Why Startups Fail and How Yours Can Succeed [Infographic]

Stacey Rudolph — February 9, 2017

Isn’t it amazing that 90% of startups do not make it past the 5th year? According to Go-globe, 74% of high promising internet businesses fail because of premature scaling while 29% others fail due to cash flow problems.

Failure is part of online business, and as an entrepreneur, you probably know and understand that more than anyone else. But experiencing a startup failure can be heart wrecking since you have poured your heart and soul into building starting your own business. Therefore, it is important to learn how to avoid failure before you invest all your time and life saving into it. Here are some tips to help your startup succeed.

Infographic source – http://www.go-globe.com/blog/startups/

Make something people want

This sounds simplistic, but it turns out to be one of the most important business advices your will ever receive. The problem with many founders is that they assume people will automatically like what they like. In essence, most startups make just one mistake: not creating something that customers want. If you just get this right, you will be fine even if you make other mistakes. If you fail to create what users want, then you’re dead, no matter how much money you have or how hard you work. According to Fast Company, 42% of startup failures can be attributed to this.

Asses your market

It is important to thoroughly analyze the market you are about to get into once you have defined the problem and connected with your potential customers. In order to analyze the whole market, here are some guiding questions to ask yourself.

• Is the market large enough to accommodate future scaling?
  
• Who are your competitors? What different solutions does your competition offer?
  
• What is the future of the market? Will it expand in the next 5 years or will it shrink?
  
• Is there a danger of disruptive technology pushing you out of business?
  
• Is your business flexible and able to adjust to prevailing business environment?

Take time to analyze the trends and regularly talk to your potential customers to help you understand and be open to pivoting whenever a need arises.

Work with a team that has what it takes

The right team makes a dream work. According to research by Harvard Business Review, one of startups’ biggest challenge is getting the right team in place. It is important to assemble sufficient diversity for various skills that may be required during the early stages. Your founding team must be sufficiently motivated and believe in the idea 100%. There is a reason why successful funders place a great emphasis on the founding team members. Try to attract and retain the right people to walk with you in this tumultuous journey.

A great part of the development of business model that connects all the above points is customer acquisition. It is important to get supportive initial customers who will help in improving the product.

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