Many good entrepreneurs have failed! Ask me why. Picture this, they had great ideas, crafted a detailed and inspiring business plan, got investors and started big. However, within a short space of time, it became evident that they couldn’t remain in the game and couldn’t seem to figure out where they got it wrong.
Most times, the basic problem could just be that the startup is not vested in solving real life problems. The more critical and widespread the problem you aim to address, the more users you stand to gain; this will greatly determine your business longevity and growth.
Here are 4 reasons why your startup must focus on solving a real life problem if you hope to succeed.
Guaranteed success
Truthfully, it takes more effort, time and money to build, grow and succeed in a startup that is not focused on a particular problem, so why bother? After all, what is the purpose of doing business, if not to make profit! If at the end of the day all you do is waste time, resources and money, that startup was not worth your time in the first place.
Ideas + Solutions = Business
How many times have you been faced with a problem and you think, “Oh, I know what to do, all I have to do is surf the net (ask google)”; and so you do this, get the exact information you require, and you revisit the site again when faced with another problem. Tech giant Google, excelled at solving the information at your finger tips problem with continuously evolving search algorithms. Today they are the world’s number one search engine.
Let’s talk focus
Founding a startup is a tedious, time-consuming, pain-staking venture. In your journey you will come across motivators, critics and those in between. At the end of the day, it’s very easy to get confused and overwhelmed. Your guiding light therefore, should be your desire to solve someone’s problem thereby ensuring focus on your part.
Focus in turn ensures you have measurable criteria for determining your growth and success because it is quite easy to veer off path when you don’t have a specific problem to deal with.
What is life without passion?
When there is a problem you are passionate about solving, it will help you overcome difficult times that are inevitable for every startup. It will motivate you to evaluate and re-evaluate yourself and the progress you are making so far and where you need to make amends. Thus, in addition to running a start-up that is problem solving, you must have a special connection to that particular problem to be able to succeed. This will provide you with enough zeal and enthusiasm to forge ahead even when the going becomes tough.
And tag, you’re it
Focusing on an existing problem provides you with a ready market. You know that there is an existing target audience so what could be better than taking advantage of that? Picture those long lines and queues all waiting to embrace your innovative solution when you launch.
