We are at one of the best times in the era.

Ease of tech access, availability of resources online, and openness of consumers to try new products and services…

And if you happen to hop on the entrepreneurial bandwagon, there could never be a better time.

I recently blogged about why businesses FAIL.

Check that out as well.

I always maintain that following your passion and learning from your failure can help make your journey interesting.

Talking about the business side of things,

I am always asked “how can I launch a business”, or “what should I do to start a business?”

I can suggest three useful tips for startups.

These will give you a  direction to start with.

Numero Uno: The Chiropractor Approach

What does a chiropractor do when you visit them?

Starts treating your pain?

Nope.

He starts with understanding the “pain point”.

Only then he starts with using his skills to alleviate the pain.

Right?

Business is no different.

Before you start a business or invest money or time on an idea, start with the most basic question-

What’s one thing that my product will help solve the problem of the end user?

How about an example?

Five-hour energy?

The product solved two major issues- size of energy drinks.

And two, being able to carry it on airplanes.

And bingo, soon the product crossed $1 BILLION in retail sales, and grabbed 90% of the energy-drink market.

Lesson learned?

Do not over complicate things.

Think of the end-user’s pain point.

How can you add value to their life?

Once you have identified a few answers, it is time to move to the next step.

Become the best Copy Cat or Invent Something

Yes, I know what you might be thinking.

Copying is bad…

Nope, it is not.

And by the way, I am talking about copying from a learning and inspirational perspective.

Google was not the first search engine. Starbucks was not the first coffee chain.

Yet both businesses dominate their respective domains.

Because they took an existing idea, and innovated it, and continue to innovate.

Use the same approach to starting a business.

Competitive Analysis will help you understand what your probable competitors are doing.

At this point, actually no one is your competitor.

Think of each player in your domain as a mentor.

What can you learn from their offering?

Can you take their idea (if the law permits), and make it better?

Or you have an entirely fresh idea that can be a disruptor?

Those are the two routes you can take before going to the next step.

Go-to market strategy

Alright, so you have done market research and competitive analysis.

The next step in the process is to chalk out a detailed Go-to-Market strategy.

What it essentially means is drawing out a plan to reaching your target audience  and achieving competitive advantage.

It is a tad more specific than a business plan.

Once you have completed these steps, it is time to work on other areas of the business plan, and launching your idea.

Remember, a business plan does not have to be perfect.

Moreover, I suggest being agile (flexible) to trying new things for business growth.

So those were my three tips for startups in 2019.

Are you considering starting a business?

Or you are already running a startup?

Any challenges?

Leave a comment below and share your questions, doubts or experiences.