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Thinking Of Starting A Tech Startup? Here Are 8 Tips To Build It
Surveys indicate that 90% of new startups fail within their first five years and that only 5% make it beyond the 15-year mark.
With the pandemic brewing, startups have become even more challenging to gain traction and flourish.
Nonetheless, it would be best if you didn’t let this stop you from starting your own business and giving it a shot.
LinkedIn, Snapchat, and many other popular platforms that started as startups are now among the most popular around the globe.
Nonetheless, there are some specific aspects to consider when starting a tech business.
Our article will provide you with eight tips for successfully starting and running your tech startup.
Let’s start right now.
Build your network
You may think business networking is something you do once your business is booming. But, in truth, networking during your company’s planning and startup phase will make it much easier to launch it. If your network during the startup phase, you will be able to:
- Develop your communication and sales skills.
- Make connections with other small business owners.
- Become active in your community and industry.
- Discover prospective customers.
To make networking easier for your startup, here are a few tips:
Set goals for networking. Decide what you want to accomplish through networking. Among the reasons you might network is to meet potential customers or investors. A different networking strategy and organization will be necessary to reach one goal over another. As such, it is essential to clarify your objectives before proceeding.
Don’t forget about social networking. Networking does not necessarily require meeting other people in person. Many social media networks now allow this, thanks to technological advancements. Using a professional platform like LinkedIn, for example, will allow you to build your connections and network easily.
Set aside time for networking. The launch and development of a tech startup include a lot of responsibilities, so it’s easy to lose sight of networking. You can prevent this from repeatedly occurring by setting a daily reminder and scheduling time to devote to networking.
Hire the right team by using assessment skills
The team is the backbone of any company. A business can’t survive if its team is incompetent, unskilled, or un-behaved. Thus, if you want to build a tech startup and launch it successfully, you must hire the right people. It is also true that many tech startups require specialists in complex areas, and you might not possess the required background in each of them. Luckily, today, some HR software solutions make it possible to run some online assessments to determine if a candidate has the right skill set and the required experience and knowledge for the role. For example, you might want to test Python skills using TestGorilla. The system will automatically rank the candidates from the best to the worst based on their results at the end of the assessment. This will allow you to identify the top performers immediately and move forward only with them in the hiring process.
Be aware of the latest market trends and developments
To remain competitive and successful, companies need to keep up with the latest trends, follow them, and adapt to them.
Startups in the tech industry are no exception. Unless a tech startup adapts to the latest trends, it will be considered obsolete and lose opportunities before it even gets off the ground.
Additionally, first impressions are the most important ones. With your tech startup adapted to the current market, you will have a better chance of getting good first impressions and gaining an advantage over your competitors.
Here are some valuable tips on staying up to date with the latest tech and market trends:
- Take a daily look at the news.
- Check out your competition.
- Analyze upcoming trends and predict the market.
Decide on your MVP and validate it
In business, MVP stands for ‘minimum viable product,’ which refers to the first version of a business concept that works (and is marketable).The MPV phase is extremely important for tech startups. No matter what kind of tech product or service you plan to offer, such as a website or another digital service, you’ll need to have user interest, usage data, and feedback. Making an MVP is an excellent method for getting your startup going in the right direction to deliver a product that people will be willing to pay for and generate revenue early on. As a result of going through this MVP phase, you can:
- Provide an initial product to users.
- Receive real-world user feedback and comments.
- Consider shifting your focus based on this feedback.
- Establish a community, generate buzz within it, and build momentum.
Raise capital through crowd funding
Many startups have a minimal budget or none at all. Therefore, your tech company might have to raise capital through the help of other companies or individuals.
Crowdfunding represents one way of accomplishing this. Crowdfunding is the practice of raising small sums of money from many people to fund a project or venture, typically through the Internet.
Nowadays, many crowdfunding platforms provide capital from many investors with low fees. Indiegogo and Kickstarter are examples of these platforms.
Here are a few tips to help you raise capital through crowdfunding:
- Prepare a detailed action plan.
- Make your crowdfunding page easy to find.
- Donors should be able to make quick decisions.
- Spread the word online and through traditional methods.
Don’t forget to thank your donors frequently.
Please do not keep it to yourself: tell others about it
All startups, including tech startups, face the challenges of getting visibility, being known, and reaching their target audiences.
To achieve this, you should invest in advertising, or if you don’t have a budget for this type of promotion, you should consider alternative methods.
You can use social media channels to promote your business, for example. However, make sure you only establish your presence on those platforms that can provide the most benefit to your business.
Social media platforms that are great for tech startups are LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Aside from social media, you can also spread the word by telling your friends and family about your tech startup. Hopefully, your business will benefit from word-of-mouth marketing, and it will help you gain more visibility and awareness.
Additionally, partnerships are an excellent means of spreading the word. It is possible to partner with other startups or companies in the same field or a similar one and gain mutual benefits from each other’s endeavors.
In summary, you can spread the word about your tech startup by:
- Using social media channels
- Using your personal network
- Building relationships
- Partnering with other startups and companies
Be prepared to scale
Even though you are starting a business, there may be a chance it scales up, and you need to be ready for that.
A sudden increase in your startup’s size is also possible, and this can impact its performance and success if you aren’t prepared for it.
Therefore, you should be able to accommodate a rise in production, the need for more personnel, and the expansion of your business.
As a result, you should have a ready network of people to call when such an emergency occurs.
For example, when hiring for your tech startup, you may want to retain the contact information of other candidates who scored well on the assessment skills tests and did well in the interview.
In this way, you’ll already be able to get in touch with the right people without having to go through the entire interview process again.
Change the day-to-day game
Startups in the tech industry should call for and inspire innovation from all directions.
As such, your tech startup should be able to solve problems that have yet to be solved, and you can potentially be an out-of-the-box innovator.
For example, focus on finding solutions to environmental problems, such as air pollution, water pollution, and traffic congestion. Then, develop technology that can solve these day-to-day problems and bring value.
This way, your tech startup will be able to differentiate itself from existing companies, giving it a competitive advantage.
Additionally, this will attract many investors and early adopters, which will help your startup gain exposure and capital.
Conclusions
To start a tech startup, you must dedicate time and energy. At the beginning of a company, there are many responsibilities and tasks to accomplish.
Following the advice in this article will help you build your tech startup efficiently and successfully.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this article. Hopefully, it helped you and provided you with some helpful information.
Please check out this guide on startup sales strategy if you want to read more.
Author
Flavia Silipo is a skilled SEO copywriter and digital marketing specialist with over two years of experience. You can find her on LinkedIn.
