Turning that brilliant idea you have in your head into a secure and successful business earning significant profits year after year is never easy.
Turning that brilliant idea you have in your head into a secure and successful startup business earning significant profits year after year is never easy. A staggering 90% of  businesses fail to get off the ground while the few startup entrepreneurs who manage to achieve success usually do so after years of trial and error. In light of helping you avoid becoming part of the failed startup statistics, here are 10 golden tips to cut down on the typical amount of time it takes to achieve success.
#1. Do Something You’re Passionate About
Passion is a powerful driving force that will help you overcome any obstacle that stands in the way. So, before launching a business, make sure you’re offering goods/services you know and are passionate about. For as long as you love your business, you’ll always find ways around unexpected problems that crop up. You’ll also be constantly seeking to do what’s best for the business, which means you’ll be in a better position to make the right choice when faced with make or break decisions.
For individuals who just aren’t passionate about anything enough to grow a business, know that the more you do something, the better you get at it. And the better you become at something, the more passionate you’re going to be about it eventually. Think about the time when you were still in school — your favorite subject was perhaps English or math. Why was that so? It’s very likely you were good in the subject. And when you’re good at something, you’ll naturally like it more and put in more effort into mastering the topic. The same goes for your business.
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#2. Do Extensive Marketing
Marketing is one of the best things entrepreneur can ever do for their business. When you market your product or service, you generate awareness of your business among potential buyers. The generated awareness in turn can help grow your customer base exponentially in a short amount of time. What’s more, marketing also throws in the added benefit of word-of-mouth, which also helps facilitate the growth of customers. Keep in mind that the more extensive the marketing, the greater the reach and the more the influx of customers. So, feel free to go all out on your marketing campaigns. A marketing strategist can help you come up with effective marketing campaigns. Just make sure you’re not blindly throwing money into your campaigns. Remember to constantly keep track of your ROIs to learn what’s working and what’s not.
#3. Go For The Option Of Contract Hiring
When it comes to startups, hiring the absolute best is a surefire way of ensuring fast growth. Unfortunately, hiring employees costs a lot — more so if they’re experienced individuals with a proven track record of generating results. Getting talented people onboard will cost you a pretty penny, which can slow down your startup. So, instead of hiring permanent employees, go for the option of hiring on a contract basis. Contracted employees cost far less than permanent ones but deliver the same quality of work. In fact, outsourced employees can reduce your staff salary cost by as much as 80%. These reduced costs in turn can help your company experience faster growth.
Contracted employees cost far less than permanent ones.Click To Tweet#4. Don’t Spend Too Much Time Focusing On Money
While we’re all in business to make money and not starve on the streets chasing after our passions, one of the main mistakes startup entrepreneurs commit is still worrying too much about money. While proper management of finances is crucial during the first stages of a business, paying too much focus on money can pull your business off track. You should instead focus your funds on getting your first batch of products out there. This can help you avoid burning through your funding too quickly and even generate profit. As long as what you’re selling is of good value, money will find its way to you. And as more money start trickling in, you can increase production slowly until you generate steady growth.
#5. Find Someone Who Will Keep You On Your Toes
Sometimes, the main difference between startups and highly successful businesses is years of extremely hard work. Not every company is going to be an overnight success (90% of all startups fail, remember? And out of the remaining 10%, not everyone is going to roll in riches overnight.) Therefore, hitting the ground running with a willingness to go the extra mile can help you achieve success faster. A friend, partner, or mentor who keeps you on your toes can be an invaluable force to have around. He or she can help push you to the extreme to ensure you give your business your all. In the same way, keep pushing your employees to perform at their ultimate best. The harder the work put into your startup, the faster it will develop.
While keeping in touch with your support network can be soup for the soul during tough times, you should similarly cut out toxic people from your life while you’re at it. Be open to constructive criticisms and learn the difference between tough love vs. naysayers.
#6. Learn From The Successes And Failures Of Other Entrepreneurs
While working hard is vital for a startup, working smart is equally as important. The best way of working smart is by researching and studying other successful businesses in the same industry as yours. How do they market themselves? How do they generate leads? What costly mistakes have they made and learned from along the way? Anything you can learn from these businesses will go a long way in helping you identify what growth boosting strategies to employ and what crippling mistakes to avoid.
 #7. Learn More About Your Potential Customers
The success or failure of a startup largely depends on the kind of reception it receives from its targeted customers. Therefore, one way you can launch your startup faster is to learn everything you can about your potential customers. Knowing the likes and dislikes of your customers will put you in a position of serving them better. Better service equals good reception, which in turn equals a higher chance of a smoother and faster launch.
#8. Be Flexible
Flexibility is an important trait that every startup should have. This is because the market is constantly changing and rarely remains in the same state for long. Being able to adapt to changes in the market at a moment’s notice will help your business remain relevant and grow more quickly. Planning your next steps while taking into account all possible scenarios is one of the best ways of staying flexible.
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#9. Spin Criticism Positively
Instead of simply ignoring your critics or getting discouraged by their comments, you should use criticism as a building block. Actively seek out critical feedback and ask your naysayers what they find wrong or unappealing about your products and services. You don’t have to agree with your critics or even act on all of their complaints. However, gathering this critical feedback can help you make sound decisions that will improve on customer experience.
#10. Work On Reducing Risks
Risks are everywhere in the business world. Therefore, finding a way to protect yourself against both expected and unforeseeable risks can help speed up your startup curve. While it’s impossible to control everything in the business world, there are several steps you can take to limit internal and external threats that can bring your business to a grinding halt. These include setting aside emergency funds, insuring your business, investing in software that protects against data breach or cyber losses, and delivering a family of products instead of a one-track product, to name a few. You can even hire a business strategist who specializes in risk mitigation if you have enough funding.
For any entrepreneur, instant market recognition and rapid growth are at the top of the list of goals. However, more often than not, immediate success has always been the exception and not the rule. These strategies can help you reverse the norm to experience success at a faster rate.
Author Bio:
Uyo Okebie-Eichelberger, Serial Entrepreneur, Wife, Mom and Duke MBA, has successfully built a seven-figure empire in the maternity industry with You! Lingerie and Preggo Leggings, two leading designer brands of chic maternity/nursing intimates and apparel cleverly made for fashionista moms.
The former Kraft Brand Manager and her brands have been featured in several publications and TV shows like The New York Times, Glamour Magazine, Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, CNBC, The Today Show, E! News, OMG!, The Daily News UK, Pregnancy & Newborn, American Baby and Fit Pregnancy.
Currently, Uyo Okebie-Eichelberger’s brands are sold online and in over 120 stores in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Uyo Okebie-Eichelberger recently partnered the world’s largest retailer, Walmart.com to launch an exclusive line of maternity/nursing lingerie called Love Xoxo by You! Lingerie.
She shares business tips on her blog: http://www.UyoOkebieEichelberger.com
Follow her social media pages on Twitter: @UyoEichelberger and Instagram: @Uyo
