What You Need To Know Before Launching A Startup

I often get emails from aspiring entrepreneurs asking me what they should know about before launching a startup. If I had the magical formula or answers to everything you need to know before starting a business, I’d be some type of guru. The truth of the matter is that nobody has these answers.

Why you ask? Well, it’s fairly simple actually. No two startups, entrepreneurs or launches are ever close to the same. The obstacles, roadblocks and circumstances with every startup is completely different. As a result of these variables, you can never prepare anyone completely for the challenging road ahead.

However, looking back to the days of my first startup launch….I definitely wish I knew all that I know about entrepreneurship today. In this post, I’m going to share with you what you need to know before launching a startup so that you can be prepared for the roller coaster ahead.

Team 

Team is the single-most important thing that will define your rate of success and failure with launching a new business. You cannot do it alone and the sooner you realize that and effectively understand that equity distribution is for the greater good of your business, the better your chances of succeeding will really be.

Find a great team that not only compliments your skills, but compliments your personality. It’s great to hire a really smart guy that’s 30 years older than you, but are you guys really going to be able to spend 12 hours a day without ripping each others heads off? When building your team, don’t just access skills but also look for a connection between you and your other partners.

Chase The Passion, Not The Paper 

Entrepreneurship and being successful is NOT about money. That’s just a reward that you earn for hard work for creating value and really cool sh*t. If you chase the paper, your mindset and focus is on all the wrong things and your startup will inevitably go down a path you’ll probably regret in the future.

Making money is a great metric to track success, growth and keep the lights running, but that’s not what your ultimate motive should be. Follow your passion, what is it that you want to change about a certain market, niche or problem? Why are you so passionate about it and why do you believe you’re the right person to do it?

Know Your Customer Better Than Yourself

Before you go out and build or launch anything, take your idea and know who your ideal customer is and everything about them. Customers make or break your business and if you do not understand who they are, you’re going to fail.

Get out there, be social and survey your potential customers. You don’t need money, you just need information from these potential customers. Find out who they are, what they’re looking for, how far they’d be willing to go to get it and if you’re ideas are the right solutions they want.

If You Don’t Have Competition, Be Terrified 

You’ve probably heard this saying the other way around. If you have competition, be scared. To be honest, competition is great. It shows validation for the space that you’re in and it gives you a massive educational advantage you wouldn’t have otherwise. If there is competition, that means that other people think there’s a problem that needs to be solved as well.

If there’s no competition and you believe you’re the only one smart enough to think of it, there’s probably a 99% chance you’re wrong. In most cases, competition is the best thing for you because it provides you validation and you can learn from their mistakes and products. If you have no competition, rethink your ideas numerous times.

Nobody Will Understand Your Choices 

It’s okay if nobody understands your decision to become an entrepreneur. If this path was so normal and socially acceptable, the world would be filled with entrepreneurs. I’m always  weary when the public is heavy on something and far more intrigued when the public is against something.

As an entrepreneur, you have to understand that you’re about to embark on a journey unlike any other. The things you will learn, experience and go through will be unmatched to almost anything else you’ve ever dealt with in your life. You have to be prepared to go against everyone else’s ‘advice’ and follow your self belief.

Conclusion 

Even with this list of things, you will still face tons of other things that you will never have foreseen in your journey. This is just a short list of some of the things I wish I had known when I first launched my business as it would have definitely helped me in the long run. Share some of the things you wish you knew before launching a startup down below in the comments.