Starting a new business can be as terrifying as it is exciting. At any
given time, a fledgling company can come up against a number of common
challenges. Property firm, Lamudi Kenya Managing Director Dan Karua
speaks about these challenges that start-ups must overcome to ensure
success.
Competition
One of the biggest challenges that all start-ups will face is
competition, particularly in markets dominated by well-known, established
brands. The key is to find a niche market, not yet saturated by other
companies with the same product. As there will almost always be another
brand offering a similar product, think outside the box; ensure you
establish a clear target audience and a specific brand message to
differentiate your start-up.
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Hiring
Hiring employees to support your venture can be a nerve-wracking
experience, but is one of the most important investments for any start-
up. To find the right talent whilst sticking to a budget is a challenge
for any company, in particular for unknown brands. Building a strong team
to nurture and develop a young company is key to success, as you are
putting your time, money and trust in your team, it is worth the
investment.
Keeping up with change
With advances in technology and the shift online, information is
constantly changing. Not only keeping up but staying ahead of the
competition is a significant challenge for young companies. Furthermore,
with plans to roll a start-up out into multiple markets, each country
needs to be approached with an individual strategy based on market
conditions. A key challenge in some markets, such as Myanmar for example
where the Internet penetration is among the lowest in the world, is
convincing consumers of the value of the Internet and e-commerce – the
value in shifting online. In other more mature markets, which are already
heavily digitized, there is stiff competition for start-ups from well-
established competitors.
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The website
Making sure that your product keeps up with changes in the market is
vital. For Internet-based start-ups, this often means adapting the
website. Is your website mobile-friendly? Does it have an attractive,
easy-to-manage user interface? With so many websites, it is difficult to
make yours stand out in the crowd. However, a secure, reliable and well-
performing website can often speak for itself.