Great startups don’t just get started, they start by thinking about how they can be better than the competition.
Here are some of the ways that great startups do this:
They obsess over the customer
Customer obsession is a startup’s most valuable asset. Startups need to be customer-obsessed because it’s their job to listen, ask questions, and use feedback from customers in order to improve products or services.
Customer obsession means that you are always thinking about how your product can make people’s lives better—and that you’re willing to change what you do if you find out there is something better out there for someone else (which happens often). It also means that you’re not just doing something because other people are telling you so: You’re doing it because it makes sense from an emotional standpoint as well as a logical one. And if something doesn’t seem like it’ll help anyone else besides yourself? Then maybe it isn’t worth pursuing after all!
They focus on their culture
Culture is more important than product, marketing, sales and finance. It’s also more important than HR and legal.
Culture is what sets you apart from your competitors and makes your startup stand out in the crowd of startups that have been trying to do what you do before you did it (and failed).
They don’t stop innovating
Innovation is a key part of your startup’s success. But it’s not just a one-time event; innovation is a process that happens over time and requires constant attention.
Innovation isn’t necessarily about launching new products or services, but instead about constantly improving the way you do things—and then launching those improvements in new ways as needed.
When you think about it this way, innovation isn’t really an objective at all—it’s more like an ongoing activity that your entire organization engages in every day. The key here is having everyone involved understand this idea so they can work together toward common goals without feeling like they’re working against each other (or themselves).
They’re championing diversity and inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are important to the success of a company, community, country, or world.
A diverse workforce leads to better ideas and outcomes. Studies have shown that companies with more diverse employees have higher profits than their less diverse counterparts. Additionally, companies with more women in leadership positions tend to be more profitable than those without them.
Diverse communities make for better places for everyone—from families who want affordable housing options close by so they don’t have far-flung commutes every day or people who just want somewhere peaceful where they can enjoy nature at its finest during weekends away from work.
They take risks
Risk-taking is a key part of innovation and success. A startup can’t innovate if it doesn’t take risks, but startups also need to be successful before they can take risks.
Risk-taking is not for the faint-hearted: it involves making decisions about new ideas with relatively little information, sometimes without knowing how those ideas will turn out in practice. This might mean experimenting with different business models or products, or even changing your company’s focus completely if things aren’t working out as expected. But if you’re going to succeed at risk-taking then you should:
- Be clear on what your goals are and why they matter so much
- Know what metrics are important for measuring progress against those goals (i.e., revenue growth)
Great startups start by thinking about how they can be better than the competition
You’re probably thinking, “So what? I don’t know anything about customer experience. It’s just something that happens after you’ve built the product and sales are doing great.”
That’s okay—you’re not alone! It can be hard to wrap your head around the concept of “customer experience.” But think about it like this: if your startup was about building a product or service for yourself, would you care how cool it was? Of course not! You’d be happy if it worked as advertised and did what it was supposed to do (which is make money). But when customers buy from you (or pay attention to your company), they expect more than just an efficient solution; they want something that provides value beyond its price tag—and this is where “the customer experience” comes into play.
Conclusion
The best part is that these principles are applicable to any business or organization, no matter the field! We’ve seen them at work across many different industries, including education, healthcare, finance and more.
Author
