Why the 90 percent of the start-ups fail in its first year of life? It is not easy to give a simple answer, and there is no recipes miracle to avoid lay the closure. However in Entrepreneur believe that in reality, the last because it is to be found in a financial mismanagement.
In this sense, published a small guide in which reflected some of the key points that any new enterprising must take into account when it comes to launch your company, and that we believe that os prove of great interest.
We must offer what people are willing to buy, not what we want to sell
Too often, future entrepreneurs believe they have an idea fantastic and revolutionary, that is so good that will be a success almost instantaneous. Launched by a optimism blind, prepare their business plan create their iôdp and wait for the public they discover as large “visionary”.
However, in too many times, to launch the new product has not been a serious study of the market, or if there really is a need to buy, or if we are able to generate such a necessity in the event that does not exist.
For example, imagine that we want to enter in the sector of the sports shoes. Our initial idea may be creating a slipper with the material more advanced and sophisticated of the world, beginning clearly above what is being done at this time. It is true that we have the opportunity to be truly revolutionary, but it is also true that the failure can be policy, however much innovation to introduce to our product.
In this sense, it may be better that we have to be satisfied with enter the sector of the sports shoes high range, because in any case is better to have a small part of the market, which does not have market at all.
Take care of your Cash Flow
The Cash Flow is the raw material with which works any company, so if there is a good advice that poodemos offer you is this: get cash flow as soon as possible. You will have to dispose of working capital since the early months of life of the company.
How to get it? The first might be, for example, fight for a credit from the ICO capital, as the Line ICO Entrepreneurs 2010 or the Line ICO-Liquidity 2010.
On the other side must take our side strategies of buying and selling to facilitate such capital as ask advances for services not yet rendered and have enough capacity to negotiation as to make payments to 60 or even 90 days.
Investigates new ways to reduce costs
Get all the cash flow of the world we do not serve as much if we are not capable of transforming it into a current positive, which translated into other terms means that do not survive if we are not able to earn more than what we spend.
One of the principles more solid in this field is based on that we be able to reduce everything we can our costs. If this is important in any company, is even more when we talk about a start-up, that taking into account the advantages of new technologies, should even consider whether it worth paying for an office.
Another good advice is to avoid in the extent possible recourse the channel of retail at the time to carry out our shopping, and in certain processes bet strongly by the outsourcing.
We have to be able to “play” with the fewest fixed costs that we can and the bet by the outsourcing of all kinds of services we are free to get rid of them when we want without which we suppose an extra cost.
Marketing, marketing and more marketing
The rule number in the business world is that in business nothing happens interesting until the first sale. For this reason from the day number 1 we have to be looking into ways to generate leads, turning them into sales and make sure in loyalty to our earliest customers.
The marketing plan (completely absent in many smes spanish) is almost as important as our business plan, so that all efforts are few at the time to create a coherent strategy and it is implemented in a systematic way (the marketing plan cannot be a document enormous that is stored in a drawer).
A good advice that we offer from Entrepreneur is that when we talk about marketing is much more effective build our strategy from below, that is, we must invest our efforts in the most important, get new customers, and only later we will dedicate ourselves to designing our brand image.
Increases your benefits
What is easy to say truth? And yet increase our benefits based on five basic axioms:
- Get more leads.
- To convert more leads in customers.
- To increase the frequency of purchase of our customers.
- Increase prices when there is a great demand.
- To increase margins.
If we run properly one of the five previous points without the need to increase our costs then we will be in the right direction.
Assess and measure
We cannot introduce any change in our company, nor to determine if our strategy is the right if we do not have a good analysis system, if we cannot compare our results or do not have the proper tools to do so.
In this sense, and especially when we talk about marketing, many companies are launched to create campaigns, investing a large amount of resources, but without being fully aware if finally their efforts have been worthwhile or, if they have done (or vice versa), what are the reasons.
Analyze and measure each of our processes, the impact of our decisions, etc. offers us tracks and symptoms of how we are working, of what works and how. On the contrary, if not invest effort needed to carry out such analysis, we simply pulling the money.
Training
We will never tire of insist on the importance of the training in the success of a company, so that it is one of the underpinnings keys on which we should build everything else. In Entrepreneur illustrated with the following example:
“If you’ve never managed a $1 million, don’t know as manages $1 million. However, you can learn to do so, even if you in your portfolio just some cents”
It is necessary to accept since the first minute that without the necessary training, there is no benefits. For that reason we really commit ourselves to our training in areas such as marketing and sales, finance, management and management…if we really want our company’S success.
Once we commit ourselves with our training and apply the principles that we have learned, the sky is the limit.
Do not do discounts, adds value
Each time we apply a discount to our products and services we are really doing is leaving to join a money that really going to need.
A estreategia more interesting is in contrast add value to our products and services, so that follow deserve the penalty pay the same (or more) by something that our competition “strip” prices.
This is the strategy that apply large companies like Apple, which manages always maintain high prices because they have always offers something of value in return.
In this regard the Internet has revealed a field exceptional to include offering those extras palatable by a greatly reduced price (or even without cost) and bet on a strategy freemium.
Do you need a coach?
If you want to start a business adventure of some complexity and do not have previous experience, you need a coach, a mentor, or someone you east during the first few months. By very prepared you believe to be taking the step, by many books that you read, one thing is the theory and is quite another practice.
You can start by going to events of startup where offer seminars and courses of short duration. If you are lucky you can count on the services of a mentor for free or for little money. Don’t miss never contact with associations and institutions that are concerned about entrepreneurs and as we have said before, perseveres in your training.


