5 important considerations that tech founders should think about
When starting your own company, there can be a lot of things to think about and this is especially true for tech companies. The boom of such businesses in recent years has meant that any founder now faces stiff competition from market rivals.
Furthermore, the coronavirus outbreak has posed many difficulties for smaller companies. According to a market analysis published in Forbes, more than half of start-ups have not grown since the start of the pandemic, and two-fifths have shrunk.
If you want to ensure that your business can find its place in the market and begin to grow, it’s important to make sure that it is running as effectively as possible. Here are five important considerations that tech founders should think about.
1. Do you understand your audience?
One of the most important questions to ask yourself when you start your own company is “how well do you know your audience?”
If you lack a clear aim, it can be hard to formulate a proper business model, and this can cause a variety of problems for you and your team. Without a clear direction, or understanding of your customers, it can be very difficult to find your niche.
A great example of this was the video streaming service Quibi. At one point, it was seen by some to be the future of the entertainment industry. According to the BBC, they managed to raise £1.5 billion in funding.
However, since they didn’t have an accurate picture of who their audience was, they attempted to make content to appeal to everyone, which ultimately appealed to no-one. This led to their decline as they failed to find a market niche.
2. Do you have a plan for growing your brand exposure?
If you want to grow your company’s operations, it’s important to think about your brand exposure and marketing. No matter how well you’re managing your business, you may have trouble growing your pool of clients if you don’t actively market your services.
Spreading awareness about your company can be essential if you want to ensure that you have a growing base of customers and access to new capital from investors.
There can be a variety of ways to grow your brand exposure, whether that’s through a targeted ad campaign or simply through word of mouth, but it’s important to have a plan if you intend to grow.
3. Have you got enough capital?
Another important consideration when starting a business is whether you have enough capital to grow your business. According to a study by CB Insights, running out of money was the top reason for failure when it comes to start-ups.
If you want your business to be successful, it’s important to allocate your resources carefully. For example, you may need to weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of investing in a new employee, rather than keeping that money in reserve as part of your emergency fund.
A useful example of poor money management was the tech start-up Daqri. They had to shut down after burning through their initial $250 million of funds and being unable to raise any more from investors.
4. Have you built trust within your company?
When it comes to growing a company, it’s important to surround yourself with the right people. Having a dedicated and enthusiastic team can be essential for making sure that your business works effectively.
While you believe in your employees, it’s important to remember that it goes both ways. This is why you need to build trust within your team, so that they can work as effectively as possible.
For example, no matter what role you’re in, everyone likes to feel respected by the company they work for, and this is why it’s important to communicate with your employees. You may want to ask them what you can do to make their jobs easier, such as offering more flexible working hours if they have a family.
This can be especially important if they work remotely, as communication can be much more difficult. As we touched upon in a previous blog on the topic, there are a variety of ways you can support your employees’ wellbeing.
These small acts can be important as showing your teammates that you’re willing to go the extra mile for them can help to convince them to do the same for you.
5. Do you have sufficient protection?
The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that the unexpected can happen at any time and if it does, it’s important to have protection in place. This is why one of your most important considerations should be to find cover that meets the needs of your business.
For example, if you’re the victim of a cyberattack then you could stand to lose thousands of pounds in damages. Not only this, but the resulting disruption to service could affect your relationship with your clients.
If this happened, you may benefit from having cyber insurance in place, as it would cover the costs of fixing or replacing damaged systems. Furthermore, it could potentially also give you access to specialist response teams, cyber forensics experts, and public relations teams to help you move on.
You can never know when the unexpected might happen but when it does, having protection in place can be invaluable. Not only can it give you greater peace of mind, but it can also help you to overcome any disruptions you may face and get back to growing your business.
Get in touch
If you’re starting a business and want to protect yourself against any potential issues, we can help. Email creative@eggarforrester.com or use our contact form to request a call back from our team.
