There are thousands of startups, with a new one popping up every day. Some are here to stay, while others are here today, gone tomorrow. While it may seem that the success or the downfall of this or that startup relies solely on luck, things are way more complicated than that.
Lots of startups are created by ambitious students. Facebook started that way, after all. So, was Zuckerberg luckier than other students with smart ideas? Unlikely. Even now, you can create a startup for your fellow students. You can start a coursework writing service that will allow your peers to have more free time. The chances are that you can succeed, but there’s still a possibility of failing.
In recent years, several promising startups, like Theranos, faced a downfall. Over $1 billion was invested in Theranos, but it turned out to be an investment in nothing. A fair game must be part of the success, as lies always surface. But that’s not all things that you need to consider. First, let’s get things that don’t depend on you from the way:
- Lack of interest – you may create something that is of no interest to users.
- Revenue failure – your project may not bring enough revenue to break even.
- Delivery underperformance – sometimes, the demand may be too high to fulfill it.
Those are the things that don’t depend on you. You cannot predict the interest of prospective clients, and you cannot predict the revenue. Even when you have analyzed everything, some things fail just because they can. The same goes with the high demand.
So, maybe less than in a year you will have an ad everywhere that would say “The Best Place for Students to Buy Thesis Papers” https://essayservice.com/buy-thesis, and Forbes will list you in their 30 under 30 list of young entrepreneurs. Or, maybe, your idea will never materialize. Still, let’s talk about the things that actually depend on you.
Lack of Experience
To be fair, no one is an experienced entrepreneur in their teens or early twenties. Yet, that doesn’t mean that you cannot learn a bit before launching your startup. There are a lot of materials about the success and downfalls of projects. Learning it will help you realize the weak spots of your startups and avoid prospective downfalls.
Yes, you want to take risks and you want to follow your dream. That’s the success stories that we are generally being told, but things rarely go that easily. Basically, every seemingly rapid and unexpected success started from years of preparation. Thus, find out the shortcomings of similar projects like yours, so you can enhance the latter.
Originality Matters or Not?
Originality is a quirky thing. The fear that your project is unoriginal may prevent you from materializing it. From time to time, the choice of prospective consumers lies in the question “how?”, rather than “what?”. You may have an idea of the service that already exists, but you can make it your way. Use the original idea to create your original idea.
People like to say that talent borrows, genius steals, but it doesn’t really work that way. You can’t just steal someone’s idea and present it as yours. This will make you look arrogant, and even if your “stolen” startup becomes a success, the users will turn their backs on you as soon as the truth is revealed.
Therefore, instead of simply stealing, you can use someone else’s idea as a platform for your own. You can deliver a product or service, which may not be unique at its core, but unique in its special features. This may lead to outperforming the “original” that you’ve used for inspiration.
Check If Your Idea Is Really Good
Whenever you come up with an idea, you are most likely to think that it is great. And that’s a normal reaction for anyone. Still, if you’re planning to launch a startup, you need to think like an entrepreneur. Your idea should be not just cool but also attractive for prospective users. You need to research the market you’re planning to take by storm with your project.
Check out how valuable your service or product can be for prospective users. Check out how many investors may be interested in your project. Once again, success comes after years of painstaking careful research. Less reliance on luck.
Pitching Your Idea
Another thing that you need to consider before launching your startup is how you’re going to pitch your idea to prospective investors. The problem is that a lot of half-baked projects succeed, while the good ones fail simply because of the right or wrong pitching. Here are simple rules on how to do it:
Keep Your Pitch Simple
Mind that investors have lots of other entrepreneurs that are pitching their ideas. So keep it short and simple. Instead of diving deep into the details, make it as brief as possible. Focus on the major aspects of your business idea. Don’t overload the prospective investors with details.
Tell Your Startup Story
While it may seem a bit contradictory to the previous point, it is easy to get investors bored if you focus exclusively on numbers, diagrams, and facts. You can tell a short story of your startup. Explain how you came up with the idea, how you’ve worked on it. You can even crack a joke or two if the timing allows it. But mind that you need to stay focused.
Convey the Unique Value of Your Startup
The best way to win the investors' interest is to explain what specific problems your startup can solve. Explain the uniqueness of your idea, and why no other business can match it. Explain why your prospective users need your product and service and how it will help them. However, mind that it must be brief and fact-focused.
Let the Investors Experience Your Startup Firsthand
Another way to convince that your project deserves an investment is to let the investors try out your product or service first-hand. Videos and screenshots may help. You can also present your potential partners with the demo version of your product.
Describe Your Target Audience
Last but not least, you need to have a clear picture of who your target audience is. Who is your prospective customer? Describe your target audience to your investors, and if you do it properly be sure that your startup is going to get the proper investment.
Making a Team
It is unlikely that you’re going to make your startup on your own. Be picky when it comes to gathering your prospective team. You need to make sure that people that you work with are goal-oriented but good at teamwork. Any good project can fail if the war of egos gets involved.
Work with talented people who understand the value of your project. Value your teammates, so each one will feel at home at their respective positions. Without that, you will see people running away from you or constantly arguing who has the biggest impact on your idea’s materialization.
