(This post is co-authored with Web2INC Magazine)
The most stressful phase of a business is its start-up phase. If starting a business was easy, everyone would do it! You need 5 things to create a successful business: Idea, Courage, Time, Money, People.
Idea
There are billions of creative ideas in our brains, but ideas mean nothing if you don’t follow up by taking real action. Taking an idea into real action isn’t enough; your business model must cover what customers want. If you’re going to do what everyone is doing, you can’t be successful; you must solve a problem and create additional value for your customers.
Courage
A start-up without any risk is a dream. Forget about failure and if you think you have a great idea, step out of your comfort area and go for it. Failures breed success!
Time & Money
There is a simple rule to calculate how much time and money you need for s startup: ” If you plan to develop in a year, it’s going to take two; if you think it’s going to take $100K, it’s going to take $200K”. So be patient and spend your money carefully and don’t run out of money. Also, growing too fast sometimes means unnecessary stress of a loan.
People
To succeed, the person you hire must do his job well and be success – oriented. In the start-up phase, the best way to motivate your employees and them make them more efficient is giving them your company’s shares.
You need more people who will help you develop your business for no money. These are friends, candidates for testing your product or service, a friends’ friends at advantageous positions for you to make PR and free marketing. This is called business networking.
To read more about this topic, you should read Paul Graham’s (partner at Y-Combinator) “How to Start a Start-Up” essay on his website. This essay is a must-read resource for entrepreneurs before starting a start-up.
Also, Inc.’s “Start-Up Secrets” slide is worth looking at.