4 Ways to be successful and remain relevant as a startup

As a startup trying to carve a niche in a market that is highly ever competitive; with different companies offering almost same thing as you are about to. There are some certain things that are needed to be put into consideration to scale through and be successful.

Studies have shown that 90 percent of startups fail due to issues bordering around market-viability, acceptability, funding and the rest. However, there’s one thing the rest 10 percent are doing that the 90% who fail are not doing.

So now, what are the keys to startup success and how can you know if your idea is likely to succeed; these are worthy things to note when going about your start up before investing significant time and resources in it.

1) What problem are you solving?

Often times, most entrepreneurs or startups don’t take time to study the market they are trying to carve a niche in.

However, there is a resounding need for any startup to embark on a market visibility study to ascertain if their solution will actually be solving a problem or not. Because businesses exist to fill need gaps, solve real problems and if there’s no demand for a product or service, there’s certainly no point in trying to supply it.

CS2 Chairman, Mr. Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola while speaking at the 2016 edition of the annual West Africa Convergence Conference (WACC) said “innovation is like a pain killer, people wouldn’t go for your solution if it’s not killing a pain. You may have a brilliant idea but if it doesn’t solve a problem it’s pointless because people only pay for what reliefs their pain”.

According to an analysis on 101 Startup Post-Mortems carried out by CB Insight, 42% polled startups cited that the number one reason for failure is the lack of a market need for their products.

Now, it’s obviously clear that there’s no fast and hard rule to it. If no one wants your product or service, your startup isn’t going to succeed. It’s either its meeting an initial need or a future need. So what is your idea solving? What pain are you killing?

2) You either evolve or die!

To consistently have ‘life’ in your business or startup goes beyond just the idea. It’s a function of how well and how fast you can embrace growth.

A lot of times most businesses or start-ups become defunct or dysfunctional because they fail to evolve; they fail to grow beyond the scope they started with.

Like someone once said, any business that is trapped in a warp of the past, suffocated by the traditions of past experiences and buried in the grave of the glories of past successes, is doomed to die.

It is, however, worthy to note that having a startup or business is an endless project that requires constant effort at evolving and enhancing your products and services for your target clientele. Changing or evolving your business strategies brings about sustainability.

3) How formidable is your team?

As an entrepreneur, the set of people who make up your team determines how far you go in your business or startup. You will need to set up a formidable and smart team that understands the objectives you have set out to achieve.

Truth is you can’t do it alone if you are looking at going far in your endeavors as a startup and that’s why most businesses’ success stories lie in the strength of their team. Someone once said “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go with people.”

4) Build a business structure.

Funding is one peculiar subject associated with setting up a business or going about ones start up.

As key as funding could be to the success of your start up, if you don't have a clear cut strategy as to how to manage the funds when they start rolling in eventually, your startup dream might end up becoming a mirage.

Building a business structure is penultimate to how much success you will record as an entrepreneur or a startup. It’s the best way to eliminate any furrow that might want to arise on your brow during account balancing. Resources like money are easy to spend but sweeter when spent well.

So as a startup you have to learn how to manage your resources and maximize them to achieve a greater result and record major successes.