As a startup, by definition, you’re probably operating off of limited funding. And even though you’re in the beginning phase of your business journey, you’re more than likely going into your endeavor with some sort of a strategy–while also being a little bit lost.
According to several reports by think tanks across the country, a surprising 90 percent of all startups fail, and 10 percent fail within the first year. But this can largely be avoided by adhering to a few simple principles while also leveraging effective business technology.
But the real trick in keeping a startup running smoothly is not all held up in effective technology. In fact, a large part of your success can be found in what you don’t do.
For those who’ve just embarked upon a business journey, it can be tempting to spread yourself thin and forego costly resources. But this is going to be a big mistake.
Here, we’ll detail a few tips on how to keep your startup running long after infancy.
Don’t Burn Yourself Out
You might be a true go-getter. But can everyone on your team make that same claim? The fact is, probably not.
Knowing how to recognize the signs of team burnout is going to be a vital tool when it comes to your mental well-being and the overall well-being of your team. And if you employ a few strategies, you can work around the burnout phenomenon and keep a refreshed outlook on business matters, and life.
People get fatigued when they’re overworked. And this includes you as well. So when you notice any sort of fatigue that might be hindering progress or productivity, it’s time to put on the breaks.
The best strategy to avoid burnout is to create a business culture that promotes mental health awareness and offers an incentive to break away from the stress of daily business life as needed.
Have IT Support Ready
In our interconnected world, the business world is perhaps the most dependent on technology to keep things running. But the very nature of technological tools is that they often break down, incur a glitch, or stop working altogether and data can be lost.
In order to be ready for this, as a startup, you really need to be proactive and have IT support ready and waiting. With proper IT services on standby, you can also rest easy when any issues arise that need to be addressed.
For example, many businesses today utilize KPI dashboards and a host of other software and data metric tools that have many complicated features. And when these things go haywire, you could either spend hours trying to fix them by yourself and lose out on valuable time. Or you could call up your local IT support.
At the end of the day, be safe by having IT support ready and waiting. Because chances are, you’re going to need them sooner or later.
Engage with Your Community
Maybe your business isn’t part of the physical landscape. And perhaps you run a completely online storefront. But regardless of whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or if you’re completely digital, all businesses need local support.
One of the biggest mistakes all-digital business owners make at the outset is overlooking the value of local community support. But you don’t have to make this mistake if you know a thing or two about marketing.
Making others in your community aware of you and your startup is going to be key to you keeping out of that 10 percent of startups that fail within the first year. So get out there and mingle, take out radio ads and advertise on local social media pages. You have many choices, so use them all to your advantage.
Building a startup might be a risk. But if you’re passionate about what you can offer the world, the juice might just be worth the squeeze. So keep an eye out for tools that can benefit your business, and allow time for your company to mature.
