6 Problems A Startup Business Will Face & How To Fix Them

Starting, running and growing a start-up company is full of opportunities but also potential problems. Speak to any business owner, and they’ll often tell you about how the early days of growing their business were some of the toughest they’ve faced.

Learning some of the common challenges and problems business owners running a start-up business face can help you recognise and overcome them if you’re running your own start-up business or planning to in the future.

If you’re in the process of trying to grow your start-up, a professional digital marketing agency that specialises in helping small businesses can help you do this.

This article will look at some of the common problems start-up businesses face and how to address them.

#1 Financial management

Unfortunately, without money, any business won’t last long. Money issues cause multiple issues for start-ups, such as product development, paying staff, and building different teams. The most common financial issues small businesses are:

1 Lack of cash flow
2 Sticking to a budget
3 Lack of capital
4 Lack of marketing spend
5 Unforeseen events and expenses.

How can you fix this?

Financial management issues will be different for every business, and the same goes for their solutions. If your business is growing, you may have to spend money to make money; this could include increasing marketing spend to acquire new customers or investing in your product or service to improve customer experience and customer retention.

If your businesses’ finances are stable, but you’re looking to improve your cash flow, it may mean that it’s time to reach out to investors to raise capital for your business.

Financial management issues can be specific to each business, so if your company is going through financial hardship, make sure to seek professional guidance before making any significant decisions that could threaten the future of your business.

#2 Finding customers

Getting new customers is a priority for every business, no matter its size, but it’s even more of a priority for a start-up business. The issue that a lot of start-ups face is finding customers when their business isn’t well established.

In addition, the acquisition costs associated with getting new customers can be high, and budgets for start-up companies can be tight. Profitwell reported in 2019 that customer acquisition costs increased almost 60% over six years.

How can you fix this?

The best way to start finding customers is to spend some time figuring out who your ideal customer is. If you know who your perfect customer is, you’ll know where to target your marketing efforts. There are several ways to start identifying your ideal customers, including:

— Look at your current customer base and examine any commonalities between your customers such as gender, income level, industry, job title and location.
— Spend some time interviewing your customers to identify their goals and fears; this will give you insight into the problems your existing customers are looking to solve when purchasing and using your product/services.
— Use platforms such as Google Analytics to track where your traffic is coming from to get an idea of where your potential customers are hanging out.

#3 Bad planning

A lot of businesses fail due to bad planning. No matter how good a product or service is, it is bound to fail if a concrete plan isn’t in place that accounts for customer acquisition, customer retention, product development, product/brand marketing, staffing costs and other business expenses.

How can you fix this?

The first step to fixing planning issues is to create a detailed business plan. Business plans can help to formulate your objectives, uncover potential roadblocks and give you a clear pathway for your business. A typical business plan will consist of:

— An executive summary
— A company description
— Market research
— Marketing and sales strategy
— Description of your products and services
— Financials

#4 Hiring and managing a team

Research suggests that teams are more likely to build a successful start-up than individual founders. If you’re in the process of or thinking about building a team, you’ll need to consider who you want to fire, when to make your first or next hire and how to manage your team.

How can you fix this?

When you’re hiring and managing a team, there will always be issues that occur, but you can negate many of them by hiring the right people. Keep these hiring tips in mind when your sourcing new talent:

— Identify the key positions you need to fill.
— Hire experienced employees for the role you’re looking to fill but who are willing to tackle other tasks.
— Look for potential employees who will be proactive in their roles – this can include asking candidates how they would carry out specific tasks related to the position you’re hiring for in the interview process.

#5 Finding the right idea

When you’re launching a start-up, it’s essential to be flexible in your decision making. Being too rigid in your decision making or too focussed on one particular product can lead to you mixing opportunities and not paying enough attention to what your customers desire in your product.

How can you fix this?

Remember to keep your focus on your target market and regularly engage your customers to see what they’re enjoying about your product and any challenges they’re facing. Listening to your customers will play a vital role in the development of your product and also help spur new ideas based on customer feedback.

#6 Time Management

Speak to anyone who’s founded or even worked at a start-up, and they’ll likely tell you that there’s not enough time in the day to get everything done. In small start-ups, it’s not uncommon for employees to wear multiple hats and juggle multiple roles at once, and it can be easy for work to pile up, and time management can become an issue.

How can you fix this?

The easiest way to start managing your time is to minimise distractions and anything that gets in the way of you running your start-up. Try and prioritise your tasks and focus on those that will significantly impact your business.

Conclusion

This article should have given you a good overview of some of the common problems start-ups face and how they are solved. As your business grows and expands, new problems will spring up, so solving issues in your business will be an ongoing process, so make sure you stay alert and ready to tackle new issues as they arise.