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  • Eric D. Gordon

    Eric D. Gordon is an independent business development and marketing specialist for SMEs. He loves sharing his insights and experience to assist business owners in growing their revenues.
7 Key Lessons to Learn From Failed Startups
Entrepreneurs

7 Key Lessons to Learn From Failed Startups

Many new startups fail for various reasons. After all, starting a new business requires you to make a strong hypothesis about your target audience and about your products and services. More than that, you must typically adjust your approach over time to help your business succeed as you see first-hand what is working and what is not working well for your venture. However, as an entrepreneur, you do not necessarily have to reinvent the wheel. Many other failed businesses can be studied, and you can use the lessons learned from these failed attempts to improve your own chances for success. 7 Key Lessons to Learn From Failed Startups You think that you know it all. After all, you’re already successful in your mind, so who cares what others have to say? Fight that urge every day… You know nothing. - Jason Huertas, My Startup Failed 1. Validate your product with your customers One reason why some startups fail relates to a lack of demand in the marketplace. You may think you know what your customers want and need, but you must validate your beliefs or assumptions directly. After all, the last thing you want is to make something that nobody wants to buy. While focusing on a niche is a smart idea, confining your target audience to a very narrow segment can backfire. You need to understand your customers’ needs and wants, but you do not want to copy what another company has already attempted or is already offering. The best entrepreneurs do not mimic successful efforts, and instead, they build a product or offer a service that is unique. Understand and embrace how you are different than the competition. Always test your products or services on a small scale before spending time and money expanding your reach. 2. Make sure the market for your product is big enough Another common reason why small businesses fail is because the target audience is simply too small. The market should be drawn to the product or service that you offer, but it also should be large enough to support profitability and even growth from your efforts. Remember that you can never do too much market research when launching a new business. Understand if your initial launch will be well-received by your target audience by studying the market. In addition, focus on the possibility for sustained growth and on the efforts of the competitors if you want to know as much as possible about your market. 3. Understand the importance of the right partners and team You may be starting your business as a one-man operation, but this is not advisable in many situations. The most successful startups usually are a partnership or use a team approach. Different people have unique strengths, and your ability to put together a great team and to harness combined strengths can pay off substantially. Technical skills, creativity, and other traits should be highly valued and sought after when you are putting together a team. Remember to allocate tasks and projects based on the strengths of the individuals. 4. Focus on your finances Raising funds for your business can be stressful and time-consuming, but it is essential. You may have to pitch your project to hundreds of investors and venture capitalists before getting a commitment from someone, so be prepared to stare into the face of defeat numerous times. Remember that you need money to get your business ready to sell to your first customer. You also need funds to keep your venture afloat until you become steadily profitably. Additional funds may be needed for emergency situations, growth, and more. All aspects of finances and expenses should be carefully researched so that they are as accurate as possible. 5. Find the right investors The right investors can be a true benefit to a startup. These may be individuals with deep pockets as well as shared goals and beliefs. They may share your vision for the company, and they may even have exceptional insight or experiences that can be used beneficially to launch your startup more successfully. On the other hand, when investors’ visions do not align with your own, you may deal with the stressful situation of butting heads frequently with investors when you should be focused on growing your business. 6. Stay focused Many entrepreneurs are highly creative and adventurous. You may have dozens of money-making ideas and side ventures in mind, but you need to focus on the primary goal of launching your specific business in a targeted way. Turn your attention to the essential elements associated with delivering your products or services to your target audience. Otherwise, you may lose focus, and your startup may flounder. 7. Don't neglect marketing Another common reason why some startups fail relates to ineffective marketing. Even if you have a great product or service that appeals to your target audience, they cannot make the decision to buy it if they do not know about it. Word-of-mouth advertising can be effective in rare cases for startups, but most entrepreneurs should plan to market heavily. Determine an effective marketing campaign that will reach your target audience in a focused way. The internet is a great marketing resource for many startups, but you may need to hire a marketing professional with experience in online marketing in order to maximize the benefits it can provide to your startup in the most cost-effective way. Failures are resources -- use them If you have every watched a startup fail, it may seem to do so almost overnight. However, most startups that fail begin to falter because of one or more of these issues. The problem may magnify over time and often without the founders' knowledge or attention. When the problem becomes glaringly noticeable, it is often too late for the founder(s) to address the situation. If you are preparing to launch a startup or if you have already taken the important first steps with your project, analyze the situation carefully to determine if any of these factors apply to your situation, and consider what you can do to maneuver around them.

5 Tips for Managing Workplace Conflict and Building A Strong Team
Entrepreneurs

5 Tips for Managing Workplace Conflict and Building A Strong Team

Workplace tension is unfortunately too common, and there are many reasons why it can develop in your office. Any time two or more individuals work together, conflict over many different things can arise. When this happens, tensions could escalate, and productivity could decline rapidly. Individuals may feel unhappy about their jobs, and some individuals may even resign because of a workplace conflict. Employers and managers should quickly identify and deal with situations before they escalate, in order to keep them from negatively impacting productivity. The following five tips can help you to more effectively deal with workplace conflict in your office.Here Are 5 Tips for Managing Workplace Conflict and Building A Strong TeamEvery conflict we face in life is rich with positive and negative potential. It can be a source of inspiration, enlightenment, learning, transformation, and growth-or rage, fear, shame, entrapment, and resistance. The choice is not up to our opponents, but to us, and our willingness to face and work through them.- Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith1. Establish clear guidelinesYour employee handbook should clearly define guidelines regarding acceptable behavior in the workplace. More than that, everyone should understand their job description as well as their scope of authority to complete tasks independently and with others as part of a team. There should be an established chain of command for getting questions answered as well as for dealing with conflicts. Your employee handbook should identify behaviors and actions that are not tolerated. More than that, it should clarify what actions may be taken if employees violate these rules. For example, a first offence may result in the employee being written up. Even with these steps taken, conflict can still arise. Employees should understand the steps they need to take to report the conflict, and they should feel empowered to take specific steps on their own to prevent future conflicts from developing. 2. Create a positive environmentThe managers, executives and owners in the company should be exceptional role models who display the ideal and expected behavior in the company at all times. You and your upper management team should always be positive and should actively work to mitigate conflict when possible. Employees should feel comfortable having a little fun at work, and professionally-appropriate humor should be welcomed. All communication should be positive and upbeat. Remember that a negative environment or employees who feel overworked may result in productivity issues. This type of unpleasant work environment can also lead to dissatisfaction and increased turnover as well as to a rise in workplace conflicts. Always engage your team and show them positive ways to cooperate with others as well as to deal with minor issues before they turn into a major problem that has potentially more serious consequences.3. Know what causes conflictIt is important to understand what commonly causes conflict so that you can identify small issues that may be brewing between different individuals in your office. Some individuals may feel stressed and unhappy when another person violates their personal space or when someone feels overworked. A seeming inequality in workloads or seeing other employees being favored can also contribute to a toxic workplace where disputes over job duties or issues with the quality of work being completed are a common occurrence.Spend time regularly observing your team. Understand that your employees may not always talk to you about a pending issue, and you should be able to spot signs of an issue and bring it up in a positive way. By identifying issues early on, you can take the necessary steps to resolve the problem. For example, you may suggest a reasonable step that one employee can take to resolve an issue on his or her own so that the problem does not magnify.4. Emphasize open communicationCommunication is critical in a positive, productive work environment, and you can foster excellent communication in your workplace by taking a few steps. Rather than dictate instructions to your team, ask them for their cooperation and insight for projects. Openly accept their ideas and show gratitude for them. Ask your employees to come to you directly with conflicts that develop, and always give your employees constructive feedback regarding their work efforts, how to mitigate future conflicts, and more. Your team should feel comfortable discussing any situation with you.Casual banter is also welcome at suitable times. For example, before a meeting starts, you can ask about your team’s weekend plans or thank individuals for specific contributions they have made. Formal positive communication is also advisable from time to time, such as formally recognizing a department’s extra efforts or a special honor that an individual or department received.5. Get help from HRIf you have a mid-sized or larger company, you likely have a human resources department. Your employees should understand which human resources professionals they can turn to if they have an issue with a co-worker or a manager. Preventing and addressing workplace conflict is a critical function for a human resources department, and your HR team should be well-trained and properly educated about how to handle these issues. You can set up an anonymous notification system so that HR can learn about developing issues in an unintimidating way. Your human resources team should also actively solicit your staff for their opinions and feedback. For example, surveys may be given so that employees can let upper management know about their feelings about the work environment, their workload, how employee reviews are handled, and more. Final thoughtsWorkplace conflict can fester into a major issue that negatively affects employee retention, job satisfaction, productivity and more. As you can see, there are steps that you can take on a regular basis to decrease workplace conflict as well as to identify issues early on. When you adopt these tips and follow this advice on a regular basis, you can create a more positive and productive work environment.

5 Challenges Facing Young Entrepreneurs (and How to Overcome Them)
Entrepreneurs

5 Challenges Facing Young Entrepreneurs (and How to Overcome Them)

Although the potential rewards are great, starting a new business at any age is fraught with risk. For younger people, however, the challenges are multiplied. Lack of experience, inadequate financial resources, and a lack of self-confidence all contribute in one way or another to make it tougher for a young entrepreneur than an older counterpart. As a result, many young entrepreneurs fail to make the grade. But those that do succeed are those who face the obstacles they encounter with determination and resolve. They know that their greatest allies are the confidence to know that they will succeed against all odds, and the willingness to learn from their mistakes. Here’s a look at some of the challenges young entrepreneurs face and how they can work to overcome them. 5 Challenges Facing Young Entrepreneurs (and How to Overcome Them) I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the nonsuccessful ones is pure perseverance. - Steve Jobs (more quotes) 1. Hiring staff Most young entrepreneurs likely have never managed people before. And if they have, the experience they have built up doing so is probably limited. When they come to hire their first workers, therefore, their skills will be tested to the ultimate. It is never easy being the boss and even harder when you are the owner of the company and your profitability is at stake. Rules need to be set up involving such aspects as working hours, vacation time, overtime pay and work output. Salaries need to be negotiated, complaints against workers lodged, and people might even need to be fired or laid off. That’s not even to speak of staff fitting the company culture or of employees working together as a team. Young entrepreneurs should make this process a little less onerous by being careful to hire people who will not only have the right skills for the job, but will also fit in well with the company culture. Take your time and consider each employee carefully; check all references and do not allow yourself to be blindsided by glib talk. 2. Lack of capital Almost all new ventures require seed capital — money that is available to see them through those first rocky months or even years before they turn a profit. Some types of businesses need more money than others. Almost all need money for marketing. Older people who start their own ventures usually need less financing to do so than younger entrepreneurs. The reason is that their experience in the field, knowledge of how the business world works, and connections within the business world, some built up over many years, provide a great boost to their start-up businesses. As a result, they generally are able to turn a profit sooner and need to rely on financing for a shorter time. Most young entrepreneurs, however, do not have those benefits available to them. That means that they need money to sustain them while they gather that experience. In addition, younger people have not had the time to accumulate savings in the way older people often have, and are likely to owe more in loans and on credit cards than their senior counterparts. The lack of capital means that they have to struggle to survive while waiting for the checks to come in. This can be extremely stressful. To avoid this situation, young entrepreneurs should write a detailed business plan that will give them a good idea of how much money they will need to survive before becoming profitable. Armed with that total, they should seek to find it. Friends and family and even a local bank or credit union might be able to assist them. 3. Decisions, decisions, decisions Whereas as an employee you generally did what you were told, now you are the one calling the shots. Doing so involves making a lot of decisions. Even without employees, you are going to be called upon to make decisions all day, from smaller ones to major judgments that could change the direction and future of your company. Among the most important decisions are those that involve creativity and ideas. If an aspect of your company is not working as it should, you will need to make a decision to discontinue it or amend it. You will need to decide whether the company should embark on a whole new path in search of greater profits — or, if it does not work, potentially great losses. It’s stressful and will cause you to have self-doubt. Here’s where your entrepreneurial skills come into play. You will need to believe in yourself, be confident that you do have the ability to make the right decisions, and never doubt your good judgment. 4. Criticism and self-doubt As a young entrepreneur, you will find that not everyone will take you seriously. They will tell you that you are too young to build a successful business. They will be quick to tell you just what they think you are doing wrong. At times, the criticism and the self-doubt it fosters might get to you. As your business struggles to get off the ground, you could start to doubt yourself. You might wonder whether you should have started your business after all. At times like these, tell yourself that determination and resolve are what distinguish the successful entrepreneurs from the rest. Do not give up. Believe in yourself and you will succeed. 5. Lack of brand image As a young entrepreneur builds a business, creating the right image is vital. Customers must come to trust your brand. They must recognize that you know what you are doing and you know how to do it well. As you build your brand, ensure that you are putting the customers first, providing them with the quality goods and services that differentiate you from the competition. Take all complaints and comments, particularly from your customers, seriously and do all you can to respond to them and change your operations if necessary. Remember that if your main aim is to satisfy the customer you will make money. If your main aim is to make money, you will fail to satisfy your customers and your business will ultimately fail.