Iran Alternative Investment Ecosystem is considered as a toddler contrary to what the advanced world has achieved so far. This is direr for Iranian Startups with a lifetime of less than a decade, however, some of them have reached acceptable levels considering all the limitations and impediments towards their way, yet there are issues that need most imminent attention of all participant or in near future we will face a load of failed startups and their frustrated founders whom once was young and restless!
Searching the global reasons for a startup failure, we will find a humble attempt of their owners to write post-mortem notes so the future can benefit from their experience. Something that is getting more common amid Iranian Startups as well. There are a handful of reasons for knowledge enterprises’ failure around the globe which shall be prioritized for Iranian ecosystem of course:
- Market, Market, Market!
Consider the case that everything else is in place for a fresh startup but there is no viable market for the services or products they are offering. Would that worth the trouble to even spend a penny on? Absolutely no! This the main bottleneck we face every day when sitting with different startups. Lots of ideas are just good in theory and the rest are neither good nor even executable. There is no need to have a mobile application delivering Hookah! and it shall not be named a startup at all.
- Your budget is not infinite!
Time and money are scarce! Please stop spending the raised funds as your pocket money or little by little you will lose investors’ appetite towards your work. It is not acceptable at all that the founders cash out their sky-high monthly salaries from the raised funds. Learn to be an entrepreneur who leaves a startup life! Also, founders shall learn the basics of budget spending for a utilized cost management.
- Build the right team!
Almost all the international entrepreneurs agree that even the best ideas are doomed to fail if the execution is sloppy. Near 40% of startup guys in India said setting up the best viable team and imposing good encouragement practices on them is their scariest nightmare. If you have a good team stick to them, make them matter and compensate them appropriately (not all with money).
- Have an eye for your rivals!
Spent some time surveilling your rivals. If you do so, there shall be not 25 players active in an only one specific serviceable market!! Know the market size and do a simple hand count of other players. A small sliver of a huge pie might be good enough yet the crumbles of a tine cookie do not worth the headache.
- Be price competitive!
- Offer what the customers need!
- Prepare a professional Business Plan!
BP is like a building blueprint for each and every business. Don’t believe what rookies offer you that a startup does not need one! It shall not be something extraordinary, yet it must draw the treasure chest roadmap.
- Focus on your marketing strategies!
It’s not the biblical times to print loads of paper materials and shove it under the households’ doorsteps. Thinks strategic, create professional content and be an online digital marketer.
- Focus on the customers!
- Timing is the most important after chemistry!
- Don’t lose focus; no man can serve two masters!
- Use right pivot points and don’t be stubborn about your misdoings!
- Learn to be a full-scale manager!
Startup founders shall train themselves on how to become a full-scale manager. Someone who can handle human resources, legal claims, budget deficiency, product development and even disputes! Yes, all of these fall under your responsibilities after the seed round. So better to be safe than sorry!
- And …
In a report published by ICT startups, the below reasons considered as the main bottlenecks of Iranian Startups:
In conclusion, we shall note that running a startup needs high levels of devotion, professionalism, up to the date knowledge, managerial skills, good insight of the market, low levels of expectations during early years and long story short the ability to adopt a startup lifestyle for at least 4-5 years! Only and only by considering all the mentioned items the new business has a chance to stay alive in the market and grow in a proper manner.
