Building and running a successful business is often assumed to be a product of team effort. Where a team of technical experts, business partners, and talented employees contribute their different skills and expertise to make the business grow and excel. But is it impossible to build a startup without the help of a team? Can an individual come up with an idea and build a startup on their own? Well, the answer to both these questions is Yes! If you have an idea and the right guidance, then you can start and run a business on your own without hiring anyone.
I am sure you must have thought of some innovative startup ideas before that you never pursued, because it may have seemed like an impossible thing to do on your own. But you can change that and create your business, and this is a guide to how you can do it all by yourself!
Know the types of start-ups
Research is always the first step if you want to do something right. Now you might have a great startup idea in your mind, but having an idea is not enough. To build a startup it is essential to do thorough research about important things such as the types of startups, the customers, existing competition in the market, and any relevant information.
A startup is basically a newly started business venture that is run and often financed by one or more entrepreneurial founders. There can be numerous different ideas of startups, ranging from a lemonade stand to a social network company. When it comes to startup ideas, the sky’s the limit.
But startups can be of different types based on the purpose and the business model. According to Steve Blank, there are 6 types of startups: Lifestyle, Small Business, Scalable, Buyable, Large Company, and Social startups. He provides the following definitions for each type.
- Lifestyle Startups: These are small startups based on the entrepreneur’s preferred lives and skills. Such startups are only built to support the owner and achieve limited growth over time. An example of this can be freelancers.
- Small Business Startups: These are small scale businesses often owned and managed by families such as a family-run cafe or grocery store. Scalability is not the aim of small business startups.
- Scalable Startups: Such startups have a scalable business model. They are built with a vision to expand with the help of venture capital. Some examples of scalable startups include Uber, Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
- Buyable Startups: Buyable startups are built to be sold to larger companies. The goal of such startups is to create a product or offer a service that competes with large companies in the market and then sell the business to one of the competitors for profit.
- Large Company Startups: These are startups that aim for innovation. Their goal is to identify changing trends, customer preferences, technological advancements and offer new and innovative products and services to customers in new markets.
- Social Startups: Unlike other startups, social startups are not driven by profits or growth. They are built to create a positive social impact.
It is essential for you to be sure about which type of startup you want to build. This will help you in setting your priorities right and choosing a model that fits your vision. So research about the types of startups thoroughly. Because remember, the more you research, the more informed decisions you can make.
Offer a Relevant and Creative Solution
If you want your startup to succeed, you need to have a competitive edge. It is therefore important that your startup offers a solution that is relevant and creative. For this, you need to focus on the ‘problem’ that your product or service is going to solve because selling the problem is a major part of selling the solution. Focus on the problem and the customer needs, and why your product or service is needed to solve it.
A compelling narrative of the ‘need’ for your solution is what is essential for startups. This, in fact, is what is going to become the Unique Selling Point (USP) for your startup. It will communicate the solution effectively to the investors and customers and will become the cornerstone of your startup’s success.
Build a Landing Page
A personal website for your business can make all the difference! A self-explanatory landing page communicates your vision and your startup’s value to the visitors better than you can explain in-person. You can use it to inform potential investors and customers about the purpose of your product/service and its benefits, and gauge their interest using Call-To-Actions (CTAs) like email submission, registration, subscription etc.
To build a personal website, you can use free online tools like Wix, Instapage, Leadpages, or Unbounce. However, they only offer limited design options and your landing page can end up looking similar to others. To build a professional-looking website that stands out from the rest, you can outsource this job to companies that offer bespoke software development services. They can custom build an impressive website for you which can make your business stand out.
Use Social Media
In today’s world, social media presence is important for every kind of business. Social media marketing is also essential for startups because it is comparatively less costly than other marketing channels and helps you connect with more number of people. It is especially ideal for single-person startups because you can handle the job of promoting your business across multiple social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram alone. You can sync all your social media accounts together to make your job even easier.
So, plan your content ahead of time and maintain your social media pages in a timely manner. It can not only increase the reach of your business but also provide you with insights about visitors’ engagement rate. You can even conduct surveys on social media to ask people about their opinions regarding your product/service.
Learn Other Essential Skills
To run a one-person startup successfully, you will have to learn skills that are essential for your business’ survival. Since you will have to perform on all fronts including technical, sales, marketing, finance, and data analysis, you need to expand your set of skills.
Learning digital marketing and sales skills such as Social Media Management (SMM), email marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and website management, can be key for your startup. There are numerous online resources such as courses and tutorials available that you can learn these skills from.
Conclusion
Building a startup without hiring anyone is a tough job, but it is not impossible. You can do it by yourself if you follow the aforementioned guidelines. On your journey, you might run into some dead ends and problems but always keep going! Because the pros of starting a single-person startup such as the freedom to do what you want and complete control and equity outweigh the cons. You can build a successful startup on your own without hiring anyone if you keep thriving and learning.
