Start up: Understanding Problems and Solutions

By : Dr. Sachin Chopda      

Setting up a start-up, dealing with start-up problems and solutions is a major entrepreneur challenge. Many a times these start up challenges and issues scare new entrepreneurs. This blog aims to provide a guideline to address challenges faced by new entrepreneurs. First and the foremost is the qualification of the idea. Every entrepreneur feels that he is the first to launch a concept but it is not so. Few people have already given a try and have worked on it. This however is unknown to the founder. So, it is very necessary to do proper homework and check whether what the entrepreneur plans to propose is a real innovation or not! This can be done by proper reading, studying, and meeting and asking people. Every aspect should be properly understood before one begins.

Secondly, quality of innovation is very important for a start-up to take root. This is another common start-up problem that is not taken care of leading to start-up failure. Why start-ups fail? Quality of innovation is not given a thought to at all! What difference is your product or service making to the lives of people? The first question to be asked here is, ‘Is it making a major difference?’ If the answer to this question is ‘yes’, there is better probability for the business to thrive. If the difference being made is very small, people are reluctant to change their habits. Something can be called real innovation if it largely affects the customers and makes a significant difference to their lives. For example, the cab services provided by Uber/Ola may not be perfect but they have thrived because they gave something totally new that has made people’s life easier. The innovative idea got the expected response because of the revolutionary change it brought about in transport. These services provided tremendous comfort and so were welcomed heartily. So, the quality of innovation is an important point that every start-up should focus on. As against this, online buying which definitely saves your time to some extent, hasn’t made that much difference to people’s lives. People still prefer to go, see the product, and then buy! The amount of difference that cab-services made to people is different that the difference created by online purchasing facility.

Thirdly, it is not enough, you alone believing in your idea or enterprise. It should have a clear commercial value and a proper business plan. It shouldn’t be just burning away money behind a dream. One must properly study the necessity, the capacity, and the long-term return on investment before pursing any idea. Financial issues in business start-up are primary, no doubt; but if the business plan is clear, financial problem will find solutions. Other problems then get automatically solved. Funds start flowing and multiplying if your business action-plan is clear and your concept is sound.

The fourth important point is that many entrepreneurs start a new business because they feel it has the potential but they have no track-record of running a business. Due to this, many a times, though the idea is good, it doesn’t take root. They face many challenges and issues in their start-up propagation. Therefore, guidance from a mentor is very necessary. Optimum investment and human resource management are the key-areas of any business that cannot be learnt overnight but have to be acquired by training and experience. So, it is very important to have a proper mentor for any start-up.

If one takes care of these four problems seriously, success will surely be within reach in no time.