Roughly 80 percent of all new startups will fail. If you already have a successful startup under your belt, that increases your chances of getting another business up and running to 30%. The truth is, there are just so many things that can go wrong with a startup that even successful entrepreneurs aren’t guaranteed a win every time. There are, however, a fairly limited number of reasons that startups fail. The better prepared you are going into running your own business, the better your chances of success are. Here are three tactics to help your tech startup succeed.
Carefully choose a partner
Not all business partners actually get along well. In fact, some of the most successful business partners have also had infamous feuds. The truth is that what makes two people good business partners can also become a source of irritation over time. Great visionaries need nuts and bolts “plodders” to help them break their big dreams into daily, manageable, yet somewhat boring tasks. Risk takers often do best with more risk-averse partners. Needless to say, these differences are both helpful and necessary but over time can also become a point of contention that can rip a company apart. Look for someone who has strengths where you have weaknesses, but take steps to make sure the two of you actually get along and can work together long-term.
Understand your values
For tech startups in particular, it is becoming more and more important to know right from the start not just what you want to do, but what you stand for. Having comprehensive mission, vision, and values statements that you actually live by can help get everyone on the same page from the start and keep them there as you grow. It’s easy to keep everyone on the same page when you are a small startup with 3-5 employees, but it’s much harder when you grow to a small startup with 20 employees. When people start playing from a different playbook, chaos ensues, so make sure you have a comprehensive playbook from the start and that everyone knows what it is.
Be mindful of your spending
Every business dies from lack of funding, the question is simply why the funding stopped. In some cases, you couldn’t get enough product to keep up with demand because you didn’t build a strong enough supply chain, while in others you have a great product that no one knew about because you didn’t spend enough on marketing. Spending on the right things is critical to the success of any startup. Spend on the wrong things and you will quickly find yourself going belly up.