Launching your start-up should be exciting and rewarding but sometimes the reality is not all sunshine and unicorns. If you find yourself struggling to make your start-up work it does not necessarily mean things need to come to an end.
Many entrepreneurs have faced major setbacks before achieving their goals. In this article, we look at some constructive steps to take if your start-up is in trouble. Here goes…
Assess the Situation Honestly
The first step is to look at the situation honestly, yes this is hard to do when everything is in turmoil but this is essential. It’s important to be brutally honest with yourself about what is going wrong.
Putting your head in the sand at this point may cause permanent damage to your start-up, so take action right away.
Key problems you may find are a lack of funds, insufficient customers and financial mismanagement. Whatever the problem is, you need to identify the issues write them down and list practical things you can do today to solve them.
Re-evaluate Your Business Plan
Once you have looked at the situation honestly, you will need to re-assess your business plan. No business plan? Now is the time to create one.
Remember, a business plan does not need to be a fancy document with graphs and numbers. Your business plan could simply be a spreadsheet of realistic goals to help turn things around.
Don’t try and be fancy, now is the time to get into the mud and dig out the truth. If you have no sales you need to look at your marketing and advertising and see where things have gone wrong.
If you have some sales but insufficient quantity you may need to look at pricing or your marketing pitch to see where the issue is.
You should be looking here to analyse real-world data and real-world customers to assess what is going right and concentrate on developing those areas. Take on board if data indicates that your target customers are different or if the market has changed.
Identify what your start-up does best and focus on leveraging those strengths. Look at any negative or positive feedback you may have received and read between the lines to assess where you can improve.
If you have run out of funds you need to write down, alternative and realistic sources of funding. Loans, crowdfunding, venture capital and angel investors are all viable options to investigate.
Seek External Perspectives
Don’t hesitate to seek advice from mentors, industry experts, or fellow entrepreneurs. Fresh perspectives can provide insights and potential solutions that you might not have considered. They can also offer moral support during challenging times.
At times of stress, it is not uncommon to shut everything out and to avoid seeking advice. Don’t be afraid to look for help.
Read books on the specific roadblocks you may be facing. Fill in gaps in your knowledge from other entrepreneurs in your industry.
Look at finding a mentor or business coach who can help guide you to success.
Cut Unnecessary Costs
If you are spending money like water and you want to keep things afloat, you will need to shut off the tap today!
Identify all non-essential expenses and cut, cut, cut.
If you have expensive offices, now may be the time to go fully remote. Now is the time to renegotiate existing contracts and downsize operations.
Put your ego and emotions to one side and do what is necessary to survive. This is probably the hardest part of your start-up journey. So don’t be so hard on yourself.
Build Stronger Relationships
Strengthen relationships with existing customers and clients. Listen to their feedback and use it to improve your offerings. Additionally, consider partnerships or collaborations that could broaden your market reach.
Reach out to existing customers and clients and strengthen relationships. Have you tried upselling them to new products or services? It’s always easier to get a sale from a customer who has bought from you before.
Additionally, consider partnerships or collaborations that could broaden your market reach. Partnering your product or service with a non-competing business could increase sales for you both.
Pivot if Necessary
Sometimes it’s necessary to change course completely and pivot. If you are looking to pivot the change should not be based on guesswork or intuition. The decision to pivot should be based on actual data from your existing business.
If you are selling dog collars and you are getting hundreds of calls about cats you need to re-assess and pivot to where the demand is.
Be open to innovative ideas that could lead to a breakthrough.
Stay Resilient and Persistent
Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride with ups and downs. Stay resilient in the face of adversity. Learn from failures and keep pushing forward with determination and persistence.
Giving up is simply not an option if you have had any degree of success with your endeavour however small.
Stay resilient, be honest with yourself and listen to your business, your customers will often tell you what they need.
It’s important to learn from the failures and keep pushing forward. Don’t forget to celebrate the small wins along the way. Doing this will give you the energy to deal with hurdles to come.
Know When to Let Go
While persistence is key, there comes a point where you must recognise when it’s time to pivot, rebrand, or even close the business. It’s not a sign of failure to reassess your goals and take a different path.
If you are in a situation where nothing appears to be working you may need to let go. But the question is how do you know if now is the time to give up? If the following applies to you you may need to let go and take a different path.
You dread dealing with the business.
You have made no sales, no enquiries and no registrations, despite promoting and marketing heavily.
You have thrown everything at the business and the finances don’t add up even after significant investment.
Most of your customers trash the product and there is no further route to improvement.
Final thoughts
When your start-up baby is failing it is heart-breaking but it can also be looked at as a valuable opportunity for learning and self-improvement.
Try not to be so hard on yourself. Concentrate on the successes of the business and look to multiply in these areas. Do not try to force something into the market where it may simply not be wanted.
By taking decisive actions and learning from setbacks, you can steer your start-up towards success.
Good luck!
***Disclaimer: This article is not financial or legal advice and is given for informational and entertainment purposes only. Readers should conduct their own research and not invest more than they can afford to lose. Crypto is extremely volatile, and as such can drop in value considerably without notice. Pop Up World has a global presence and is not specifically targeting any jurisdiction with its content. Any crypto references are not intended for UK businesses or consumers. You should always seek legal advice to understand if the use or investment in crypto is allowed in your jurisdiction.
Pop Up World YouTube Reviews:
Review. Malik Atif – Hindi -Urdu
Review. Inside Crypto – Hindi – Urdu
Review. Convincing Crypto – English
The Pop Up World Token is designed specifically for entrepreneurs, to store value and to utilise on our platform Pop Up World. Join the revolution in financial freedom today.
Get the token on Cardano Decentralised Exchanges (DeXs), MuesliSwap, SundeSwap, Wingriders and Minswap. Or click the link here:
Pop Up World token has a growing ecosystem
Earn and help support the Pop Up World Blog and entrepreneurs worldwide by joining our Pop Up World Stakepool! Go to https://popupworld.co.uk/popupworldstaking
Thanks!
Want to learn how to stake on Cardano? Read this article:
It starts with an idea. Pop Up World is a platform that helps start-ups and small businesses reach for the stars. No matter what size you are. Use our start-up guide Business Zero to Superhero, Design your Logo. Connect with investors via our Investor Connector. You can start a Website and Domain name. You can Search for and promote your Premises. You can promote your idea for free on our Pop Up World Ads site, you can even form a Limited Company You can also join us on our journey via the Pop Up World Token (PUW).
Pop Up World Blog 