Is starting up really the challenge it is touted to be? The answer is no. Starting a business is as simple as thinking about it. But the challenge is to manage it and build it in a consistent way. It is also presumed that each day at a startup is a volatile string of highs and lows. Having a great idea is not sufficient. Execution of ideas is the biggest challenge. The key to every startup is building a product around your vision and idea.
All startups operate in a crowded space and survival and growth without radical approach in such an environment is again a big challenge. Startups need to offer something that can radically change user behaviour or habit. As a human being, we look for mental shortcuts in everything we do. This approach more or less hampers our way of analysing the situation and we start deviating from our idea and, as a result, we start thinking about its negative side rather than its positive side.
Consider this situation: two identical candidates walk into the office for the job interview. The only difference between the two is that the resume of the first candidate is full of experience at large companies like Microsoft or Google, and the other one has the same depth of experience at a startup. As a rational person we will give opportunity to the first one, as we had already a picture that startups rarely reach brand status. We give priority to the quality of the company as compared to the quality of the person due to our internalised stereotyping.
People also have a myth that having experience and knowledge of the particular industry is necessary to make the idea and business successful. But that’s not really true. Jeff Bezos did not belong to retail industry before he founded Amazon, Steve Jobs and Apple had no experience in mobile hardware before launching iPhone, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin did not work with any Internet company before founding Google.
The less you know about your industry, the more you have to learn things through trial and error, and your chances of growth and success increases. No one gets success without struggle. The way of approaching problems and a clear vision will keep you in line with what you are doing. With limited experience, you often burn through your passion, tenacity, relationships, and money before you gain traction.
Long working hours, erratic sleeping times is the startup way of life. Managing time is a myth; work manages startup’s time. Startup life can be a trap, as entrepreneurs always end up postponing personal commitments for work very often. Entrepreneurs become so passionate about their product or work that they end up talking about their product, vision, things you plan, how they intend to change the world etc., to almost everyone. Be focused on what you do and your approach towards managing situations will automatically speak up about your business success.
All startups should come up with a radically different approach. Every day, you're required to create your own. If you don’t the company growth will slow down. Learning with trial and error will create remarkable difference from others as mental shortcuts will not work in long run. Challenges come at every phase but the way you approach them will bring about significant change. Keep learning and move ahead as startups are 'perceivers'. The day will come when the future startups will look up to you and will learn from you the story behind your success.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
