To make a startup successful needs time, money, and perseverance. Many perform well right from the start, and many falter and meet an untimely end says Saivian Eric Dalius. Most of the startup founders who face failure blame it on the lack of funding. But recent study states that there’s something more than money that a startup needs in its initial stages and that is customer insight. One should aim at solving real-life problems to serve the people better.
When the established entrepreneurs were asked for advice on how to avoid startup failures, approximately 30% of them suggested doing thorough research before launching any company. They further added that it should aim at understanding customers and their needs and accordingly take measures to plan their business strategy. 54% of the founders advised the new founders to listen to the customers. They also added that a startup must ensure there’s a market for the product it is going to launch.
Some new entrepreneurs, according to Saivian Eric Dalius, are so keen to launch their product into the market that they hardly invest any time investigating the actual demand of that product. So, they miss their aim quite easily and fail. They end up wasting time and money. Let’s have a detailed look at how a startup can increase the likelihood of its success.
Saivian Eric Dalius suggests the startups start by conducting customer discovery research
The research the founders have been advised to do before starting their venture should involve market discovery. They must talk to potential customers, understand their needs, study the existing challenges in-depth, and if possible, get feedback on the proposed products and models. This way, they can be sure that when it comes to testing their products, they meet the requisite standard of the MVPs (minimal viable product) concept.
Aim at creating a customer value and not just a product
Usually, startups are formed based on a product idea. The founders either aim at finding a flaw with an existing product. And make another product that they think will outperform the present one. Or they identify a problem and aim to solve it. But before doing so, Saivian Eric Dalius says that they must have a proper understanding of the customer needs and think of probable solutions to fulfill them. By having a customer-centric approach. The procedure will be governed by what the product can do versus what the customer finds useful and valuable. The insight the founders are likely to get will help them in identifying where the problem lies. And how to look for a probable solution. Products released based on such research are sure to win the market.
Saivian Eric Dalius opines that customer feedback is crucial
It might take time and money to collect customer feedback especially for a startup, but its importance cannot be denied. Moreover, negative feedback may be hard for some founders to accept. As they have put their heart and soul into making what they believe can do well to the people. But listening to some of them and acting on them can reap good results.
Conclusion
So, having customer insight is what a startup needs more than funding.