Startup life is not for the faint of heart; getting a business up and running in an efficient, profitable way comes with a slew of obstacles that, for some, are difficult to bypass with any sense of ease. The common challenges faced by emerging businesses today typically result in either a realized opportunity for growth, or full or partial failure. To avoid the latter, everyday startup issues that threaten to hinder business progression can be resolved with innovative, alternative solutions in terms of competition, funding, and infrastructure.
Battling the Competition
In today’s marketplace, the use of technology and intuitive digital platforms creates the opportunity for tens of thousands of businesses to offer similar products and services to a global prospect pool. While beneficial to consumers, the influx of competition makes it a challenge to differentiate one company from another. For every startup, however, facing competition head on it a must. Successful CEOs do their best work in a highly competitive market, as the pressure provides fertile ground for growth. Instead of viewing competition as a hurdle to a company’s progress, view it as an opportunity establish a product or service that meets consumer demand in a new, but effective way.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel in most cases – it is more about the right execution and strategic planning. One alternative solution to competition woes is to partner with a like-minded business. Instead of continuing the fight against them, offer up partnership as a way to capture a broader customer base that, in the end, is mutually beneficial.
Raising Enough CashÂ
One of the most common difficulties faced by startups is the availability of cash on hand at the exact moment its needed. Specific to technology-based startups, the initial cost of building out solid platforms that delivers services in an efficient way poses a steep challenge without the right funding sources. While some startups are able to quickly build fruitful relationships with venture capitalists or angel investors, not all companies have the necessary contacts to do so.
A solution to funding concerns may come by way of innovative financing platforms, including crowdfunding or marketplace lending. Crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter, Fundable and AngelList, allow startups the ability to offer up their financing needs to a crowd of either accredited or unaccredited investors. Marketplace lending offers a tech-based way to secure loans or lines of credit, also backed by the public crowd. Both solutions are viable alternatives to conventional bank financing, which often is not readily available to companies in the startup phase.
Getting Creative with Infrastructure
Determining the best infrastructure for a startup also poses a threat to its sustainability over the long term. Without the proper tools in place to assist a business in running efficiently, startups have little chance of maintaining profitability. To correct the infrastructure issue, startups may need to get creative.
For example, embracing new technology like the blockchain can have powerful, positive results for a company and its customers moving forward. Blockchain technology is essentially an open source database that collects multiple inputs from numerous sources, currently known well for its implementation through Bitcoin, a type of digital currency. Online casinos like Oshi, for instance, utilize the blockchain technology to offer customers a method to gamble with Bitcoins as credits, which provides for anonymity, security and speed in transactions not found with brick and mortar gambling institutions.
Blockchain has far reaching implications for startups, if they are willing to embrace its use early on. Startups may utilize blockchain technology as a means to lower transactions costs for payments, share secure data both internally and externally, or create new service models altogether.
The challenges that face startups are not impossible to overcome, but may require researching and imploring alternative solutions. Whether it is an infrastructure, funding or competition concern plaguing the business, a viable solution exists when there is a desire to keep up the fight.
