5 drivers of start-up success

Don’t do it alone

No successful entrepreneur has built everything alone. The best ideas and solutions come from diverse perspectives.
If you are lucky enough to be able to start your business with a peer – great! Ideally your strengths will be different from each other.
If you are a sole founder, identify a mentor (or two) who can act as a sounding board before you launch your company and maintain that role for at least the first 2 years.
Such mentors can just be people you respect, with relevant experience who want to help you – for example, someone in your network or a fellow start-up founder. When I set up my business, I had dinner with two people I admired twice a year. I bought them a nice Indian meal and they tested the strength of my idea by playing Devil's Advocate - by arguing against it and providing alternative viewpoints. It was VERY cost effective
As your business grows, getting the right people to help support you and lead it will become the most important success factor - so try to understand your own limitations. Surround yourself as best you can with complimentary talent. You can’t possibly know it all and it’s more fun with others!
Don’t be greedy with equity/ownership. A smaller percentage of a huge pie is way better than a big percentage of something that doesn’t work.

‘If an eagle chases two rabbits, both will escape’ is a helpful proverb to keep in your mind throughout your business career.
Sometimes plans need to be flexed and things need to change from original intentions – but there are two common mistakes I’ve seen in start-up businesses
Trying to offer too many services/products hoping one/some will stick.
Changing a well thought out plan too early because things are harder than anticipated.
If in doubt about whether to diversify or not, don’t. Be single minded (see top point).
Make your value proposition as simple and succinct as possible - even if it doesn’t tell the whole story of what you do.

Famous golf world champion Gary Player was once told he’d been lucky when he’d won a major tournament. He replied ‘the harder I practice the luckier I seem to get’.
It’s the same in business; people who work the hardest also create their own luck. It’s about putting yourself into situations where lucky things can happen.
To be in the right place at the right time, you have to hustle & work hard to create opportunities to be in the right place.
This is especially true when it comes to business development/selling your product/services.
You could attend networking events, or share your ideas (with your peers, in competitions, or with online networks).

Knowledge of business finance is fundamental – and not as scary as you might think, even if you are not the best with numbers!
Understand how tax works (e.g. VAT, national insurance etc.)
Understand the pros and cons of debt – for example how debt can be helpful in terms of cash flow. I was brought up to think debt was a bad thing but actually it can be a great growth stimulus and one of the biggest drivers of success if done correctly. My biggest lesson in my business life is knowing the benefits of debt.
Find out about the availability of financial support from national and local government schemes.
Set aside some funds to hire an accounting firm to help with basics like payroll, year-end tax returns etc.

It’s normal to feel a bit scared when setting up your own business! Feeling apprehensive may reflect that you understand the risks involved.
It’s good to think through all the things that could go wrong and have a plan to minimise the chance of these things happening.
Mistakes will happen. Learn from them, don’t dwell on them.
If your business were to fail, remember that you were brave enough to give it a go and that is highly commendable (and something most people don't have the bravery to try). Learn from the experience and take it into your next venture/adventure.
Related to apprehension is pricing strategy. In my experience, lots of new businesses do not charge enough money for their product/service for fear of not getting enough customers. In my opinion, it’s better to price too high rather than too low; you can always lower if necessary, whereas it’s harder to increase your prices once you’ve entered a market. Better still – do the work and be confident in your value proposition.

Identify one or two mentors and reach out to them - don’t do it alone.
Make your value proposition as simple and succinct as possible, even if it doesn’t tell the whole story of what you do. Be single minded.
Attend networking events, and share your ideas with networks, in competitions, or with your peers to create your own good luck.
Learn the basics of business finance (e.g. the pros and cons of debt) - know how money works.
Think through the things that could go wrong and have a plan to minimise the chance of these things happening. It's okay to feel a bit scared - but do it anyway.

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