigan and Stanford, failed entrepreneurs are far more likely to succeed their second time around.

The famous actor Will Smith in one of his roles says,

You got a dream…You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.

Hence, don’t believe any of those Startup myths doing rounds everywhere, because you are the creator of your own story and only you know how to write it best.

Why your New business needs a DevOps approach?

Having a DevOps approach for application and product development is like H2O to your organization. Yes this includes High-quality bug-free apps and products, Heights of innovation, One-click deployments and many more.
It’s wrong to assume that only enterprise businesses can benefit from or need a DevOps strategy. Whether you are an organization the size of Facebook or a one-man tech startup, DevOps is now a way of life and ignoring it can make or break a company of any size. The way DevOps is adopted in startups is completely different than how it happens in larger organizations.

The DevOps buzz

So what is DevOps? Well, much like the name states, we are talking about a union of Developers and IT Operations (aka Systems Engineers). DevOps is many things. It is a collection of best practices, a set of tooling and a philosophy that emphasizes automation and collaboration.
The term “DevOps” emerged from the fast-paced “agile” software development movement. Agile practices encourage short iteration cycles, frequent new function releases and close collaboration between development and business stakeholders. It’s made quick revisions a common practice, which in turn has increased the need to produce software in a way that delivers ideas to market in a much faster model. Both established companies and startups are racing to test their innovative ideas and provide value for their customers.
Not adapting to DevOps in your technology projects, will increase the risk of delay on your technology debt. DevOps is easiest to implement early on in a technology project’s life cycle. The longer is the wait, the more effort it would require to re-work DevOps in your workflow.
If you are building a startup, this kind of speed and iteration is very important. When you are developing software for a particular customer, you must determine which features are valuable to them as quickly as possible. According to Lean Startup ideologies, utilizing DevOps is a major component of eliminating the waste that occurs around the provisioning of the new servers, software installations and configurations, and during deployment across environments. Without this strategy, the tasks can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Getting the process automated helps the features to move quickly into production, which allows them to be tested and validated quickly, this helps in faster reaction time to your customers and less wasted efforts.

Evolution of DevOps @ Startups – Stage I

In this first phase, the development team often adopts Agile as a way to quickly iterate on the development process. These short-term sprints build the initial functionality of the product. While initially, there isn’t really much to release to potential customers, the core developers are starting to build their development and release cadence. This helps to keep the product requirements small and the team on-track to deliver a small piece of functionality in short period of time.
Often the development team is sitting side-by-side cranking out code quickly. No specs, just a list of what needs to be done often stored in Pivotal Tracker or some similar tool. Sometimes mock-ups and screens designed to describe the functionality.
There is a little formal process at most startups. Things are evolving and moving so quickly that there just isn’t time. The goal, after all, is to get a product into market and start selling. While startups are high adopters of Agile as a development methodology, there is generally little rigor in its implementation. There isn’t a well-developed end-to-end product release process. Also, the movement from development to operation is also not well defined. It is quite often that the developers who are building the product are the operations guy and managing the product and service.
During the first phase the DevOps sees some light of the day. Developers as they develop the code comes across some basic challenges and begins to solve the issue. The first things developers do is to spin up a environment to test the software. Most of the times, they will find a cloud provider, start configuring the environment to test the application. They might do this a few times, but as they test more and on different platforms they will start looking for some tools to automate the process. This is the stage, where there are most likely no operations people, and the tasks are done by the developers. And developers, looking at spending more time on coding picks-up some automation tool to do this work.
The tools might include infrastructure providers like AWS, Rackspace, or SoftLayer to configuration automation tools such as Chef or Puppet. There might be other tools for project management tracking, frameworks and libraries. Once they launch the product, they might also look towards monitoring tools to help them get visibility into their product. As things progresses, the developer would need the test environment quickly and repeatedly. The underlying pattern would be to move fast, solve problems, and quickly get to the market.

Evolution of DevOps @ Startups – Stage II

While tools are hardly a complete DevOps methodology, they are the catalyst for the next step in a startup’s journey to adopt DevOps.  Many of the tools chosen in this first period have APIs, can create automation, and are highly configurable. As a startup keeps moving forward and increasing their users, the flexibility of these tools and the various ways that the developers utilize them starts to drive some conversation around process. A few problems in production environment with bugs, or outages and tech-leads start using the word Process.
The growth of startup starts to create desire to add control, accountability, and define the product development process. Agile now starts to extend up and down the organization in a more rigorous way. DevOps is starting to take hold and become more fully formed.

Evolution of DevOps @ Startups – Stage III

The early stage DevOps life-cycle wraps up with it becoming a part of the Culture. Now, methodology becomes fundamental part of the business. Values such as agility, customer focus, rapid iteration becomes core principles of the company. Hiring are made based on whether the candidates match the philosophy and culture of the company. DevOps is viewed as more than just a process that the company follows, but a competitive advantage in fulfilling its mission to its stakeholders.

Reasons for adopting DevOps

So, what are the best practices of DevOps? Why should you use them? And how do you get started implementing them? Let’s look at some of them.

Reason 1 – Your team has the best developers, but an application deployment takes three times longer than it’s supposed to take.

If it takes a long time for the feedback to reach the developer, it’s very likely that your developer has moved on to coding the next feature. Therefore, the context of the previous feature is not as fresh as it would have been if the feedback was sent quicker. When the very success of your new company relies on getting new code into production, anything that slows down “ship day” is unacceptable.

Reason 2- You end up doing lot of tedious manual steps.

A lack of automated scripts that take care of your repeatable tasks calls for tedious manual steps that are way more faulty given the involvement of the human element. This deprives you of sleep.

Reason 3- You have ideas booming among the team, but the practicality of the idea demotivates you.

Your team and you are full of creative and innovative ideas. But what about factors like cost, time and resource allocation that bring you down every time you think of a new idea?  Not having a DevOps approach in place is prepping you to see the light of your organization’s doomsday.

Reason 4- You feel your Developers and Operations spend more time finger-pointing than actually working.

There’s a whole lot of finger-pointing and blame-game playing going on within your teams. No one wants to take responsibility. You are not really sure who caused the issue in the first place. This makes you miss your business goal time and again and deliverable date slip.

Reason 5- You are terrified at the thought of hiring new developers.

Irrespective of the size of your organization, you constantly face the issue of a lack of documentation. You let go of one of your current employees or he quits your firm for another job. What if the same employee was responsible for major developments and has failed to document his work appropriately?

It’s going to be a disaster for the new employee hired to replace him.

4 Emails you should send as a start-up, Business Owner

Startups live or die based on their growth: nothing worries CEO’s more than a flagging growth percentage. Given this immense pressure, it’s not surprising that most startups choose to focus on the place where logic might dictate growth resides: growing the sales funnel. Which is why one sees huge spends on discount schemes, advertising and marketing, to bring in new customers.

But this over-reliance on increasing the number of users coming in often leads to shortsightedness when it comes to maintaining the customers you already have. It’s a well-known fact that it costs 5 times as much to create a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. Given that fact, the more resources you dedicate to retention, the more you will keep that growth trajectory heading in a positive direction. And one clear way that retention is proven to be improved is by regular communication with users. The most effective (and least difficult) way of marketing to users is via email, so here are 4 types of emails that are a must to send out at various stages of your customer’s life-cycle:

On-boarding

It’s truly shocking how few companies send out effective on-boarding emails. Although it’s true that onboarding can happen in-app, via a tour or a feature highlight screen, an email serves as reinforcement of that learning. It also provides a lasting reminder that the user can go back and refer to later. We’ve noticed a few trends in leading on-boarding emails that are important to maintain:

1. Keep it informal, and about the user: Most on-boarding emails are about the product – whereas what you really need to focus on is the user. Design a drip campaign that begins with asking the user what they expect to receive from the product and send subsequent emails that focus on those aspects that are important to the particular user. (This is basically customer segmentation at work)
2. Offer information in small portions: Especially when the product or app is large or feature-rich, the information being sent in the email needs to be as concise as possible, focusing on one feature (or even one aspect of a feature)
3. Show, don’t tell: Canvas your existing customers for case studies where they used your product to achieve success and highlight those in your on-boarding emails. This has the three-pronged benefit of inspiring new users to try your product, it makes existing customers who are featured in your case studies happy (thus leading to increased advocacy) and it gives clear information on the feature itself (which is what you were trying to achieve in the first place!)

New Features & Regular Updates

One of the side effects of focusing on new users vs existing users, is you tend to not communicate as much with existing users. Even if you are incredibly active on social media, there’s a good chance that most of your users aren’t following you – this is especially true of B2B products, but can be true of large B2C products as well. A regular newsletter type email does wonders at keeping your customer aware that the product is constantly being improved and that features are being added. It’s vital to highlight customer requests that have been fulfilled, in these emails, as it shows that your team is not just abandoning the product. This type of email is all about building your reputation in the eyes of your existing customers as a provider who is on the ball and actively looking after their interests.

Proactive Customer Service

If you’re running a startup, especially a SaaS startup, you already should know the importance of service. That is what makes or breaks the experience (and your business). Therefore, as soon as possible, you should give a thought to the concept of proactive customer service, IE, reaching out to your customers who might be having problems using your product before they think about reaching out to you. While this is again easier done with products where you can measure the users’ engagement with your product, it is something that can be applied to almost every startup business model. By looking at engagement data (you ARE collecting engagement data, right?) you can identify users who have stopped or drastically reduced engaging with your product and reach out to find out why. This process can be automated if you’re a startup at a large scale, but in the early days can be done by hand as well. In fact, it’s probably better to do it right from the very beginning, as it will engender the culture of Customer Success right from the beginning.

Win-back

Whatever your churn rate might be, one key area of improvement is to pursue those customers who might have already stopped using your service. If you have implemented a feedback mechanism to find out why users are churning, you can send them targeted information on when you have fixed whatever the problem is. Customers rarely see such proactive behavior on the behalf of service providers and acts like this go a very long way to rebuilding trust. Provided that the reason they churned is not un-fixable, you should do everything in your power to win back customers you have already lost. After all, you already spent money to acquire them, there is no sense in abandoning them, especially if there’s an easy fix to their problem!
Of course, these emails are not the only ones you’ll have to send – and some of these may not be as applicable as others, depending on your specific business needs and business model. But this is a great starting place to examine the potential of using email to boost your retention and fight churn. After all, that’s how growth is assured!

Are you ready to fund your business?

Funding for startup – are you ready for it?

Okay, so you have watered your startup seed into a healthy plant and are now at the verge of the next step, the step that demands a lot of monetary input to grow this plant into a fruitful tree. Yes, we are talking about all you who are in search of funding for startup. Are you prepared enough for this huge leap?
You surely have questions about how you should present your startup to the investors, this post tells you exactly that.

1. Know all about your investor

First and foremost, you should be well aware that you are approaching the right person, who has been in past interested in the domain that you are from. list out the people who have been investing in that domain and reach out to people who have got investments from them. learn about their experiences. Attend Startup events which help you interact with the potential investors. And the best way to know about how investors work is to read about it.

2. Don’t ever show your desperation for that funding

We are talking business, you don’t have to put forth your self as a team that will need the funding to survive, you have to present yourself as a team that is doing well and will do wonders with the funding for startup. Remember , if you show your self as desperate and weak the investors can push their terms on you very easily.

3. Have your stats ready about the traction and how the market is ready for your product/service

The last thing that you should be saying to your investors is that you are still creating a market for your product/ service. Make sure that the demand is there already and will grow in days to come. have your facts and figures ready for the amount of traction you have.

Funding for startup – be prepared

4. Be debt free and have some cash at hand when you approach investors

Make sure that your credit report is clean when you approach investors. have some cash available and no dues pending. As it is all about money, these details are verified thoroughly.

5. Be prepared about the questions they may put up to you

Before approaching the investors, make sure that you have talked to fellow entrepreneurs about the kind of questions investors ask. You should make due effort to get answers to these questions in context of your startup.

6. Be complaint and have appropriate licences

Be sure that what you are doing is not being done illegally, you need to have proper licences and be complaint, you would never want to cut a sorry figure for your self and your startup in-front of an investor. When an investor find out that you are making the effort to get all things in place, legally, it adds value to your position.

7. Have a detailed business plan and a crisp sales pitch

Sometimes all you get is a brief 5 minutes to say it all. have that crisp and impressive sales pitch ready in your head. Along with that make your business plan is detailed it answers questions about your realistic goals, your competitive advantage, clearly defines the roles and process in your startup. Your business plan is a mirror to your road ahead

Questions you need to ask before starting your business

So you think you can startup? Here are few questions that you need to answer before you startup your business.  The questions may look small and simple but requires a lot of thought, brainstorming and research to get answers specific to your situation. I haven’t provided answers here( but, yes it has hyperlinks that can help you in the right direction) because this is for you to ponder on. Each one of us can have a different opinion/situation on the below questionnaire, find out yours.

1. Why do I want to start a business?
2. What kind of Business should I start, should it be a product or a service?
3. What is the problem statement that I am trying to address?
4. Is my product valuable, does it solve any problem?
5. How /what will I name my startup?
6. Is my startup idea any different from what is already available in the market?
7. Who is my competition?
8. Do I have the time and patience, a startup requires?
9. Can I operate my business from Home?
10. How many employees do I need, how will I hire them?
11. Who can help me in my venture?
12. Till how much time should/can I wait to see any substantial output?
13. How much money do I need?
14. What will be the right location for my business, How do I choose it?
15. Who is my target audience and how will I attract them?
16. Is it better for me to start a franchise or do I really want to create something new?
17. Should I start just one company or a backup  plan as well?
18. When can I expect to be profitable?
19. Do I want to/am I capable of bootstrapping?
20. How Can I obtain financing?
21. Do I require a licence?
22. How will I market my business?
23. What will my business plan be like? Who will write it?
24. What all hurdles and setbacks should I expect?
25. What will my exit strategy be?
26. Should I pay myself as well?
27. What will be the outcome, if I fail?

Believe me if you have answers ready to these questions, you are ready for the journey!