A startup is a company that derives from a passion project and transforms into a solution to a problem. It is a company that is in the early stages of development, and is designed to scale quickly and with great impact.
What’s the difference between a small business and a startup?
A small business entrepreneur
wants to be self-employed aims for profitability and stable, long-term value
A startup entrepreneur
wants to change the world aims for a scalable business model and is prepared to take risks
Here are the basic components of starting a startup
• IDEA
• TEAM
• PRODUCT
• EXECUTION
Idea
The idea phase stems from one main question: What is the problem in the world that you want to solve? Your ideal solution to this problem should inspire the mission behind your startup.
TYPES OF BUSINESS MODELS
• Business to Business – Selling a product or service to other businesses.
• Business to Consumer – Selling a product or service directly to the daily consumer. It’s about doing things quicker and better.
• SaaS (Software as a Service) – Subscription-based and centrally hosted.
• Peer-to-Peer – Enabling people to buy or rent directly from each other.
• E-commerce – Online shopping.
• Lifestyle – Combining passion and profession.
• Non-Profit – Organizations working for social good.
Team
Find people with skill sets that compliment yours and work together to create an MVP (minimum viable product).
Start with the core competencies: business, technical and creative. All other needs can be outsourced to start out with, and brought to the team at a later time.
Product
Creating a prototype of your product is the ideal first step, but if you don’t have the means, you can start with a great pitch deck. A pitch deck in the concept phase should include creative design elements, as well as information on the following:
• a basic go-to market strategy
• knowledge of the industry and all competition
• identifiable revenue stream
• amount you want to raise and how you plan to allocate the money
The Name
What may seem like the most simple and straightforward part of a new company is picking the right name.
THE NAME SHOULD BE:
• Memorable. Try not to have anything too difficult to say or spell.
• Expressive. It needs to represent your product and your brand.
• Available. You need to choose something that is not currently registered or trademarked.
On that note, it’s the perfect segue to go from the product into the business/legal/financial components…
Execution
Having a great idea is just the beginning of starting a startup. You’ll need to protect yourself, your idea and your company with the right steps in execution.
While the rest are in no particular order, step number one is securing legal counsel. There are too many pieces of the legal puzzle for you to deal with on your own, and having a legal team is the best way to avoid mistakes
