Technology these days has made our life easier by putting things at our fingertips, such as buying an online item, attending virtual meetings, etc. But how did all this happen?
It was us, ordinary people. We dreamed of accessing futuristic technologies to advance everyone’s lives.
Each of those dreams began with an innovative idea. Then it comes to the point of implementing it. Do you have any profound knowledge of any technological field to begin a venture of your own? if yes then do you have an idea that can elevate the innovations in the world? if yes do you think you have a strategy to implement your ideas in the real world?
These questionaries may make you think twice about your dream. We are not discouraging your potential. In this blog, we plan to elevate your idea for real-world use. This blog is solely based on how to start a tech startup in 8 steps.
If you think these steps will let you build a successful tech startup then you are wrong as you have to put in the effort as well, you have to develop a strategy that will sustain the tech startup and convert it into a tech giant. You will face issues, you will fail at some points, and you will feel like giving up. But these are the essentials of corporate life “no pain no gain”, it’s that simple. So prepare yourself for getting financially and mentally hit, because this ladder isn’t something an easy peasy hike.
Tech Startup Ideas, How Hard is it to Start a Tech Company
If you want to build a tech startup but don’t think you have an idea. Don’t worry as we have enlisted some of the trending and unique tech startup ideas which you can consider to begin to opt for and start with the process.
· i) BioTech.
· ii) EdTech.
· iii) AI.
· iv) Data Analysis startup.
· v) FinTech.
· vi) Custom PC Building.
· vii) Freelance Platform.
These are some of the best startup ideas from us, but we know the question might be in your mind regarding the difficulty of building a tech startup, yes it’s difficult to build a tech startup, but it’s not impossible as the people around you have done this. Then what makes them so special? You have the same abilities as they have right so never assume a tech startup is impossible.
You may ask what are the difficult parts? Well, thinking tech startups are impossible to build is the most difficult part as this thought makes you quit on your ideas and dreams. Apart from this most people fail to build a robust plan or strategy which is the most important thing if you want growth. You may have the best idea but if you don’t have robust planning then that idea is of no use. Moreover, lacking a clear statement about your idea and product with no robust planning will affect your funding as fundraisers don’t usually fund startups with no vision and planning so yes bringing clarity to your idea might be difficult.
8 Steps to Start Your Tech Startup
1. Learn and Build Foundation
Before you think of starting a tech startup you need to learn and get a strong grip on every other field such as technical, finance, marketing and other. Why? These will guide you with the essentials of every field, so you will be able to understand different terms used in any organisation and startup. It’s not going to be an easy task as you will be brainstorming about some subjects you don’t really like such as statistics and economics, but it is essential and we highly recommend doing so as it will elevate your understanding level by studying different fields. And as you research startups you will be able to understand different terminologies such as MVP(Minimum Viable Product).
Learning is something we never stop so just plan what you need to learn to build a successful tech startup. While doing so don’t be too harsh on yourself as you may not understand every other thing, and for that, you can hire people later on, but having some ideas on every field will never disappoint you. Moreover, don’t be a lone wolf, whenever you run into any difficulties ask experts or a group of professionals, this again will allow you to connect with new people and get a better understanding of different subjects as well. Finding a mentor can greatly help you as he will guide you to the right path.
But What Exactly Do You Need to Learn?
It heavily depends on the idea you have and how do you plan to implement it in the real world, below are some of the things you should consider learning
1. Market research and analysis.
2. Marketing essentials.
3. Essentials of Finance and Economics.
4. Planning different Ideas.
5. Building a robust Strategy.
6. Effective communication skills.
7. How to build connections.
8. How to present your idea clearly and concisely.
9. Trends of your tech idea.
2. State Your Idea and Conduct Market Research
Before you proceed to any actual steps of building a tech startup, it’s important to make your idea clear, concise and appealing. Many of us have ideas on different problems but most of us fail to state an idea properly, hence you must work on your idea whether it’s a software product or electronic equipment that provides people with some ease, just be clear. Think, about how your idea can impact millions of people, how it will provide something that people will need desperately, and how it will convince others that this future technology is essential. If you find out what, why and how you will be able to make yourself aware of your idea greatly, which again will help you in clearing the doubts of audiences.
The next part is to conduct market research, now that you have a clear understating of your product or idea, start looking at stats- which involves extracting data on questions such as the need of your product in the market, its margin, its popularity, how much profit you can make out of it, how your product will help firms, your competitors, required resources for the product, etc. the most important part you should understand from research is the need and demand of your product, if you find out the data and statistics on these terms you will be able to convince your investors and fundraisers that your idea will make an impact and at the same time it will drive a big chunk of money to their pockets too.
3. Start Socializing and Connect
Socializing is the best practice to sell your product to the consumers by spreading the words of your brand, hence you should think of socializing yourself in the startup events, and social media groups filled with startup enthusiasts. Begin sharing your experience, appreciate their experiences and achievements, show interest in social activities and much more. By doing this you will be gaining a huge audience to talk to and understand their different requirements. Moreover, you can even ask questions related to your product and get their response to understand what your product should deliver.
Connecting with new professionals will expand your boundaries and chances are these connections might be the ones to advertise your brand across multiple channels, so connect many different people belonging to various fields. Exchanging ideas can attract people to invest and contribute to your startup, so take the initiative to build a profound bond.
4. Team Up
Sure you have the strategy, the researched data and everything, but will you be able to perform all the activities by yourself? no right. You cannot perform all of the startup activities such as marketing, technical tasks, maintenance and other things and for that, you need a capable team. There is no me in a team, and this term is important as every other team member holds the equal value in your startup, so even if it’s your idea and product do keep in mind you cannot have expertise in all other fields, hence forming a team is important.
Tech Startup Without a Tech Background, How do you build a Tech startup Team?
Now you might wonder what if someone belongs to non-tech background what then? Well in such a case you have to get in touch with someone who has a deep understanding of technology and its trends, meet experts developers and CEO/CTO to take proper guidance and decide your goals accordingly. A non-tech person may have intuitive tech startup ideas so these steps are for all.
But how would a non-tech person build a tech startup team? if you are wondering about the same question we have some insights for you, a not tech person can begin his tech startup team building by researching and working with experts. Firstly, understand what roles you need for your tech startup and these depend on your startup idea, if you have an idea related to a software solution then you may need software developers, other engineering and management roles. Moreover, you will need marketing, finance and sales expert to advertise, and look at your balance sheet to uplift your sales.
Who Do You Need In the Early Stage of Your Startup?
· Marketing Expert.
· Manager.
· Engineers.
· Sales Advisor.
· Lawyer.
5. Competitors Analysis
Have you ever thought that someone with the same idea as you might try to start his startup or he already is dominating the niche in which you want to serve services? If not it’s your and your team’s priority. Why? Because you need your product to survive in the market and for that, you have to analyse every move of your competitor, perform deep analysis on their strategies, their audiences, why do people prefer their product, how they convince clients, their marketing strategy, their online presence everything. Knowing these terms will help you shape your startup, How? You can introduce some unique features and reduce flaws in your tech product which their product usually run into, by following this strategy you can even attract their consumers and clients.
6. Present Yourself and Raise Funds
Now that you have a team and have performed competitors’ analysis go meet people and present your idea to get funding for your startup. Before you present keep copies of your ideas and detailed profit information as per market needs so you can hand over these to funding agencies or banks or other fundraisers, so they can understand your idea and the product thoroughly even if they missed any part due to any business call or any other disruptions. Be clear and concise with your product use a professional tone but in a simple way, ask them questions, and get feedback to try and be persuasive. If you follow these simple tricks chances are fundraisers will give your idea a thought and might fund your startup.
7. Build Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
An MVP is a product defined by its initial functionalities such as basic features, this is just like prototyping so you can have an idea about your product and find out how it can get better in upcoming development stages. To demonstrate your product’s unique functionalities you need to build this MVP by external production services, now it depends on your product whether it’s a software solution or electronic equipment accordingly you have to choose the eternal production services. Moreover, you can get feedback on your product from your fundraisers and finalize the product for production and again this product can get you more fundraisers giving a boost to your startup.
8. Set New Goals and Convert Your Startup Into a Tech Giant
Now that you have set a routine for your startup, arrange a meeting and discuss your core values along with the goals which your startup should pursue to achieve max benefits. Meetings are the best ways to engage with your team and board members to have deep insights into the performance of your startup. Overtime set new goals and try to accomplish those in a fixed period of time, to survive in the long run start expanding your tech startup into a multinational tech giant.
The cost of building a tech startup totally depends on your idea and the product you want to build, suppose if you have the idea of building a software solution then the cost of building will be comparatively lower than an electronic tech startup idea as it won’t require any hardware resources such as different chip manufacturing machines, and other testing devices. Whereas if you work on a software solution then it will only require some hardware resources and softwares only. Still, other costs must be included such as salaries of your team members and registration costs, physical and online presence costs such as office and website.
According to some research data the average cost of a tech startup ranges from $120,000 to $270,000, these are only numbers and they can get affected by the market, so no one can make a strong opinion regarding the cost of building a tech startup.
Tips For A Successful Startup
1. Be clear and concise about your idea and concept.
2. Connect with people as much as you can.
3. Enrol in startup programs for a better understanding of the startup ecosystem.
4. Build a prototype and perform test runs.
5. Build a robust strategy.
6. Hire the right people.
7. Perform competitor analysis.
8. Define core values.
9. Focus more on the product and let your team handle the rest.
10. Always put customer satisfaction first to build your reputation.
11. Set new goals and achieve success little by little.
Conclusion
A Tech startup is a magnificent approach if you have the right product that consumers need desperately, and to provide them with the utmost solution your startup must be equipped with some core values and a team to understand consumers’ needs to build satisfactory products accordingly. If you think you have the idea and concept to begin your startup journey and don’t know where to start then this article will direct you on the right path as it contains the most prime steps to start a tech startup.
Apart from these steps, you will require a strong mindset if you want to continue this journey to build a successful tech giant as you will face financial issues, burnout, bad experiences, and many other things. Hence it’s important to expect the unexpected and go through every situation to climb the ladder of triumph.
