Every startup possesses common qualities integral to their eventual success or failure, giving the entrepreneurs behind them a guide of best practices to help them make the correct moves, ensuring a successful launch.
New business owners will receive advice from many directions, but not all of that advice may be sound. To separate good advice from bad, entrepreneurs should study successful businesses to decide which moves and attitudes have contributed to their success.
Anip Patel, CEO of CaPatel Investments, began with a goal of investing in startups founded by South Asian entrepreneurs. When looking for that golden opportunity in which to invest, he seeks out certain traits. "Success means doing something that makes you happy and will impact people's lives forever," says Patel.
Passion
Every success story begins with passion. Patel's was found in elevating the voices of South Asian entrepreneurs, as many South Asian businesses lack access to funding and face discrimination, negatively affecting their ability to scale. Without passion, one will never be able to carry their idea to fruition they will burn out before they ever get started.
A life-long commitment to learning
No one goes into a business knowing everything, and those that believe they know it all rarely succeed in the long run. Holding an attitude rooted in a drive to continue learning is the key to both personal and professional growth. This is one reason why Patel and his company pride themselves on giving their clients the resources and education necessary to allow them to access opportunities to succeed.
Stay focused and resourceful
Focus and resourcefulness often work in tandem allowing many entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles and make sound decisions for their businesses. When entrepreneurs are able to stay laser-focused on their business goals, they will be more apt to persevere over adversity.
Resourcefulness is a must-have trait for all business owners, no matter how big they aim to scale their venture. If one is resourceful, they can more easily come up with ideas on the fly to get them closer to their goals. Additionally, they can stretch their capital further and avoid many of the mistakes that unfocused, non-resourceful business owners sometimes make such as taking on too much debt or not knowing their numbers.
Start small
With venture capitalists shamelessly singing praises of their own success stories, many entrepreneurs may enter the market with a "go big or go home" attitude. However, this could end up being their demise.
The wise entrepreneur understands the value of their product or service, yet still starts small and lets momentum build. The concept of starting small is why many companies have beta testers for products or test things out on friends and family first before diving into scaling their venture.
Fresh perspectives
Every entrepreneur knows that the most successful businesses are able to solve problems for their customers. The companies that develop a new way to solve those problems are those that will ultimately succeed by using fresh perspectives to foster innovation.
For Patel, it is the new voices that he wants to bring to the table. "Bringing new voices with new ideas and perspectives to the table allows the business world to continue to evolve and grow," Patel explains.
Starting a new business is not for the faint of heart. The difficulty is what drives many to quit within the first year or two, but it is also what makes success so incredible when it is reached.
There's no roadmap to guaranteed success, but by sticking to the common mindset of successful business leaders, success can be achieved. Investors like Anip Patel look for these traits within the businesses they decide to fund, knowing that the common traits are a great barometer for success.
