Tuesday, January 10, 2017

What Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Successful Businesses

Statistics say that approximately half of startups fail within the first five years since their founding. And one of the primary reasons for this occurrence is the entrepreneur’s lack of experience.

Here are some tips for early-stage business owners from those who have achieved success in the business world:

Create a winning team

Human capital is one of the most crucial element of a successful business. Recruiting the right people and building the best team with well-defined roles should be one of the foremost priorities for startup companies.

Everyone has weaknesses, even the company founders. These deficiencies, and more importantly, the strengths of every member should be objectively evaluated to fill the gaps.

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Focus on sales

The bottom line for any company is sales; without sufficient revenue, the business will fail. There should then be increased effort to drive up sales, and in order to do so, actively involving customers from the start is necessary. By listening to their needs and wants, business owners can gain several insights to develop business ideas faster.

Successful businesses focus on the customer experience with the objective of creating value in their products and services.

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Keep investors happy

Investors are few of the early partners a startup gains during the initial phase of the business. They are present not only to provide the initial capital required, but they can also serve as counsellors and mentors. There should then be a conscious effort to foster a healthy relationship with the investors. One of the best practices is ensuring that equity distribution is clear and has been agreed upon early on.

Bethesda, Maryland resident Sassan Kimiavi is a principal investor at Blu Venture Investors, LLC, an early-stage technology venture investment firm. For more insights about entrepreneurship, subscribe to this blog.