Here you are, about to embark on the journey of a life time – the execution of a world-changing idea that would bring about world peace, don’t ask me, just ask the producers of Silicon Valley. This is what you were born to do, this is why you have studied every successful entrepreneur from Sim Shagaya to Bill Gates and exactly why you have decided to risk it all. Still,only 1 out of 10 new business succeed and these 3 factors comprise the bulk of the mistakes most people make.
1. THE RIGHT MIX
Professor William Sahlman of Harvard Business School, introduced the POCD- People, Opportunity, Context and Deal – framework, which suggests that for a startup to be considered ‘successful’ there has to be some sort of harmonization of the four factors outlined above and rightly so. There has to be a level of strategic fit between the people who work or provide resources for the business, the opportunity being pursued, the context in both the internal and the external environment and the deal created with all resource providers. Granted, these will not all be set in place at the beginning, but you have to bear in mind the level of importance these factors have and how they can make or break your business.
2. INNOVATION TYPE
This is not clear cut, in some cases where the product or serviced being offered is a need or there is no alternative in the market, then it is possible that all you need to do is build something and just announce it. However, in some cases where the market is widely competitive, you have to do more to attract customers, it is important to understand to market environment before entry.
There are several classifications of innovation, which includes market-driven and design-driven innovation. The former is innovation driven by customer demands this involves filing gaps and gradually improving on existing solutions while the latter is innovation driven by new products or services design which is focuses on the design and is capable of creating a market for itself.
Though a business uses multiple forms of innovation, the type of innovation you bring will inform your marketing and operation plans at any given time.
3. PERFECTION AND TIMING
Time waits for no on, time is the most valuable currency in today’s world, its so precious that it cannot be preserved neither does it accumulate in the bank (this should be confirmed with Dr. Who). We all go through the motions trying to decide the best time to start and when the product is ready for launch but there can never be a perfect product and time. One interesting concept is by the Happy Startup School which shares the theory that it is better to create a minimum lovable product (MLP) rather than a minimum viable product (MVP) which we are all used to. Offer customers the basic thing to love about your product while you keep working on improving it, avoid trying to give the minimum of everything, rather do one thing so well that customers would love the product and provide you with the base to build on.
There were 7 other social networks before Facebook and 14 other search engines before Google. If you are passionate about something, just do it and make sure you fail faster and better.
Guest Author: Onyeka .I.
