Maintaining focus is a serious issue for startup CEOs. Often they find themselves in a big hurry to launch and expand, but they don’t usually have the resources in place to do everything they desire.
That’s the reason they need to concentrate on doing specific things right during the company’s development stage, but especially in the early stages.
Set Milestones and Easily Measurable Benchmarks
Keep your team on track by setting milestones. That way, everyone can work towards a particular goal with reasonable expectations. If a milestone is not appropriate, consider a series of benchmarks that are easy to measure. That’s a great way to motivate people, especially when the company may be a long way from profitability.
Use Transition Stages
You can set different transition stages as part of your developmental roadmap. Meet with your team and identify the phases that mark the critical periods of product development. This type of system keeps everyone aligned with shared goals. It also will put everyone on the same track so that achieving objectives becomes easier. You may even decide to hire people just for a specific stage in your cycle. Either way, it’s an asset to have a pathway that others can follow.
Limit Your Scope
Don’t set your eyes on too large of market. At first, you will be testing the waters to find out how viable your product is in the real world. As you discover demand, you can move to another phase of development. Losing focus is easy, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Most leaders have to deal with this issue (more than you might think). Execution and attention to detail will keep your ship running. If you start to bite off too much, you’ll see quality fail in the areas where you can least afford to let that happen.
Find the Right People for Key Positions
The biggest mistake you can make right off the bat is putting the wrong people in incorrect positions. Key individuals who can’t perform well in their roles will kill morale and slow or stop progress. Take the time necessary to match skills with available positions. You have to get people’s personalities to blend, and that’s a tough job, no matter how much experience you have.
People who hate their jobs complain. Eventually, they can poison a whole environment. It’s better to place the right individuals in roles where they operate best. That way, they’ll enjoy their work and be good at it. It may take more patience than you expect and an amount of skill to choose the perfect people, but it gives you a significant edge.
Are Users Returning?
If people don’t use your product or service repeatedly, you may have an issue. One of the central themes for success with apps (or any business) is repeat business, which also results in word-of-mouth advertising. App users are fickle, so you can’t count on high installation numbers to keep your business operational. If people refuse to come back and use your app more than once, you’re in trouble. Keep tweaking your core product and service until they can’t get enough.
Settle on the Ideal Architecture
In the early stages, it’s essential to select the best architecture for the project. It will be much more comfortable than switching later. It will also help you assemble a team that’s comfortable using the best tools for the job. Architecture choices will come down to preference and cost. Your team has to live with this decision for a long time, so really dig in before committing. The fantastic news you’ll discover is that there are many robust platforms to choose from, so you can build an app with global potential.
Are Your Users Spreading the Word?
You need a viral push to make marketing effective. Do your users love your product enough to share it with others? Converting users into passionate customers will help your product lift off as they pass it among colleagues and family. Nothing shoots your engagement through the roof like satisfied users. They are also the single best source of marketing because of their passion. Find ways to engage with and mobilize your most loyal users to improve your product throughout its lifecycle.
Tackle Scalability Issues
It’s always a good time to contemplate future growth. Scalability issues can’t sneak up on you if you don’t let them. It pays to plan for bursts of new activity and how you’ll handle it. Nothing kills growth faster than an app that doesn’t scale properly. Unhappy users will turn on you quickly.
Realize that scalability problems only get worse! You don’t want to scale up customer complaints when you should be pushing revenues higher. Plan for the bursts, and you’ll be ready. Build the proper architecture and growth will be a given.
Get the Money
One thing is sure; startups always need more capital. You have to keep in mind monetization options every step of the way, especially when it looks like the product is taking off. You will need funds to fuel growth, so never let your attention drift too far from this essential objective.
Building a business is always a challenge, but it’s rewarding. You have the chance to create something of lasting value while creating a fantastic work environment for yourself and others. It will take a ton of dedication and hard work to get there, but you’re in charge of your destiny. If you remain focused and do enough small things right, more significant and successful results will begin to emerge.
Focus on keeping your customers happy, and your job gets a lot easier. There are many apps and choices that they make every day. If you can discover what motivates them to use your product, you can capture market share from competitors. Every one of your rivals’ weaknesses can become your greatest strength. It’s an exciting time to compete, and you have as much chance to succeed as anyone. Never give up on your dreams and keep your eye on the ball at all times.