Starting a startup is terribly easy – at least in theory. You have a good idea, develop a business plan, and you can start earning money. In practice, however, it looks completely different: What seemed simple becomes more and more complex until you finally no longer know where your head is. Many startups make the mistake of not concentrating on the essentials when founding a startup but getting bogged down in current trends. At the end of the day, when building a startup, everything is a bit suitable, but nothing right. So that you do not make this mistake, a simple rule applies: Completely delete everything that is not your core offer.
In the following article we want to briefly discuss the individual steps involved in founding a startup. If you would like more detailed information on the individual steps of establishing a startup, we recommend that you read the relevant articles for startups that we have stored here.
1. Found a Startup – It Starts with an Idea
Of course, if you want to find a successful startup, you first need one thing: a business idea. Many believe that every successful business idea started with a kind of “brainstorm”. So, an idea that just popped into your head. However, this is only very rarely the case. In most cases, the founders have already worked in the industry before starting their own business and have dealt with the respective idea for so long. An idea usually does not come suddenly, but rather takes a long time to develop during the startup process. If you still have no idea what kind of startup to build, you are welcome to look at our article ” Finding a business idea: Tips for your business 2021“Take a look. If you already have an idea, but you are not sure whether a startup is worth it, you have four options to check it out:
CHECK THE MARKET WHEN FOUNDING A STARTUP – First, you should of course check whether your idea is already on the market – both nationally and internationally. If that is the case, you can think about what you would like to do better with your idea, or how it will stand out from your competitors. It is therefore important that you have a unique selling point when founding your startup. Otherwise, your company will hardly get any attention, which complicates the startup process.
TEST YOUR IDEA BEFORE FOUNDING A STARTUP – You do not have to go to the market to test your business idea in practice before founding a startup. One way to find out beforehand whether your idea will be successful is in the form of a simple website and a targeted online marketing campaign. Here you can advertise your product and see how big the feedback is. If a lot of people are interested in your product, you can give it a try; continue to work on the idea and found a startup.
CALCULATE COSTS BEFORE FOUNDING A STARTUP – To find out whether someone would help finance your project, you should always make a cost calculation. In other words, how much start-up capital do you need and how much income do you plan to generate when founding a startup. This calculation is especially important and should therefore be carried out carefully. After all, you want to find out whether your idea would also be profitable and whether you can find a lucrative startup.
GET A CONSULTANT TO HELP YOU SET UP A STARTUP – If you are still unsure and do not know whether your idea is suitable for a company, you should get a consultant on board who knows about it. There are many startup consultants who are awfully familiar with business plans, financing, and business models. Together with him you can find out where the strengths and weaknesses of your plan are and how your startup can be built.
2. Develop a Business Model
As soon as you have found an idea that inspires you and that you would like to implement with a start-up, the point is to capture it in a business model. So first write down your idea in three to five sentences. It should not be more, otherwise the business model could be too unspecific and too difficult to explain. To check whether the product or service can be successful on the market, the idea should be recorded in a concept. The Business Model Canvas can help you very well with this. In this, nine key factors are analyzed, visualized, and further developed until a solid business model has emerged. Strengths and weaknesses should be analyzed here at the start-up.
3. Find the right Founding Team
You will not be able to do everything by yourself – and neither should you. There are simply enough people who are better than you in certain areas of starting a startup. And this is exactly what you should bring on board. Because the right founding team determines the success of your future company. For many investors, too, the founding team is one of the most important things in deciding whether to build and finance a startup.
When putting together your team, you should make sure that the individual members complement each other in their skills. It is particularly important that you have a technician or programmer, a businessman and a salesperson on board, or people who have these skills. In addition, the members of course also must be compatible with one another, so that the team does not collapse completely after a short time because the individual people do not understand each other. Nevertheless, it is important that business and private matters are clearly separated from each other when founding a startup. So that a certain professionalism can prevail while working.
4. Carefully Analyze the Competitor
To successfully found your startup, you must know the market and, above all, your competitors very well. Especially in front of investors, many founders claim that they are unique in the market and have no competitors. This is a phrase that investors hate to hear, as it often simply means that the founders have not done enough research. This is a common reason why many fails to build startups. They are just often overwhelmed by their competition. A market and competition analysis are therefore essential.
With the competition analysis you collect all available information about the companies that are operating in the same market as you. You must analyze these carefully and identify the strengths and weaknesses before founding a startup. So, you know exactly what you need to prepare for and what you can do better with your startup.
5. Write a Business Plan
Even if most founders prefer to avoid the business plan, it is still especially important to record and plan the exact course of the formation. In addition, you must deal intensively with your idea and your company and take all opportunities and risks into account. The business plan is also a tool that you can use to plan. In most cases, this is also where the goals for the next three years are set. So, you know exactly what you can work towards with your startup.
The business plan is also important to convince potential investors and banks of your business idea. After all, they want to know whether an investment in founding a startup in your company is worthwhile. The structure of the business plan for founding a startup consists of ten points:
- Idea, offer and target group
- market and competition
- Visions and goals
- strategy
- marketing
- Legal form and taxes
- Founding team and organization
- Finances
- SWOT analysis
- Executive summary
6. The Startup Financing
Raising capital for your own startup is one of the most difficult steps on the way to starting your own business. The most common option is to get an investor on board. But it is not that easy when building a startup. After all, investors hear about new business ideas that need financial support almost every day. But that is by far not the only way to get start-up capital. For example, the Bank offers various promotional loans that a founder can apply for. In addition, there is the start-up grant that is specifically intended for founders and self-employed people who have emerged from unemployment found a startup. This can be requested from the Federal Employment Agency. As a young entrepreneur, you can also raise capital for your company through crowdfunding and start-up competitions. If you would like to know more about the different forms of financing, you can read about them in our article ” Forms of financing: 8 possibilities for more capital “.
7. Find Marketing Strategies for the Startup
Only those who also select the right methods for founding startups in marketing can reach enough customers and close lucrative deals over the long term through search engine optimization. A large area is online marketing and the frequently used measures Google Ads, search engine optimization, email marketing and social media campaigns on the individual platforms. This also includes the topic of search engine optimization to present your own profiles and website as well as possible on Google. In addition, every startup should be well positioned in content marketing and, for example, provide meaningful and entertaining content on their own website. Classic marketing is also an important field when founding a start-up that can ensure more reach and lucrative sales through business contacts and trade fair appearances.
Conclusion – The easy way to Success
Even big challenges – and this is where founding a start-up is part – do not need a complicated solution. Define your goal, and then delete anything that distracts you from it. Instead of wanting too much at once, work out the core offer of your startup and convince your customers with it. You can always expand the offer later. If you need further support in founding a business, you should also get a start-up advice service. They know exactly what is important to find a startup and can help you individually.
