The world is full of excellent ideas. Many people have flashes of genius during which they conceive of something the world is fundamentally missing, some way in which they can improve their environment and make life better for everyone. Tech is arguably one of the most fertile grounds for this. More than 100 million startups are launched each year, and obviously not all of them can be successful, but that should demonstrate how rich the idea field is right now.
If you’re one of these people, you’re probably wondering how you can transition your idea from the planning stage to execution. It’s not easy; there are going to be plenty of things along the way to trip you up, but if you’re dedicated, you’ll make it. Here are our top tips on how to get your tech business off the ground and start making the difference you know you’re capable of.
Get your personal finances in order first
If you’re struggling for money yourself, your business isn’t going to thank you for it. The tech industry can be an expensive one in which to create a startup; the cost of creating your product as a tech business can be pretty high thanks to costly components and constituent elements. As such, you should check out ways to bolster your personal finances before you embark on your business venture. You could, for example, visit logbookloans.co.uk, a site that provides great logbook loans with friendly and fair rates. Loans are a good way to get some cash if you need it. You could also hit up friends and family for a bit of cash before you start spending. However you do it, you need to make sure your finances are robust before you think about business.
Make sure your product is good
Before you embark on your tech business venture, think about your product. While it’s true that product isn’t everything, you will still need to have a solid product behind you or your startup simply won’t attract business. Take a step back and analyse your product yourself. Do you think it’s going to succeed? Does it have immediate competitors with much more to play with in terms of resources than you have? Will you be able to find a niche for it? All of these questions are important to ask yourself before you begin. If you don’t have the resources for market research, consider asking your friends and family if they’ll help you assess the product. However you do it, make sure your product is there. It’ll speak for itself later down the line.
Conduct extensive market research
Once you’ve confirmed that you have faith in your product, you’ll need to do market research. If you’re creating a new smartphone, where do you think it will sit in the market? If you’re developing an app, how does it seem like it’ll go down? Are there similar apps on which you can base its speculative performance? These are important questions to ask. Check your target demographic: is this something they will like and want? Will you be able to market it to them? Conducting market research is absolutely crucial to understanding your product and where to market it. A defined demographic is more important than having every single feature of your product worked out.
Allow yourself to fail
It’s only through failure that it’s possible to learn. If you create an app and it doesn’t go anywhere, ask yourself why. Was there another app that fulfilled the purposes of yours, but better? Let’s say you’ve developed a streaming service, but you just don’t have the content Netflix or other competitors have. Is that what made your product fail? When you do fail (and it’ll be when, not if), you need to pick yourself up and re-examine your failure if you want to find future success. Bad business owners don’t learn from mistakes, so don’t be a bad business owner. Look at the process and see what you can change next time to improve your business model.
Partner with larger companies
If you’re not in direct competition with a larger tech company, consider asking them if they’d like to partner with you. If a company can bring something to the table that you need, and you think your product will serve them in a big way, then a partnership can only be mutually beneficial. You could help a larger company beat out their competitors with the right product, and in return they could lend you some much-needed visibility in the larger market. Seek out larger companies that you could contact in order to potentially get your foot in the door. If your product is there, companies will flock to you before you know it.
Use influencer marketing
Traditional marketing is dead. Long live influencer marketing. This system involves hitting up content creators and seeing if they’d be willing to partner with you. They can use your product in their content – tech is ideal for this, as there are many unboxing channels out there looking for cool stuff to feature – and you’ll be in with a content creator with a ton of influence and prestige in the community. Influencer marketing is a surefire way to get your product down to ground level and talk to the people who are really going to be using it. Make sure you’re targeting the right influencers and there are very few ways a well-constructed influencer campaign could fail.