Top 6 Simple But Powerful Tips to Push Your Startup Forward

One of the many wonderful things about the world we live in today is the endless amount of possibilities and options we have when it comes to choosing what we want to do with our lives.  

Because of this, more people are deciding now is the time to try their luck and start their own business.

With the increase in competition, it is becoming crucial to make sure that you do everything to set your business apart from the rest and gain an advantage.

So, here are some simple but powerful ideas that might help you push your startup forward immediately.

1. Automation and AI

There is a general misconception that automation and high-end technology are only accessible to the biggest and richest companies.

While this has most definitely been true in the past, third-party tools are making it less expensive and more available for wider use.

Because of this, 2018 has seen a big increase in AI-based startups – they’re becoming an increasingly lucrative endeavor and might be worth looking in to.

On the other hand, recent years have also seen major strides in marketing automation, with companies reporting an increase in revenue of up to 58 percent after incorporating it into their business.

2. Improve your customer relations

Studies show that 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

While this is an incredible fact on its own, the important thing to take away from this is that the way you treat your customers really does matter.

With the enormous amount of choice and power customers have, one of your main goals should always be to make sure that they are happy and that they have a good experience while doing business with you.

This will not only make sure that you have positive reviews but it has also been shown that happy customers are 73% more likely to spend more.

3. Personalize your startup

There is a general sense of discontent with modern businesses that only treat their customers as numbers and sources of income.

Because of this people have started to appreciate having a close and personal relationship with the companies they are doing business with.

And while investing in automation is a great idea, it’s still important to remember that people prefer to interact with real human beings.

So even though automatized marketing is still highly recommended, some areas of your business may benefit from having a human touch.

A good way to achieve this is through investing in personal marketing and making sure that you are keeping up with the latest trends in digital marketing.

4. Look for outside capital

Having good and well-managed finances is the main component that goes into building every successful business, and as a matter of fact, most businesses fail because they are unable to secure the funding they need.

This usually occurs because people have the expectation that their businesses should be profitable as soon as they open.

So, instead of securing the funds they are going to need from the start through reliable means such as a business loan or venture capital investments, they either invest their own money, or believe that their business is going to be self-sufficient.

The latter two have the potential to be catastrophic because, by the time they realize this just won’t cut it, it will be a lot harder to gather the funds they need to keep going.

This is why it’s crucial to make sure you have a reliable method to finance your business through all of the turbulent times that may lie ahead.

5. Make your employees happy

Finding good people to work for you is one of the biggest challenges you can face, and with unemployment at historic lows if your employees feel undervalued and unappreciated, they may not think twice about leaving you which can cost you quite a lot.

Another upside of keeping your employees happy is the fact that they will be substantially more productive.

Research shows that a happy employee is up to 20 percent more productive than an unhappy employee.

So, if you have good and hard-working people working for you don’t hesitate the show them that their hard work is appreciated.

6. Don’t give up

If running a startup was easy everyone would do it. This is important to keep in mind as the fact of the matter is that 90 percent of startups fail. And while this may seem quite off-putting, it can work as a good reminder and a motivator for you.

However, just aimlessly trying again and again won’t do you much good either, you need to be constantly innovating and improving your ideas, but most importantly you need to remember that making a mistake and failing doesn’t mean the end of the world.

You need to be able to know and accept when you fail as long as you are able to learn from those mistakes.

Conclusion

It can be quite easy to look at some of the biggest companies in the world today that originally started as startups and ascribe their success to luck.

And while luck may well have been an aspect of it, all of these companies have also succeeded because they were able to rise above their competition and make their ideas into reality, no matter how hard it seemed.

It is very important for every business to include these ideas to improve their company or services, and of course, to survive in the competitive world. It is also important to find partners like Poplify.com for startup business support. Poplify helps companies build world-class software, quickly and cost-effectively with the top five percent local and offshore talent.

With the new year upon us, there is no time like now to push your startup forward and see just how far you are able to go.