4 Tips To Get Your Startup Ready For Winter
Startups businesses, just like automobiles, require winterization in order to keep running smooth and stealth during the cold months ahead.
In this article, I’ll highlight the key components found in winterizing an automobile to help aid in Startup triumph.
- The Engine | The Motor of a Startup Machine
Behind every Startup business is the revving motor of an innovative product idea. A product or service, which solves problems and inefficiencies, while streamlining consumer inconveniences. It’s fair to say that outside “temperatures” like the stock market, banking institutions, and technology, influence the internal temperature of a Startups engine.
Is the motor of your Startup adjusting to the current and future market temperatures, or is your product sluggishly cruising down memory lane?
For automobiles driven in freezing temperatures, a thinner less viscous oil is recommended. What if the same holds true for Startups? In times of the “freezing” temperatures (whether in funding, manufacturing, or building a team) a thinner/leaner approach is taken.
The Lean Startup movement pioneered by Eric Reis, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, favors the #MVP or Minimum Viable Product. A product development approach, that places consumer interest first, in effort to eliminate risk and increase return on investment.
Make winter a time to flush out Startup ideas into form, inviting and encouraging direct feedback from prospective customers.
- The Battery | The Energy Supplier of a Startup
Don’t get left out in the cold. A thriving business’s greatest power source is the startup team, which supplies invaluable knowledge and resources. It’s true, teams like car batteries; need to be reliable, dependable, and have the ability to start and deliver regardless season or circumstances.
Winter is the prefect opportunity to check in with team members to review how energy/time are being “spent,” to ensure each team members input and output are firing in alignment for the common good of the Startup business.
The fate of your Startup Company depends a large part on your team. Evaluate and examine what inspires, motivates, and increases the voltage for your team members.
Perhaps it’s a monthly happy hour? A weekly creative brainstorming session? Working remotely once per week?
Hit on the power switch, and get your team is wired for success.
- The Tires |Startup Traction
The road to success for your Startup business is full of twists, turns, and various terrains. When a business is moving at Startup speed, proper traction is required.
Snow tires like Market Traction grip the startup roadside to increase performance and eliminate the risks and uncertainty involved in slippery startup slopes.
Market traction is a safeguard for both founders and potential investor, in communicating evidence of market demand and the future momentum of the company.
Winterize your Startup by researching, documenting, and analyzing the following:
• Profitability
• Revenue
• Active Customers
• Registered users
• Engagement
• Partnerships/clients
• Traffic
- Emergency Kit | Tools for Startup Survival
No one enjoys getting stranded in the cold, but when you have a well-equipped emergency kit, the situation becomes more bearable.
A Startup business survival kit should include the following 3 items:
• An air-tight business plan
• An Investor pitch deck
• A strong Entrepreneurial network
Cheers to your continued success regardless of the season!
