What Startups Need to Succeed [II]

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• It’s not enough to have a great idea and a good team — you should be able to successfully execute on both
• A sustainable business model will help you maintain momentum after initial success, which can be difficult when starting out as a startup
• Airbnb had trouble scaling due to its lack of experience in new fields, but once it started using data and analytics, revenues increased

Startups are built to establish positive impacts such as creating jobs and bringing about new business opportunities, hence, scalability and sustainability must not be left out in their plans.

Relevance in the market they’re entering is also another needed attribute for startups that want to attain business growth.

Emphasising Scalability as one of the tools startups need to succeed

One of the most important aspects of a startup is its scalability. 

Scalability is the ability of a business to grow and adapt to different market conditions. If your business isn’t scalable, you will struggle to achieve success.

A good example of this is Airbnb. Airbnb started as an accommodation service for travellers but it quickly expanded into other areas such as food delivery and car sharing services. 

At first, Airbnb had trouble scaling due to its lack of experience in these new fields, but once it started using data and analytics, they were able to increase its revenues significantly and gain more customers for these new services. 

A startup needs to ensure that it can scale up or down quickly depending on what the market needs. If your product is only being used by 10 people in your area but suddenly there’s an influx of new customers, you will need to learn how to handle the growth quickly, without losing control of your company. 

This brings us to sustainability.

Sustainability

Another important aspect of startups is sustainability. According to Wikipedia, sustainable businesses are those that continue to operate without having any negative impact on the environment or society around them. 

If you’re only making $100 million in revenue this year, but next year that number reduces to $50 million — you could still be successful if you had a strong business plan and kept at it! But if you stop making products or services because the money isn’t coming in fast enough, then you might as well shut down for good.

As a startup, your success is measured by how well it scales. It’s not enough to have a great idea and a good team — you should be able to successfully execute on both.

One way to ensure that you’re ready for scaling is to have a sustainable business model in place. This means thinking about both short-term and long-term goals for your company and making sure that they are aligned with the core values of your company. A sustainable business model will help you maintain momentum after initial success, which can be difficult when starting out as a startup.