Successful businesses are built by the sweat, and sometimes blood, of the founders, as well as a wide range of other critical factors without which the venture will only become a mirage. These factors, according to Bill Gross, founder of idealab, range from the idea, team, business model, funding, timing among others depending on the specific industry and prevailing business environment.

Facebook, for example, built from scratch and nurtured into a formidable global brand will forever be one of the best examples of a successful start-up. However, it is worthy to note that successful start-ups are mostly established by normal men and women through dedication, vision and personal discipline.

Many such entrepreneurial success stories such as the Daily Monitor Newspaper in Uganda, the prowess of Ms Betty Muthoni Gikonyo, a Kenyan medical entrepreneur and Dangote of Nigeria, also abound on the African continent. These illustrate how start-ups fledge from little ideas and gradually metamorphose into strong brands that require lots of ink to write their stories.

Start-ups can be nurtured into global brands and successful enterprises, but a clear vision and patience are required to walk the long and challenging journey to regional, continental or global stardom.

In an article published on the Ruforum website, Charles Ocici, the Enterprise Uganda Chief Executive Officer, argues that starting a business is a marathon that demands persistence and consistency.

“Even with all the right ingredients in place, a start-up needs at least seven years of support to stand on its own. The journey of entrepreneurship is not a sprint but a marathon. One must be ready for the long journey. Otherwise, they are setting themselves up for disaster,” he says.

That being said, it is important for anyone seeking to embark on the entrepreneurial trail to realize that entrepreneurship may involve other internal and external factors that cannot be controlled by the entrepreneur.

As we near our entrepreneurial leadership webinar, here are some ideas to consider if you are to grow your start-up into a very successful global brand.

Your Idea Must Be Unique to Attract A Demand for Your Product Or Service

It is not enough to manufacture a product or design a service. What you offer must be unique to attract a demand for your product or service to guarantee growth and sustainability of the business. As Bill Gross puts it, one of the reasons he founded Idealab is because he was convinced that ideas were the most crucial aspect of building a successful tech start-up.

According to the Ultimate Guide to Start-ups marketing blog, if you try to market your start up to everyone, you waste both time and money. The most critical thing for a start-up is to have a unique idea that has the market. You cannot serve every need.

Funding

For a start-up, funding is a critical factor for any success, though not the most important factor. If you have the right idea, with the appropriate business model you can grow your business organically. In fact, in many cases funding, if it comes too, early can hinder growth.

Too much money too early into the start-up, and you might experience artificial growth thereby giving a false success index. Organic growth often is the best way to attract the right funding for growth of the business.

Be an Optimist as An Entrepreneur

The road to success on the entrepreneurial journey is paved with incidence of failures. The only way to survive is to keep a positive mindset in whatever you do. There are many successful entrepreneurs who failed several times before hitting their jack pot. Ever imagined what would have happened if Edison had stopped his experiments after ten failures? The whole world might’ve been in total darkness or everyone sitting under candlelight instead of the electric bulb.

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It is not a crime to get it wrong the first time or even the second time. Getting it wrong gives you lessons that you must take note of to build better. Every single successful entrepreneur had a positive mindset that drove them to introduce innovations into our world today. Doubting yourself won’t do you any good. To succeed in the entrepreneurial journey, you must learn to keep your head high even when you fall several times.

Always remember, that, start-ups are built around personalities, – the entrepreneur; therefore, be ready always to be that pivot on which the business will survive to see another day. This means your reputation, courage, vision and motivation define the success or failure of your venture.

Constantly Improve Your Product

According to Hill (2021), the competitive business environment continually changes, and start-ups should always be ready to change their business model to remain competitive.

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Regardless of the above-mentioned key success factors, if you are not improving your product/service, your business may soon be rendered irrelevant. Be quick to develop systems and structures that will enable you change with the changing needs of customers and the environmental dynamics.

It’s a fast-paced world out there. No single company can secure the top spot for long without innovation. Every day, people are trying to become a better version of themselves. Taking time out to enhance your product or service, will keep you in the limelight and ahead of the competition otherwise you will be discarded by customers in no time.

Listen To Your Customers

The concept of the customer being king must be the bedrock of your business. The best way to remain in the market is listen to what your customers are saying and to find innovative ways to deliver value to them continuously. Listen to them and work hard to integrate their feedback into your business model.

According to Lowde (2020), All successful companies know that listening to your customers is the best way to understand how and what they think. And understanding your customers is the key to good product evaluation, which can help you create a product or service that people will genuinely fall in love with . Therefore, you should never clog your ears to the customer.

Conclusion

The road to start-ups success is not a jolly cruise. Challenges on the way may be inevitable, but it is how you deal with those challenges that makes all the difference.

Be part of the two days entrepreneurial Leadership webinar, Expand 2021, for start-ups, this April, to learn more. Register now.