Startup Founders' FAQs Answered: Essential Queries Resolved for Success

To ask questions is seeking the answers or the solutions. When starting a startup, founders have tons of questions along their startup journey to which they struggle to find answers.

Mon Jun 20, 2022

"Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." — Tony Robbins

We have listed some of the top questions in this post that startup founders ask. We have answered it keeping the general situations in the mind.

Let’s check out those questions and answers.

Q1. Is my startup idea powerful enough to stand in this competitive market?

Startup ideas are now common to pop up in anyone’s head, however, what matters is their implementation. The efforts in thinking of a startup idea are much less than what is required in the implementation of the idea. The journey from an idea to profit is now worth discussing.
However, idea validation is a must step before investing your time and money. It clears your path to success. And, with other existing analyses like SWOT analysis, it’s possible to realize the plus and minus of your startup.

Q2. How do I keep my startup idea protected?

This is one of the major concerns of business owners to protect their idea from getting leaked. If you don’t pay attention then maybe your competitor could snatch away your idea and use it for their own purpose.

To protect your idea, you must avoid spilling all the beans even to your partners and friends. Words travel so you should be highly cautious about this.

Prepare everything in a written form so that you have proof of your creation. You could also take the help of legal methods such as trademarking your name and applying for a patent. Sign Non-disclosure agreements whenever you are required to share your ideas with a third person.

Q3. Where and how can I get help for my startup development?

During the initial stage of your start-up, there is a strong need for a proper management team who could manage everything from inventory to marketing.

In this situation, hiring a business consultant would be a perfect option. You will need the help of a professional who can boost your growth and find the potential of your product/service in the market. They can prepare strategies, give advice for fundraising, expand your market and provide a proper direction to your business.

So, if you want to establish your firm for the long run, start considering a professional business consultant.

Q4. Do I really need a co-founder? And, how to find one?

The answer to this question is, yes. A co-founder will share your burden and may act as your financial and emotional support. They will share the responsibility and display an image of reliability to the outsiders. When there is more than one person, there will be thousands of ideas available to solve a problem.

To find a co-founder, you must search for someone who has the right set of skills and a positive mindset. You could ask someone in your friend circle or through your or your mentor’s connection. Websites like LinkedIn, and CoFoundersLab can be of great help.

Q5. What is my role as the founder or CEO?

The role of a CEO is crucial in a business firm. They form the base of a company with vision and expertise. A few important roles of the founder or CEO are:

Able to create a strategy and vision and must communicate it effectively.
Must be capable to build a proper team to work with and share their goal.
Take care of financial needs from investing in inventory to paying salary.
Must be able to identify the customer’s needs and provide solutions with their service
A good mentor to guide others in their team

Q6. How to get funds for my startup?

For a start-up to take off, funding is always needed but how to accumulate funds for your start-up. Well, there are a few ways that you should use to collect funds:

Know your legal structure and decide how much funds you will need
Do thorough market research and search for potential investors
Learn pitching skills and perfect it
Verify everything about your investor
Form a valid shareholder agreement

THE 7-STEP STARTUP SUCCESS FORMULA

I am not the only Business Coach around. There are many distinguished business coaches and gurus out there. At the end of the day, our aim is not just to give you knowledge and jargon.In this book, I have mentioned 7 defined steps to reach your startup milestone, condensed with my 25 years of experience.

___ by Anu Khanchandani

Q8. How much time will it take for my startup to be successful?

Well, there isn’t a fixed time for that but with the help of some tools, you can estimate the same. For some startups, it can take up to 5-7 years to be labeled as ‘successful’.

The initial years are your developing time where you will be focussing on surviving your business in this competitive era. After that, once you have reached a break-even point then you will witness substantial growth in your business. You should be focused on satisfying your customers and building a trustworthy image so that you have a hold on the market.

Q9. How can I keep my business active on digital platforms?

In this era of digitalization, a firm should be active on digital platforms to increase its customer base. There are some points mentioned below that will assist you in keeping your business active digitally:

Set a goal for the things you want to achieve such as a number of new targets, interaction ratio, etc
Select a proper social medial network from LinkedIn, Instagram, Quora, or Facebook to build a connection over there
Set up a blog or podcast on your business website and produce creative content that attracts customers
Learn to engage your audience with your posts
Always enhance your skills in marketing with the help of any course or by taking advice from professionals.

The Startup Founder Mindset

Q10. How can I build a great team for my startup?

Your startup team decides your success to a great extent. A team that is honest with their work, and values each other’s contribution to a common goal is required for the success of your startup. The main challenge is; how to build a winning team for your startup?Here are some tips to follow:

Hire motivated persons
Prioritize leadership development among your team members
Unite team members for a common goal, and value every contribution
Develop an action plan for every member
Support risk-taking actions of team members
Keep every member involved in every activity
Appreciate the efforts of the team members
Do not over-burden your team members with the workload

Dr. Anu Khanchandani
With over two decades of experience in the software technology arena, having worked in multinational and SME companies in India, USA and Singapore in the capacity of programmer to CTO - I felt now was a good time to give back to the world what I have learnt in this journey. Even if it ends up benefitting a few of my readers by giving them insight or solving a technical issue, I think I will have achieved my mission!