How to Start a Startup? The What, Why & How of Technology Startups

What is a Startup?

The first thing that comes to our mind when we hear the word ”startups” is, what is a startup? Why do people form startups? How to start a startup? What do I do if I want to start a startup?

According to Wikipedia, ”Company that is started by individual founders or entrepreneurs to search for a repeatable and scalable business model, called as a Startup. Startup model designed by its founders to effectively develop and validate a scalable business model.”

So, what is the difference between a startup and entrepreneurship? The difference is simple- Entrepreneurship is businesses that do not want to be legally registered or grow big, they are private businesses that include being self-employed, while, Startups are businesses that actually want to grow larger than just its founder, with employees and all.

The degree of failure in startups is immense, but few of these startups overcome the failures and become successful companies.

Startups grow from just a single person to a group of few people, brainstorming solutions for a problem that people face in their day-to-day lives. After selecting a solution the founder(s) start with building a prototype of the solution.

The building of a startup into a functional company takes a large amount of time, will-power and effort of the people available.

Why Build a Startup?

Startups help new job seekers get employed, this is necessary to increase the economic activity of a country. Startups also help in the economy's future growth and development.

Basically, startups are a big factor in keeping the economy healthy. Startups give you a platform to build a small business where you call the shots and learn with it.

Starting a technology startup for the first time is quite intimidating, it needs a lot of hard work and dedication. The most important factor about a startup is IDEAS. If the idea is not unique or innovative, it’ll probably lead to failure. Some ideas are good, some are decent, and some not so much. 

How to Start a Startup?

To start a successful startup, the idea must be unique and good enough to be able to create success. For this, you need to keep a few things in mind, such as:

1. Partnership:

In a startup, partnership matters. Choose the partners that will help you grow instead of pull you down or weigh on you. If your partners aren't helping your business grow, they can cause failure of your newly created startup. Choose the right once and you will thrive with successes.

2. Bringing out ideas:

Sit with your partners and co-founders, brainstorm ideas, discuss them. This will help you select the best idea for your startup. The more unique ideas you get, the more chances you have to become a successful startup.

3. Build your team:

Startups are just a group of few people that are dedicated to working towards success. Build your team with people like these, who'll work hard and will be dedicated to the success of the product or startup.

4. Know your passion:

In today's world, people tend to create startups of ideas that are not theirs or that are not their passion. Choosing the idea that you are passionate about is important, as you will work for it instead of just leaving it in the middle.

5. Know your words:

After you select an idea and create a prototype for it. You’ll need to pitch it to different people, and organizations or to get a loan from the bank. To do this you will need to know the jargon used in businesses and organizations to make a good impression. Take a look at these jargons, they are easily available on the internet.

Some words like:

1. Boot-strapping: Startups that are using personal cash or loaned cash from friends and family to run operations.

2. B-to-B: The startup sells products and services to other organizations.

3. B-to-C: The startup sells products and services to public consumers directly.

4. Minimum Viable Product (MVP): The prototype version of a product required to achieve proof of concept.

5. Term Sheet: Documents stating percentage of ownership and voting rights that will be given to the Investors.

6. Know it's going to be hard:

Building a startup is not easy, there will be problems in every single step. And these problems will test you to a great extent. Keep your head above the water with dedication and don't back up.

7. Get a helper:

As said before, it's going to be difficult to manage everything on your own. Get an assistant at this stage to help you around, and divide your workload, this will help you better focus on tasks at hand instead of worrying and failing to do anything.

8. Relationships are important:

You are going to be stuck working to build a startup, with all the work, there will be almost no time for yourself. Make some time for your family and yourself. Take out a few hours off of work and relax. As important is a startup, equally important are the relationships with your family.

This is all we can contribute to you today, everything you need to remember about startups before actually building one. Whether it's artificial intelligence and machine learning business or blogging or consumer service business, every startup matters and the successful ones matter much more. So try and remember these little things and make your own new and unique technological startup successful.