Dan Lok, King of Closing Shares How Startups Can Grow Their Business Within the First Year

Startups can provide enormous professional growth. By building on the existing skill sets, everyone in the company can gain experience in a variety of critical areas. According to Dan Lok, King of Closing, businesses can successfully grow their business within one year.

Startups Benefit Everyone

Starting a business is often a difficult process in the beginning. Without the proper skills and mentorship, it can, at times, feel daunting. The reason startups can work so well, is not necessarily from unique skill sets. A startup can successfully grow in the first year by encouraging involvement through leadership.

Creating a startup has many benefits for both employees and owners. As the head of a startup, being the boss allows for more autonomy. Many people, including business strategists like Dan Lok, enjoy setting their own schedule, making high-priority decisions, and representing the brand they built. Independence and flexibility allow for a certain amount of creativity.

Working for a startup frequently comes with a sense of pride. A startup is usually a team effort and employees can create the foundation for a company. By molding the workplace to what is necessary for the business itself, all people are involved from the start.

How Can Startups Grow During the First Year?

Approximately 50% of businesses with employees make it past five years. To successfully run a startup, the first year should produce substantial growth. Without steady progress, Dan Lok is skeptical that a business can succeed in the long run.

Goals

Before starting the first year, a company must first discuss goals. Benchmarks help founders and employees gauge how much work they need to accomplish by specific time periods. To do this, professional roles should be determined.

With professional titles and assigned roles, all employees will understand what is necessary and whose responsibility it is to accomplish each task. Working as a team will benefit the company, but only if everyone knows what is expected of them. Co-founders, engineers, designers, and marketers are all different segments that can benefit from working together with individual goals.

Cashflow

During the first year, it is important to conserve cash. Being frugal with extra supplies is not necessarily a bad thing when just starting out. As long as the basics are in place, extra costs can be calculated by forming a weekly and monthly budget.

To conserve cash, many successful startups will limit how many people they hire during the first year. Working from home can also save money if an office building is not necessary. By using accounts and lawyers, costly legal troubles can be prevented, however, try to use them sparingly. Cash conscious decisions can prevent the startup from running out of money while trying to generate revenue.

Target Audience

Finding the key demographics necessary to interest customers or clients is essential. While marketing is one of the most critical aspects to finding business, marketing to everyone will not work. By narrowing down a specific segment of the population that will be interested in certain services or products, marketing does not have to be as expensive.

To figure out which segments of the population would be most interested in a startup, first gather survey data. These surveys can be distributed through mass email or newsletters. Analyzing market data will collect information about competitors and potentially how they market their business. Reviewing personal networks can help generate ideas.

Understand the Competition

During the first year, many startups are not aware of competition metrics. Understanding how competitors market and the engineering tactics used is a key part of growing a business. Learning what their growth rates are and advancement techniques is necessary to follow throughout the year. Consistently tracking the growth of competitors can help gauge where the startup is in relation to its market.

Competitors may already have solutions to the problems a new startup is struggling with. By learning from their growth, a new business can succeed at a faster rate. Having another company pave the way can create unexpected shortcuts for new growth. Competitors can also indicate what a new business needs to improve upon.

Hire the Smart Way

In the beginning, hiring will be one of the first obstacles a startup faces. Knowing who to choose can drastically influence budget and time spent training. The wrong employee will likely cause a loss of profits as well as traction.

Depending on the type of business, hiring processes may look different. Many universities offer internship programs with local businesses that may provide qualified help. Making a list of the projects that need to get done and then all the qualities it takes to achieve success can help. Specific projects in sales or marketing for instance, will require personable and psychological skills. Engineer qualifications may include the ability to solve complex questions while still staying flexible to new ideas.

Is Growth Rate The #1 Priority in A Startup?

It is essential that a startup has a high growth rate. In order for any business to survive in today’s economy, it must progress at a consistent rate. While a high growth rate does not necessarily mean quick growth, the first year is incredibly important for any startup.

A successful growth rate means a company without a ceiling. New businesses with innovative concepts may feel frustrated by a lack of original interest. A new type of business can also indicate that there is high potential for growth. To start a lucrative company with a competitive edge, it’s best to hit the ground running.  

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