Learning how to grow your startup into a profitable business doesn't happen overnight. It can take months or years before you start to receive consistent income. This is why the time you spend in the initial stages is so crucial. This is the time for learning as much as you can about your industry to set yourself up well for your future success.
1. Make a clear & concise business plan
Let’s start with a dose of reality. Just about nobody will believe in your business until you have a clear and concise plan. One of the most common mistakes a startup will make is to only have a product or service idea, without considering ways to make them profitable.
Making a comprehensive business plan accounting for various factors in the market will be the most useful thing for you to do first. This will also be the best way to convince a potential investor to give you with the capital you need along your way to the top.
2. Network with people in the industry
As you learn how to grow your startup, one of the most valuable assets you will come across is the knowledge and wisdom of those who have been in your shoes. There are always opportunities to network with professionals in your industry.
Stay active on online forums, social media, and so on, and you will quickly network with some great contacts in your industry naturally. People like to connect with like-minded individuals. Especially in the business world.
3. Build a website & social media accounts
One of the best ways to get your startup out of the sandbox is to give it an internet presence. In the modern business world, having a website and online social media presence is essentially necessary if you want to succeed.
An online presence is a wonderful asset for your startup for several reasons. Exiting clients will be able to look up your product descriptions and service terms without needing to contact you. If you consistently blog about topics relevant to your audience, you will also start to organically attract new clients and followers with the help of search engines like Google.
4. Market your service & grow an audience
Marketing a brand new startup business is something you can't avoid. Having a website and social media channels isn't enough to send prospective customers rushing to buy your products or sign up for your services.
Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. You aren’t going to go out of your way to find a product or service you don’t even know exists. This is where marketing, promotion, and advertisements will come in handy. Every brand has to start from somewhere.
5. Slowly build website content, links, traffic, and sales
If you have a website and social media accounts, you shouldn’t expect your traffic and sales to all of a sudden shoot through the roof. Keep your blog content coming. Hire people to create quality links to your website. Hire an SEO specialist to help you figure out which keywords will rank on search engines.
This is a formula that just about any business will stick to while they are building a following and brand awareness. If you start by focusing on building quality content and links to your website, you will soon get a lot more organic traffic and sales from search engine users.
Finding investors: 5 tips
Once you have the initial tasks that we described above accomplished, you will be much more prepared to find your business startup funding. Investing in startups can quickly become too expensive to fit your budget, which is why it’s important to learn how to find investors.
Whether or not you knew it, there is a line of people who are ready to help alleviate your startup expenses. You just need to learn how to find investors that will help you out.
Let's discuss 5 ways to get investors interested in your startup.
1. Crowdfunding & fundraisers
Many people have been able to secure business startup funding by creating an online crowdfunding fundraiser. Many people have had success doing this with platforms like Crowdfunding, Kickstarter, and various others. If you don’t know where to start, this may one of the best strategies to help you learn how to grow your startup and secure investors.
2. Ask a friend for a favour
We probably all have at least one friend with some extra cash sitting around. A friend like this might also be likely to take an interest in your business. Especially if they trust you and are convinced that they will receive a nice return on it.
As a general rule of thumb, you should always consider this sort of favor as a loan. One that you will intend to repay through concise terms agreed upon by both parties. If a friend invests in your business, they are doing you a huge favor. Pay them back with interest to show gratitude.
3. Startup incubators & venture capital firms
When you run out of personal connections, the best way to secure business startup funding and assistance is to seek help from companies which specialize in this. Startup incubators and venture capital firms are two proven means of securing startup funding and B2B services while your company grows financially.
As we discussed, developing a concise business plan is something that you need right away. Remember that professional investors are intelligent, and will be confident of the potential for a high return before committing to your company.
Growing your startup takes patience, perseverance, and funding. A huge part of this journey is finding new investors, which means putting yourself out there as a potentially lucrative option through building a website, reaching out to friends, and employing marketing techniques. Hopefully, our tips in this blog post will help you on your journey to startup success.
- Make sure your business plan is clear and concise
- Your website and social media accounts will help drive users to your business
- Get familiar with SEO
- Find investors by approaching friends and attending events