Setting up a Start-Up is a very difficult business. While there is definitely a lot of hype over small tech firms destined for greatness and there are plenty of investors looking for opportunities in the tech sector the truth is that a great deal of start ups develop in the initial stages in similar ways to any other enterprise. More than a few big web companies have started with CEOs advancing their own money or through a loan, making them not that unlike any business that you might be considering. So perhaps looking at the way a Start-up takes off can be good practice for your own fledgling business.
‘Death Valley’
The initial state in the life cycle of any start-up, after the ‘friends and family’ funding is the so-called valley of death, the stage at which the business isn’t supporting itself yet and is still relying on the seed capital that it managed to gather. You will likely start in the same way, especially if you’re building a retail or manufacturing company. The important thing to succeed at this stage is to keep your goals in mind and spend every penny on getting a product or service ready for the public in as little time and with as little an expense as possible. Once you reach your first customers you’ll start your slow climb out of debt and it is important to be frugal until you’re in the green completely.
Crowdfunding
Increasingly, crowdfunding has started to become a viable alternative to ‘angel’ investing and friend and family funding for many small to mid sized projects. Crowdfunding is especially effective in the case of software and various computer-driven projects as the costs of production are very low and there is more money left for product development per se. Crowdfunding can be great for a company also through its social aspects. Usually SEO and marketing companies like digitalnetagency.com handle most of the sensitive initial promotion of a new company or product. You still need a marketing expert or a firm to get off the ground but sites like kickstarter.com can serve as seed money, social hub and grassroots customer promotion all at once
Making Money
Once you have started making a name for yourself you’ll likely invest your profits into developing your business. Tech businesses usually invest in extra staff but if you run a manufacturing business you should prioritize equipment and marketing and if you do retail definitely prioritize marketing and affiliate outreach. Once your business starts to grow you’ll be surprised just how satisfying getting paid becomes. If you’re a serial entrepreneur you probably already know.
