Dubai: Every year tens of thousands of fresh graduates join the workforce. A smaller percentage plan to do things differently and decide to start their own business. Now, even though starting a business is an exhilarating process, things may not always go as planned. It’s common knowledge that over half of businesses fail within the first two years of operation. What makes the difference between success and failure? Why is it that even though most businesses have a strong plan, they still fail? Or better – how can others achieve success that seems to defy all expectations? How do some companies, like Apple and Google, remain so innovative and grow year after year?
These successful companies started out pretty much like every other start-up with little or no resources. They had the same access to talent, basic funding, same media and marketing channels, but they did something right.
At the height of the boom and the depth of recession we’ve seen companies grow regardless of market conditions. And there is one overriding similarity that seems to make all the difference, a belief, a shared purpose for the reason the company exists.
So if you are thinking about starting a business here are a few things to consider.
1 Believe in why you are doing it.
Most companies around know exactly ‘what’ they do as a business. They even know ‘how’ they do it and what their USPs are. But successful organisations know ‘why’ they do what they do. By why I don’t mean for profit – that’s only a result. By why I mean the purpose, the cause, the belief, why does the organisation exist? And why should anyone care? Inspiring leaders regardless of their size or industry think about why they do what they do before anything else. This ties to your belief in your plan. Steve Jobs famously said: “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”
2 Challenging the status quo.
Most successful organisations don’t try to follow other successful companies, business ideas or concepts. That’s way too boring. Instead they focus on challenging the status quo and offering new, unique and non-existent products or services. They know it’s risky to break new ground, but the rewards are far greater.
3 Create something you want yourself.
Jobs also didn’t release new features developed by his team unless he’d tried it over weeks until he found it indispensable to his user experience. And that’s another key. To believe in your product or service, you should want to use it yourself. No matter how technologically advanced a product or service may be, it is absolutely useless if it does not meet the needs of a potential customer or make life easier. And if you don’t really love your own product or service, the chances are no one else will either.
4 Easy to use.
One of the key driving forces in why people use a product or a service is because they feel it’s going to make their life easier. Needless to say that anything too complex is worthless to a customer. Even if it looks awesome or is very niche, it might be worthless to a customer if it’s too complex to use. A product needs to be intuitive and easy to understand and even easier to learn. If it’s a service, it should be easy to access and offer peace of mind. Ease of use is usually more important than the offering itself.
5 Keep things simple.
Times have changed. For some strange reason, people like overcomplicating stuff. It doesn’t have to be that way. Long gone are the days where you have to fluff things up to make them seem valuable. If you want to be successful you should try and minimise the decision-making process for the consumer and keep things simple. For example, while most mobile phone providers offer over 20 different models in their range, Apple has just one — the iPhone — and almost everyone understands it. Even while you provide a service, make sure you save your customer’s time by keeping things as simple as possible.
6 Great customer service.
Most successful companies believe the actual sale begins only after the customer makes their purchase. Many clients require hand-holding and don’t want to feel neglected once they have parted with their cash. Give them a good experience and they will tell their friends. Goodwill, credibility and word of mouth are probably the most cost-effective forms of advertising you can get.
7 Do things better.
Successful companies may do what others do, but always better. They are constantly improvising and recreating existing products in a bid to outdo their competition. Never offer something that’s already available in the market if you are not adding value. Not only are you making life difficult for yourself but for everyone else in the market and you will most likely fail. When competition is high and innovation is low, you can only compete by killing your profits to gain market share. You will eventually land up questioning your business model. If you can’t make something better, then don’t do it.
8 Evolve.
Just because you’re successful doesn’t mean you’re unstoppable. You’ve got to constantly stay ahead and take the competition by surprise. Innovative companies are usually one to two years ahead of their competition. For example, the iPhone 5 that was released last week in the UAE was designed and signed off in 2011. The model they are signing off now will probably be release some time in 2016. This is a nightmare for their competitors. Whether you’re offering a product or service make sure you are always planning way ahead and that’s where you will eventually land up staying.
If you are ready to take the challenge of a new start-up head on, you must be ready to do things differently. Just putting in the capital and hoping that things will progress spontaneously does not work. These simple principles are only some of the ways in which successful companies distinguish themselves from ‘not so successful’ companies. Develop your belief and ensure your beliefs are contagious and you will likely grow and secure the market share in your niche.
The writer is the founder and managing director of InternsME www.internsme.com
