In 2010, three people founded a shoe shop, become a monopoly and net $2 million in a developing country.
Easy money, isn’t it? No. That same business went down after one year. The inability to keep up with the market, combined bad decisions brought us to our demise. We are forced to declared bankruptcy and what we dreamt about, our vision was for naught.You may check sale tools such as : Magento plugins and Magento 2 plugins now.
The truth is all lessons come with a price. Mine just happens to be too costly. Here are the 7 things that I learnt through my ups and downs:
1. Do what you truly believe in. And do not make it about the money.
Because a successful business cannot stem from half-assed attempts. A while ago I was browsing through my Quora and read some questions like “How can I get my 10 startups going?”. The person asking that is either joking or haven’t even start one. There will be times when nothing happens as it should be. The only thing that keeps you from sinking is what you truly believe in. And don’t make it about the money. Lots of people thought their desire is about money, but only later do they realize money are just intermediaries to their desire.
2. Find a blue ocean.
While most company enter the bloodbath of traditional markets, a blue ocean represents an uncontested market in which you are taking initiatives. My startup has strictly follow that theory and find out a blue ocean in the shoes market for middle class. For more details, I will suggest you put aside some time and read “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. Once you ‘ve done this,
3. Head up for imitation.
When your company has a great product or a highly profitable market, you will face copycats: not only competition comes from foreign giants but also other startups just like ourselves. To avoid it, if your product is technology-based, file for patents. However, if your business is more about the innovative ideas like our startup, you have to reinvent yourself often. Unfortunately, we are slow to react and when our competitors offer same quality at half price, we goes bankrupt. Therefore, you should
4. Stay different
To field off competitions, have a distinct thing that your customers are able to remember. For us, it was a beautifully designed responsive website. In a country where ecommerce sites are essentially served as lookbooks, our website allows customers to buy online with free delivery.
5. Do not do everything
At first it may sound strange but there are times when you would prefer to handle everything by yourself. Just don’t. Each person should stick to the area he knows best. When a cofounder sees you do part of their jobs, it is often intepreted as a sign of distrust. To avoid this, you should
6. Be frank
Founders are the cornerstone of startups. However, founders are also human, and humans breaks. Each week, put aside time and go to a non-work place. This is where you can share the difficulty in your respective area. Problems outside of works can also be discussed here such as: personal finance, family, etc.
7. There are other things in your life
Live with a startup but don’t die with it. First of all, you can always have another shot. What matter is not what you do, but how long you do it. And even if you don’t notice just yet, your family and friends will be there for you. Sacrifice some time for them and you will find yourself fully compensated.
These 7 things are just some of the lessons I learned along my way. To share is to care, please provide more insights to this problems as knowledge is infinite. You can frequently check my blog for business tips as well as contact me through my Quora should any question arise.
