The Likelihood of Startup Success – How to Beat the Odds

Most entrepreneurs launch their new business with a sense of enthusiasm and determination to beat the odds. But what are the odds? What are you up against when you establish your startup? What is the likelihood of success?

In fact, the odds are pretty dismal. According to Forbes, nine of every ten startups will die by year five, which is a sobering data point. What can optimistic entrepreneurs do to beat the odds and become one of the ten percent who succeed? This blog post will share some of those best practices to help set you up for startup success.

Invest in people

The quality of your team can be the difference between success and failure. You may drive considerable sales, but if you cannot deliver on those sales and provide the level of service and support your customers expect, you will fail. Make sure you build a team comprised of visionaries, hard workers and strategic thinkers. Launching a new business requires a great deal of commitment and this should be reflected in your human resources.

Maintain an accelerated speed

Successful startups typically grow at an accelerated rate. While you don’t want to compromise quality, it is important to sustain a certain measure of speed. Speed helps you to outpace the competition and to respond to market changes as they evolve. The more momentum you have out of the gate, the greater the likelihood of success.

Leverage your connections

Who you know often matters more than what you know, and this is especially true for new business owners. Dig into your rolodex and don’t be shy about reaching out to people you know who may have connections that you can leverage. Powerful people can help open important doors, and those opportunities can bring you closer to startup success.

Take risks

Successful entrepreneurs are not risk averse, and are quick to shift gears when they sense a need to adapt to market changes. While staying the course has its value, you never want to become stale and stagnant. Make sure you are always innovating and differentiating your startup brand from the competition.

Fail first

Definitely don’t be afraid of failure. In fact, the odds of succeeding with your startup increase dramatically with each subsequent venture. In other words, if you failed with a prior business, you are actually more likely to succeed with your next attempt. Whereas, first time entrepreneurs have a 10% success rate, 2nd time entrepreneurs succeed 20% of the time, and 3rd time entrepreneurs, 30% of the time. So do not be scared of failure. It represents an opportunity to grow and learn and increase the odds for future success.

Launching your new business can be daunting, especially when you consider the likelihood of failure. But if you keep in mind some of these guiding principles, you will be well on your way to beating the odds. To learn more about startup best practices, contact Miller Bernstein today for your free consultation.

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