Building a startup is an exciting affair.
Ive been on the entrepreneurial road for the past three years and it
has given me a fair amount of knowledge on how to build a startup. Here
are the five definitive steps that will help in building your first
startup.
Step 1: Articulate your idea
Describe your idea to yourself. A great way would be to begin by answering these questions:
What is the problem you want to solve?
Who experiences that problem?
How do you want to solve that problem?
For example:
I
want to solve the problem of food storage in the developing countries;
nearly 40 percent of their harvest rots. This problem is experienced by
people in rural areas, where food storage infrastructure doesnt exist. I
want to solve that problem by providing village-scale food storage
shelters that would give every village a way to store their harvest and
protect it from rain and pests.
Step 2: Define: Who is your customer?
You
will have to define whom this startup is aimed at. Understanding your
customers is the key to building products that your customers need. Your
customers are the ones,
who have similar needs.
to whom you could deliver your solution at a similar cost.
who would buy it at a similar price.
Define your customers persona
A
customer persona is a generalised perception about your customer. Here
are some questions which will help you define your customers better:
What is their age group?
What is their gender?
What is their occupation?
What are the pains that keep them awake at night?
Where do they live? (city, suburbs, village etc.)
How strong is their financial background?
I recommend following this course on EDX: Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer?
Step 3: Avoid competition
Nothing
is more lethal than a startup competing with an established player.
Think about the numerous startups in e-commerce that have failed, all
because they were competing against the incumbents like Flipkart,
Amazon, and Snapdeal.
However, if you
still wish to compete with them, make sure that your product is at least
10 times better. Think of Apple iPod vs. every generic MP3 player. Why
did Apple win?
Step 4: Go for monopoly
Monopolies
are highly disregarded in our society. Our societies make them look
evil because they can control the price and the product availability.
However, in the startup world, monopoly is required to sustain. Let me
give you a few examples of monopolies, and you figure out why they are
still in business.
Indian Railways
Google Search
Microsoft Windows OS for desktop
Unilever
WhatsApp
Facebook
Step 5: Build your prototype.
Congratulations, you have successfully completed steps 1 to 4. Now its time to build your prototype.
A) Start by brainstorming. Throw every idea at the wall, including the crazy ones. At this point, keep your aperture wide open.
Make a list of the people who might benefit from your idea. Narrow down your view and find for whom you want to build.
So
you found out what and for whom you want to build. Now build, test, and
improve your MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Follow this feedback loop
until you find what your customer actually needs.
Start by designing what you believe (hypothesis). It can be a tissue paper prototype.
Build
what you scribbled on the tissue paper. It can be the first version of
your website. Dont dwell on the features and how your product looks,
early adopters dont mind initial product flaws. However, make sure that
your build does solve your customer problem.
Ship
it to your early adopters. This can be done by bringing your early
adopters to your office and giving them a first-hand experience.
Analyse
carefully how they are using your product. Look for non-verbal clues;
are they confused, annoyed or do they have a smile on their face? At
this stage dont hesitate to ask questions. Their feedback is your
goldmine.
Learn from their feedback.
Identify what made them confused or made them say wow. From this
learning improve your product and reiterate from Step 1.
Blogger Comment