Over half (56%) of all Americans dream of starting their own business but only a few people ever make the leap to this fundamental aspiration.
According to authors of book, Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton said, "the real tragedy in life is not that each of us don't have enough strengths, it's that we fail to use the ones we have."
Successful startups do not have this problem as they have figured out how to structure their business as systems that allow them to spend far more of their time on the meaningful, productive activities that take advantage of their greatest strengths.
Forbes defines a startup as a company working to solve a problem where the solution is not obvious and success is not guaranteed.
Once a startup has launched its product or service offering, it becomes crucial to keep a consistent watch on key metrics and scale innovation to ensure that the life time of the startup is not short-lived.
Some rules matter more than others and these rules, if adhered to by successful startups will ensure that the startup is on its way to sustaining its fast track growth.
These are five things a fast growing startup needs to sustain its fast growth business.
1. Outsource Majority of your Work.
The idea of the virtual corporation is a myth. The idea of the extraordinarily focused business is the important reality.
Every successful startup entrepreneur has a range of skills that vary from on expertise in internet marketing, to an expertise in using specific software, to a talent for routinizing complex activities.
What distinguishes fast growth startups from the rest is that fast growth startups have figured out a way to focus their efforts almost entirely around their individual skills, around what they do best.
The startups outsource all other business functions to people in their team (or outside of their teams) who can provide them better or more cost effectively.
It is easy for the startup entrepreneur to get mired up in the day to day operations of running the business simply because they want to save cash.
Successful, fast growth startups put a talented team together, delegate all other business functions except the core functions to members of their team who can do them better which leaves the startup owners time - one of the most valuable assets of the startup entrepreneur - to focus on planning for the future of the business.
Having too many tasks even if you have the time to do them are all distractions that can radically decrease your effectiveness and truncate the business growth.
2. Automate Every Part of The Business.
Why it's good to outsource work to teams (both those within and those outside), it's also imperative to automate the processes of running that business as a whole.
Once a startup starts to gain massive momentum, a lot of responsibilities grow out from nowhere. And trying to work those positions 100% might drag your attention away from the crucial ones you should focus on. That's where the need to automate those time tasking processes comes into play.
Get a time and attendance management system that can help automate the normal everyday tasks such as recording employee inputs, managing break periods, calculating payroll, and monitoring the overall day-to-day activities of the business.
You automating these processes will give you more time to focus on the future of the startup and also help you find time to create strategies to sustain the current growth.
3. Focus On The Bigger Picture.
One of the most serious mistakes startups make is losing sight of the things that deliver value.
Startups have to stay focused on the bigger picture because it is easy to get side-tracked by shining new opportunities.
Keep your startup's core mission in mind. Work out what your customers want from you, the value you want your startup to provide, and do not steer too far from it.
4. Keep providing a great customer experience.
You have probably heard of Deliveroo, a fast growth restaurant delivery service based in the UK.
It works with a number of high profile chains such as Carluccio's and Gourmet Burger Kitchen and has raised over $100m in venture capital investment with a presence in 35 UK cities and 40 cities internationally in only 3 years.
Not bad for a startup.
Deliveroo, the multi million pound business is the brainchild of former investment banker Will Shu and ex-software developer Greg Orlowski.
Their inspiration for the business came because of their dissatisfaction with the poor delivery and customer service of a similar food delivery business so they decided to do something about it. Now they are competitors.
If you don't want your competition to eat your business for lunch, always deliver on what you promise and provide a stellar customer experience that'll keep customers on repeat business.
5. Be Laser Focused On Sustaining the Revenue.
Revenue sometimes work like thermometer. They fluctuate greatly.
And as a fast rising startup, the best thing to pay attention to - is how to sustain the current revenue and how to increase it over time.
Focus on acquiring customers from the beginning, retaining old customers and develop strategies to attract new customers and keeping them.
Doing this will ensure that there is always cash to run the business and eliminate the need for external investment.
And if later, you do decide to go down the investor route, then you should be able to prove your startup is a revenue generating business - which is very attractive to potential investors.
By taking these actions, the fast growing startup will be able to sustain its fast growth over time.
Image Credit: Heritageradiott, Talkbusinessmagazine
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