Startup Survival Tips

Curated from Inc.com

Getting a business going isn’t easy. When things are starting out, it’s important to understand that there will be a few bumps in the road before success is reached. Here are some tips to keep in mind when going through the stages of launching a startup.

Delegate Tasks

Startup owners may want to do everything themselves to ensure tasks are done correctly. When owners hire employees to do specific tasks and don’t let them do their jobs, that will only lead to more stress. The owner’s job is to build the company and leave other tasks to the employees hired to do them.

“As a human, accept that you can only do so much. That means that if you have more tasks than you can actually achieve, you need to make sure to prioritize the ones that only you can do. If you're writing lines of code all day, that means you're not refining your long-term goals or your financial plan, and you're not building relationships with investors or stakeholders.”

Pay Attention to Every Department

Employees in sales and research departments are staffed first because they lead to business improvement. These employees are crucial, but don’t forget other departments. Administrative assistants, accountants and legal employees are there to aid in the inner-workings of the company. One oversight in a legal or payroll issue could be lead to more problems in the future.

“Everyone knows that adding staff and resources to R&D and sales is usually urgent, and it's absolutely fine to prioritize those two--for the short term. Don't forget the rest of your company though!”

Remember the Company’s Values

Taking advice from clients is a great way to learn how the company can improve. During this process, it’s important to note the core values the company was founded on and to stick with those. Feature creep happens when companies do everything the client requests while also adding value. Pleasing clients and customers is important, but note that businesses aren’t able to do it all.

“Even those of us who are aware of the dangers of feature creep, and have experienced it many times before can sometimes fall victim to it. However, once you realize the issue, it's critical that you refocus on your core value, or you'll risk your business spinning into chaos.”

Saying No Is Okay

Sometimes startups aren’t ready to take on certain clients and it’s okay to say no to them. When a big name client approaches asking for the company’s services, this can be both great and harmful to the company. Taking on these clients can build the company’s reputation, but can also lead to more pressure and overworked employees.

“If you have many small clients approaching you, the temptation is to accept another one every time they call because each individual one seems like an easy task. However, know when the final straw will break the metaphorical camel's back - usually in the form of your valuable employees starting to look elsewhere because they're overworked.”