Making It as a Start-Up in Today's Economy

The first year of a business is a sprint. It is a rush to the next year so the survival odds increase and so that the business can flourish. Below, you will find four tips to help your start-up succeed in even the worst economic environments.

(1) You Can't Rely On Current Customers and Networking

For any start-up, a steady flow of business is a necessity for survival. Word of mouth is no longer the way people do business.

Whether the business comes from search engine optimization or from pay per click, start-ups need to have a strong web presence. Of course, this is in conjunction with strong branding, however the former comes before the latter.

(2) Being the Cost Leader Typically Backfires

Many start-ups get into the market and immediately position themselves as the most cost effective in the industry. More often than not, this does not work.

When companies search for a service or product, they typically do not know too much about the industry or subsequent companies they are aiming to do business with.

Therefore, these companies rely on price to guide them and allow them to make the best decision. You have your Wal-Mart and Targets, but you also have your shops on Madison Avenue that are still in business.

The latter is harder to execute. Stand for quality.

(3) Stop Focusing On the Business Plan, Get Moving

Many start-up companies sit and ponder their business plan too much. The opportunity cost of this is exceedingly high. Also, this leads to no execution.

Start-up companies typically end up selling a different product or offering a different service than they set out to offer their clientele. Market conditions consistently change and this alteration leads most companies to find themselves changing with these fluctuations. And that's not a bad thing.

(4) You Probably Don't Know Your Competitors

When my firm's clients come to us, they usually ask about recruiting from direct competitors. I always give them the realization that they probably don't know who these companies are or whether they even exist.

When I started this business, I thought I knew my competitors, but every time a client comes to us because they had an issue with another firm, they give me a name of a staffing organizatio
I have never heard of.

Again, this is because of the exceedingly high percentage of commerce that is done on the web and the uncertainty of the various keywords that people within these companies are Googling.

After closely studying my website analytics, there are almost no duplicate Google keywords that people search to get to my firm's site. Moreover, only 28% land on the homepage. The rest are very scattered.

Though, there is a bright side to not knowing who your competition is as a start-up. It comes in the form of not being able to copy them. When it comes to the game of entrepreneurship, only the competitive survive. The rest vanish.

Start-ups exist to reinvent the wheel, not copy it and get lost in the scheme of things. For the owners of the start-up, this means going outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes, having people watch you instead of you watching them is a good thing.