A Step-by-Step Guide That No One Talks About: The first 100 days of startups

Starting a business is exciting but also overwhelming. The first 100 days are important as they set the stage and foundation for the company. This requires strong emphasis on execution, teamwork, and adaptability. This is what the first 100 days of launching a startup is all about. This article mentions the process and steps to follow to build a strong foundation for a successful startup. It also explains how to achieve desired results for your business in 100 days.

Introduction:

The first 100 days of your business are much like the foundation of a house. Getting the foundation correct will have your business stand strong as you grow. In these 100 days, every decision we make impacts the startup. This is not just about trying out an idea but about creating a brand, forming relations, and developing the brand presence to drive your business forward.

You have to keep the business idea and target market in focus so that you do not forget what you are offering to the market. People are so keen to launch their new products that they often forget critical things, including legal documentation, market analysis, and establishing realistic goals. These are keys to avoiding future problems while keeping your startup active for the long term. 

Phase 1: Laying the groundwork

Validating the idea:

When you get an idea to run a business, you must understand how to validate your ideas. The founder must research the product or service they plan to offer, whether it is something people need. Conduct market research by surveying potential customers, checking online forums, and reviewing competitors. You must know answers to questions like, does the market require your product? Or if there are similar products already available, how can you differentiate yourself? 

Proper market research will help you find if your idea has potential or if it lacks anything that needs to be adjusted. Once you know there is a demand, identify your target audience that will buy your product. Start making reports on who can be your target customer, their needs, and what makes them ideal for your services. Their feedback is invaluable as it will help you shape the future direction of your startup.

Building a strong business plan

There are two types of business plans, Lean and traditional. Lean is a shorter, more flexible, and focused version with rapid testing. This business plan aims to validate the business model and learn quickly. These documents are generally one-page summary focused on key elements such as the problem, solution, market, and financial viability.

The traditional method involves comprehensive planning and execution. This approach includes lengthy documents with details to attract investors to secure funding. These documents require in-depth research and planning before a business launch. A lean business plan is a better option for a new business as it allows startups to pivot quickly when needed. 

Registering the Business and Handling Legalities

One of the first legal steps is to choose and set up the correct legal structure. These are the common options that come under this category:

• Sole Proprietorship: This business structure is a sole proprietorship when the firm has only one owner. This one person is responsible for everything from profits to losses. This structure is easy to set up, but it can’t protect personal assets. Only small businesses or small retail shops should prefer such an option.
• Limited Liability Company (LLC): The structure that protects its owner from personal financial losses and debt is called a limited liability company. It can be structured to meet the investor demand and is flexible in terms of management.
• Corporation: This can be defined as a legal entity capable of entering contracts and owning assets. They are separate from its shareholders and have their own legal rights. This structure is more complex than previous options, but it is also more suitable for startups planning to raise significant capital.

Funding and Budgeting

The two most mentioned terms for startup funding are Bootstrapping and raising capital. Bootstrapping involves using your money and resources or revenue from early sales to fund your business instead of relying on loans and investors. This method allows you to have more ownership of the company while reducing the risk of debt. 

Raising capital is basically securing investment from venture capitalists, crowdfunding, equity funding, or angel investors. While bootstrapping lets you have full control of the business, it limits the scaling ability. Unlike this approach, bootstrapping provides financial boosting. 

Depending on your business needs, you can select the option that suits you the best, while bootstrapping provides sustainability, raising capital offers resources for rapid growth. Budgeting tips for surviving the first 100 days include creating a detailed report for all expected costs, including product development, legal fees, and marketing to keep track of daily spending. 

Phase 2: Building and Launching

Developing Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

First, we will decide on the most important features to address customer problems, and launch the simplest version of your product to test the core functionality with real users. Focus on the features that address your customer’s most important issue and remove all non-essential ones. This saves time and expense while confirming the product’s viability based on customer input.

After your MVP is ready, deploy it to a group of users and monitor the user interaction and other relevant metrics to understand how it is doing. Build-measure-learn is a cycle to build a product quickly, measure its performance, and learn from the feedback to improve the product. 

Creating a Killer Brand and Online Presence

Build an online presence through websites and other social media platforms. Strong brand image helps you stand out from others in the competitive market. You can create an online presence by designing a memorable logo and a user-friendly website that clearly explains your offerings. Choose social media platforms to connect with your target audience.

Marketing and Customer Acquisition

This step is to attract new customers to your business. Before officially launching the product, you need to create excitement among the public for your product. Create brand recognition by reaching out to your network or using social media to promote your services. Customer acquisition involves referral programs to increase the trust of existing users and gain new customers. You can also provide discounts or free trials to early users. This can help you to build trust and improve engagement in the community.

Phase 3: Scaling and Refining

Testing and Iterating

The importance of customer feedback—what works well and what needs additional improvement in startup development. Using customer reviews allows you to improve your services and brand image. The simplest ways to collect feedback are through surveys, reviews, or direct interviews. 

Sometimes, despite following all steps, having unique ideas, and giving your best, you might find that you are not meeting customer expectations.  This is when you need to pivot the startup. Pivoting means making some changes to your offerings or business model. This is a natural part of the startup journey and many successful companies once pivoted to survive in the market. 

Sales and Revenue Generation

You should begin to generate revenue and make money as soon as possible, as it can legitimize your business concept and fund expenses or attract investors. Some ways to generate early revenue are to offer limited-time discounts on your products and collaborate with other companies to make offers to reach a large customer base. Securing investors and clients can boost the startup. Expanding your network in the market can be very helpful to increase your credibility and gain more customers.

Building the Right Team (Even as a Solo Founder)

Even if you started a business alone as a solopreneur, you will still need to hire more staff with the growing business. By looking at your workload and growth rate, you can decide when it’s time to hire more people. If there is not enough capital, you can hire part-time employees to help you with specific tasks and decrease your workload.

Conclusion:

The first 100 days of any business are important to decide the success of a startup. This includes laying the strong foundation, building your products, and scaling while learning from customer feedback. The article mentioned the first 100 days of the startup and some of the tips to succeed in the new business.

There are some of the common mistakes you must avoid in the early days. This includes improper planning, failing to validate the idea, overspending without the proper budget planning, and setting unrealistic goals. Failing to analyze the market demand leads to a failed business.