How to Start(up) the New Year

I’m not sure how many startups will contemplate, let alone establish, New Year resolutions for their business. For those who need a nudge, here are ten from my experience advising more than 100 early-stage startups over the past couple of years.

1. Identify and define the customer “problem” or need you believe you are solving. Do not pass go until you have a clear answer, otherwise your startup may join the >90% who don’t make it much beyond year one.
2. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on market research to get customer feedback. But, listening to the voices of customers and prospects wherever possible is more important than relying on just your own.
3. Ensure that your idea and eventually offer provides a clear promise to the customer and reasons to believe in acquiring from you.
4. Commit to a written business plan and have co-founders, board members and advisors on board and agree to adhere to the plan.
5. Resist the impulse to pivot without thorough rationalization and reference back to your business plan.
6. Appreciate the difference between strategy and execution. Setting up an Instagram presence is not a strategy.
7. Measure and track everything. Keep tight control of finances. While sales and revenue growth are critical, lowering production costs by increasing efficiency can make a strong contribution toward profitability.
8. Don’t let outstanding issues fester. Indecision is often a bigger mistake than a wrong move. You can learn more from the latter.
9. Build relationships with customers to foster loyalty and recommendation to prospects. Recurring revenue is a critical underpinning to business growth and attraction for investment.
10. Focus, focus, focus and have fun doing it!

It will certainly be an interesting and challenging year.

(C) 2021 David Pring, Managing Partner www.blindspotpartners.com +1 551.208.4674