Many startups around the world face common “StartUp” problems and challenges, and most of them are dead within the first year of inception.
When I faced trouble I solved it in three ways:-
- Focus on Customers
- Serve your employees
- Learn from the competitors
1. Focus on Customers
When I faced trouble in my work, my clients and friends were the one to tell; “Hey, Mayank keeps going. You are doing a great thing. You can’t die just like that”. “When an investor is in your mind, you only focus on revenue generation, transaction, and how can you take next level of investment ahead.
I hardly found that it’s hard to turn your investor into a customer. In my view, I don’t believe Mr. Pierce Brosnan ate Pan Bahar ever the cricket God Tendulkar or people’s favourite Kohli must have driven that bike or car. It’s difficult to believe that superstar Amitabh Bachchan uses Navratan oil. Your customer is always there with you. They give you money, hope, and most importantly support. Make a habit to measure client satisfaction. This will help you in discovering your short-coming.
2. Serve your Employees
Your employee and your team make the most of the difference in your life. It’s your team that turns your dream into reality. Innovation takes place when you listen to your employees. Ideas flourish when you solve their problem and look after their family problem to some extent as well. Doing this will make them feel as if it’s their business not only your company. They will love to accompany you and feel glad to work along with you. When you start believing your team, you will see a rise in their performance. They will love to work for you.
What I learned:
“Try to find right people, not the best people”
Why we are Successful:
• We don’t have an MBA, IITs or any high experience people
• We are not smart enough, and I could not crack IIT
• We are not hard working; Rickshaw wala does more hard work than us
We are successful as we have the dream with us – A dream to do something great. We have hope within us to achieve anything we dream.
All the employees who came from big industries to work with us have left. They left us as they could only be team leaders, persons who could only drive the process, not passion.
Remember one thing in life: When you are small, hire people, not talent as the appointed person is there to share his dream, not just to work with you.
When you recruit, you don’t need best people with great academics and professional qualifications but the people with right attitude and spirit to learn. This is one key to our success.
It is important for you to have a team that has updated skills to handle their responsibilities more effectively.
Do not shy away from on-the-company training sessions for your employees. This will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your business. What’s more, these training sessions will increase your employees’ level of commitment to the company.
On the same note, it will not break a bone if you too attend short courses to upgrade your business skills. There are many free online courses for business owners and managers, which you can choose to attend with your convenience.
3. Learn from the Competitors
You should always love your competitors, and learn from them. To grow fast, you should have competitors. Respect them and learn as much as you can. Your competitors are the best research laboratory for you. Instead of copying, you should try to learn from them.
I love and admire my competitors because every time I look at them, I feel good. They aren’t there for fighting. For instance, the models, why they are successful, have you ever thought?
The most interesting part of the business is competition. But it should be a healthy one. When you find your competitors using the money to compete with you, they start losing your faith.
Business is all about wisdom, hope, and courage. Last but not least, never let your dream die.
This Article is originally published at Entrepreneur Magazine written by Mr. Mayank Pratap Singh.