What to expect during the first 90 days of launching your startup

Last week I asked Nick Malik, a veteran entrepreneur on what it is like in the first 90 days for a new business owner. His answer was, “Heady. Crazy. Risky. Adrenaline.”

The reality is that hit as a new business owner, you are creating something new and during these early stages, every decision is going to count.

Generally, the process of starting a business involves key steps from choosing a business name to selecting the business location and structure. Once you have opened your doors for business, the first 90 days can make the difference between success and failure in the long term because without the early momentum and positive reinforcement, you might never maintain the momentum and get enough customers. It is, therefore, important to learn what to do during the first 90 days in business.  Here are few of the lessons you will learn during the first 90 days of being in business.

·        What is your target market? What can you do for your customers?

One mistake that many entrepreneurs seem to make is that they set out to create a product first and worry about the market second. It is important to design your product in such a way that it solves a specific need for a particular target market. This can prevent a lot of headaches. In other words, entrepreneurs should be aware of the fact that having a satisfactory solution that targets a need that has not been met is always better than having a perfect solution to a need that either doesn’t exists or is already being met adequately.

·        Launch “good enough product” and upgrade later

Sometimes entrepreneurs get sucked up designing a perfect product without knowing exactly what the market needs. The only way you will be able to figure out which aspect is good for the customers and which ones are not needed is by launching a minimum-viable product, gather feedback and upgrade. However, you must make sure that the initial product is good enough to realistically meet your customer’s needs. For instance, if you are selling an app, you can start selling the initial version and roll out new versions depending on the feedback from the market.

·        Are your team members in the right roles?

You must make sure that every team member is in a place that compliments his/her skills. It is important that you put team members in a place that they are likely to succeed instead assigning them random tasks.

·        Cheap is expensive

Many founders think that economizing will be good for their business. Instead of focusing on the amount of money your are spending on resources, you should focus on the overall value. Spending a little more on certain aspects of the business can create a tremendous value on the business.

·        Get the First Customer

Let us just say that the only reason you are in business is so that you can attract as many customers as possible. If you didn’t already have a customer at the beginning, then you should make it a priority to have customers during the first 90 days of being in business. You can employ various marketing and advertising strategies, but make sure that they are affordable. Start with networking and referrals before you move to paid advertising. Employ people with master selling skills if you are not good at marketing and selling because this is essential to your business success. Spend at least 4 hours per week learning and applying new selling skills in your business.

·        Make a Profit

Without profit, your business might not make it. Please focus on making money by reducing costs and following the right business model. Study your financials to make sure that your company is making profit. If it is not making profit, it means that there are few things you need to change to make it happen.

·        Evaluate Pricing strategy

When you are launching a business, it is obvious that you will make assumptions about what prices will be appropriate for customers and the amount of profits you will make. However, during the first 90 days of being in business, you will discover that your assumptions will be challenged with the realities of the market. This is the time to re-examine your pricing strategy. Remember that offering the lowest possible price might not be the wisest thing to do if you want to remain profitable. It would be easier to reduce prices in future than to increase. Your competitors have established themselves in business and are able to offer reduced prices than you (a start-up).

·        Quarterly goals

Running a successful startup can be both stressful and time consuming. So it is easy to get caught up in the daily routines and forget the bigger picture. Last year, I set up a freelance writing business and I kept looking at the site and tweaking things in the website. Before I knew it, the year was halfway yet I hadn’t done any marketing to reach customers. So I started with a one-month goal to get at least 5 clients. The result was phenomenal. Within the following month, I had managed to get 6 clients. Therefore, it is important to have an executable plan for your business.