Entrepreneurs need to keep returning to the drawing board, unlearning, and relearning skills, while also learning to adapt and stay responsive to new developments, says Anish Srikrishna
India is home to the third largest startup ecosystem in the world with a growing number of unicorns. Yet, statistics indicate that most of them fail to make it to the five-year mark. While the factors influencing the scaling up of startups are complex, staying the course can get harder with time and increasing competition.
To maintain consistency, structure growth and achieve set goals, certain core areas that will aid the building of a startup into a successful venture are:
Maintain the strategic vision
The first step for any business is setting a strategic vision. It sets the long-term objective for the organisation, thereby creating the goalposts for its development. A strategic vision not only provides the company with its purpose but is also essential in evaluating its growth and performance vis-a-vis the competition.
Lead by example
Most successful entrepreneurs lead from the front. Employees are more likely to put in the extra effort when they see their leaders going the extra mile. Values like honesty, punctuality, and professionalism are critical in building a cohesive atmosphere at work.
Be disruptive
An innovative product or service is the most ideal for a startup to differentiate itself from its competitors. However, for the idea to be sustainable, it is critical to ensure that it adds real value to the consumer’s life. For instance, PayTM enabled almost instant online payments while Zomato streamlined food deliveries across cities. While innovation can help one begin, it is equally important to continue innovating to ensure long-term survival.
Ensure constant skilling
In a rapidly changing work landscape, businesses must focus on building a dynamic workforce that has the right mix of skills.
Raise capital
Funding remains one of the top challenges for most startups. Even those who manage to secure the initial seed money often find themselves struggling to raise the additional funds necessary to scale up their operations. It is, therefore, imperative that entrepreneurs have a robust and well-considered strategy in place for securing further investments as they continue to grow.
Nurture open communication
In the era of remote working, communication has become the cornerstone of organisational efficiency. For bootstrapped startups, communication is essential for team building. Open communication creates transparency in decision-making, facilitates conflict resolution, garners employee and customer trust, and ensures that everyone stays on the same page.
Adopt technology
Technology has allowed startups to develop business models that facilitate maximum efficiency along with cost optimisation. However, as technology is subject to rapid evolutions, startups need to keep pace to ensure that they stay relevant.
Ensure sales growth
Ultimately, the success of any business depends on consistent sales growth. Apart from the innovations in products and marketing, a robust supply chain is critical for ensuring seamless delivery.
Leading a startup requires a long-term vision, commitment to quality and people, agility in evolving in response to the dynamic business environment, and the ability to maximise opportunities as they appear. The success of homegrown startups like Urban Company, Razorpay, Zomato, Swiggy, and PayTM shows that it is possible to build businesses from scratch, scale up from a bootstrapped venture to a large organisation, and ensure the longevity of the business in the face of cut-throat competition. The path lies in learning from success and failures and adapting quickly to changing circumstances.