24 key Factors for Startup Success
“Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you really love to do. Pour your heart & soul into it and never give up.” –Mark Cuban, Shark Tank
Success Topics: Knowledge, Skills, EI, Risks, Self-Confidence, Creativity, Team, Connections, Vision, Affirmations, Patience, Persistent +
Startup Topics: Belief, Speed, Discipline, Social Skills, Determination, Changes, Time Mgt, Fund-Raising, Execution, Budget.
14 key Success Factors to Boom your Business – Entrepreneur in a Box [ Let me out !!! ]
It is possible that we cannot expect to have a person with all characteristics that will make him/her a successful entrepreneur. But, the combination of the most important factors can help you to build and manage a successful business. The most critical and most important key success factors that can make an entrepre-neur become a successful entrepreneur are:
1. Entrepreneurial Knowledge.
To have superior knowledge about specific issues for the business that they have started. Your knowledge will increase your potential energy and – in large part – contribute to the success of your startup.
2. Entrepreneurial Skills.
Each entrepreneur will need different skills that – in some cases – can be crucial to the success of their starrtup. If you have the knowledge, but you don’t have skills that can be covered – only thru implementation of what you have learned – you can’t expect that you are close to the success. As you can see, you will have skills if you take action, implementing what you have learned.
3. Entrepreneurial Intelligence.
You must be sufficiently intelligent to manage all possible situations and solve the hardest problems. Your intelligence will additionally bring uniqueness to your company.
4. Getting Knowledge, Skills & Intel.
The more Experience you have,the better are your odds for success. Work at or with another startup and see how it’s done. Use their methods – if you like them and they fit your startup or do a minor or major variations to meet your needs.
5. Willingness to take Action.
This is the most important factor. Actions are something that can lead you to success. Without actions, you can’t expect to become a successful business owner.
6. Take Risks, but “calculated” Risks.
Are your taking enough risk – to get the reward you want? Determine if an opportunity is worth taking the risk. Use Risk Management principles to make the best decisions on the risk to take.
7. Self-Confidence . . .
is a significant and key success factor for entrepreneurs. No one will become successful if they doesn’t have self-confidence in themselves.
8. Creativity . . .
a) is something we’re born with or not. But if we have it, we can make it better by exercising it – like a muscle. Look for opportunities where you can use it (ie, thinking how to solve a problem you observe).
b) You must be a creative person if you want to be unique enough and with the power of continuous improvement in your business. The creativity will increase your business potential that will bring in many opportunities for your company.
9. Directing your Team.
Nobody can achieve anything alone, so choose your Team & Advisors wisely. Choose those that fill in your gap and will enjoy working with.
10. using your Connections.
The more connections you have – means – the more you can use your Network to “test” your idea, get advice and maybe get a Customer. LinkedIN is he best professional network.
11. have a Vision . . .
of where you want to be long term [1 yr, 3, 5, etc] Set Goals and make Milestones. Celebrate your Milestones. Get together with your Team – at least once a month – to discuss your progress and where you’d like to go next. Change your Goals & focus – as you need to.
12. Luck, Wishing or Affirmations?
Don’t accept you have Bad Luck. Go beyond wishing to – doing Affirmations for what you want. You’re telling your mind & the universe your desires. “If you believe, you will receive”. Give it a try on small things first (ie, parking places), then when you see this working, move on to more complex things.
13. have Patience.
You must be patient and ready to continue even you lose a battle – here & there. It is important because the war is never finished. This is only the beginning of your journey as an entrepreneur.
14. be Persistent. . .
is simply a refusal to give up on something, or ability to continue your actions against your personal feelings that you’re not ready for these actions. Feelings and motivation didn’t produce results. The action is something that will provide the results you want to achieve. So, remove your feelings that pulled you back, and with the whole power continue on your journey.
Conclusion: The key success factors on this list are sorted according to their importance to your success as an entrepreneur. So, the most important key success factor here is your ability to take action Jackson. “Just do it !!! – Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz
10 additional Factors 4 Startups 2 Succeed – Forbes Zine
Startups are literally a journey into the unknown and entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with taking on ambiguity, uncertainty & multiple challenges of this journey.
Improve your odds. Unfortunately, on average, 9 out of 10 startups will go out of business in the first 5 year, and the remaining that are able to survive and succeed are the ones that capture the qualities outlined below. These qualities are generally deeply ingrained in the character of successful entrepreneurs.
1. Strong Belief in your Product & Org.
Every business’s success revolves around taking risks. Successful startups prepare to take risks. The most profitable investments usually require high amounts of risk. However, such decisions need to have a solid “due diligence”, in order to avoid – as much as possible – the downfall – in the event things don’t turn out as they were expected – which is often the case.
2. Speedo
Getting things done in a quick manner is one of the many reasons why successful Startups are able to reach their goals. It makes a difference when a startup is able to launch on time or when it’s able to move significantly faster than competitors. Successful startups never delay the process of getting things done, and have to work as much as needed – until something is complete. The most productive people are the ones who make the most of their time by staying focused. Having a highly knowledgeable Team really makes a difference. If you do make some mistakes, the faster you can learn from them – will improve your products & organization.
3. Discipline . . .
starts with self-control and is a product of a strong self-imposed personal standard. Without discipline, startups fail to succeed in business – even if situated in the best economy. Self-discipline leads to positive work ethic, which leads to getting things done effectively & efficiently. It is critical to have all the Team members aligned and working together to get to the finish line.
4. Social Skills
Networking is another reason for startup success. A Founding Team that knows powerful & influential people in the business, is completely priceless and can open the doors to partnerships and to find Investors more rapidly. Great startups have an outstanding CEO who is inspiring & motivating. Sometimes Team members are required to make sacrifices such as work/life balance, salary cuts, limited or no health insurance, etc. – thru startup or tuff periods.
5. Determination
Strong determination is always necessary for success to take place. A successful startup emphasizes the significance of determination when building a business and never quits, especially when the road gets bumpy and scary. There are many challenges that will rise and you and your Team needs determination to overcome these challenges.
6. Ability to Adapt to Changes
The best startups are always willing to adapt to new situations, new technologies. Adapting to change can lead to major break-throughs. During the early years, the startup will need to change/adapt the product many times – until they are able to find the best combination that will maximize it’s value.
7. Master of Time Management
Startup life can be rough – between the mountain of things to do + limited staff & resources. The company’s success hinges on the team’s productivity and effectiveness “to do more with less”. Having things to do will never be an issue, but carefully picking what to “focus on” and what to “prioritize” will be your business challenge. Wise choices lead to success.
8. Fund-Raising Skills
Cash flow is the life-blood of any business. This means that businesses can be ruined with inadequate capital to do the original development and launch the product. Successful startups are the ones that have sufficient capital to run their business operations. A good way to raise money online is platforms like 1000 Angels, as it allows the startup to raise funds – in some cases – in just 60 days from accredited investors. This eliminates the need of doing a many month Road Show – which is exhausting and usually very unproductive for the business itself.
9. Execution [ but don’t kill your Golden Goose ]
Having an idea is just the beginning and execution is 98% in determining each business’ success. For this part, the experience of the team is critical as their backgrounds will help you towards making more good decisions than bad ones.
10. Budget Masters
A successful startup is efficient in managing its finances and able to operate as “lean” as possible. Every function should have its own budget assigned and unnecessary expenses should be avoided, reduced or eliminated. When resources are limited, time is of the essence. Companies need to master the skill of doing more with less = lean & mean !!!
Conclusion: Successful startups are always looking for opportunities to do something better by thinking outside of the box and constantly questioning the status quo. They learn from their mistakes and fix them quickly as they continue their long, challenging – and soon-to-be successful – journey.
Summary: Do you know any other Factors that would increase the probability of Startup success?
For more Info, click on Startup, Success.