7 Things to do to Transition From a Startup to a Young Company The aim should be to establish a startup as a company known for its credibility

Starting a startup is a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs. A few lessons which come to mind to overcome barriers in the path of making your startup a company.

1. Dream Big

It takes the same amount of thinking to achieve a goal whether it is big or small. However, everything is to be done in phases as resources are also critical to achieving the dream. The Current US President symbolizes that line of thinking. It is reflected in his quote made several years ago.

"I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big."

- Donald J Trump

2. Do Your Due Diligence

It is important to identify the key trends in your industry for the future and then look at informed decisions. It helps to identify potential roadblocks to one's goals and put things in perspective at a drawing board stage. For eg: In the quick-service restaurant space, scalability is an issue. Many companies have not transitioned from a startup to a young company in this space.

2. Focus on Your Strengths as a Team

Every Business requires a team which can take care of multiple facets of business like Sales, Marketing, and Production if it is manufacturing, and managing principals if it is a trading entity. The key thing is to have a good blend of insight and energy. In a service business, a sales background helps.

In our first year of operations, it was our early relationships which will help you to move ahead.

4. Seek Counsel

Those who seek counsel have a better chance to succeed as the counsel builds in a realistic view on the likelihood of the expectations panning out on the ground. This helps avoid bad decisions which can contribute to permanent loss of Capital at an entity level and builds upside over a period of time.

It is important to have an informal board as initially having a paid board is a luxury. It can be through Industry associations, chamber of commerce, past mentors at the workplace. It also helps to connect and grow.

5. Set Goals and See Them Daily

This practice helps to accelerate the progress on the ground as it sets the mind to work on different thinking to increase the odds of achieving the goal. Daymond John of Shark tank/FUBU fame has used this to his advantage. This has enabled him to succeed in a brutally competitive fashion industry.

6. Reduce Operational Risks

It is critical to reducing risks operationally and legally. One of the problems many fellow entrepreneurs have faced is not enough emphasis on operations initially. This can lead to delays and block capital.

From a service industry point of view, operational risk emanates from non-compliance, not having an Insurance policy for the business by way of fire, theft and other issues which may arise in the day to day running of the business. It could be not looking at critical laws in important areas like Data Privacy.

7. Have a reviewing mechanism

The idea is to transition from a reactionary manner of functioning to a focused approach. The mechanism helps to build a balance between Strategy and Tactics. It not only maintains the direction but also the momentum. For young companies review needs to be the basis

Strategic Direction

Technology

People Decisions

Values

Marketing

Governance in terms of stakeholder value

In today's day and age of technological, business model disruption, it is critical to review key assumptions weekly if not daily. The Birla's have a system of daily review across their businesses. It has helped them grow their group for decades. Basis their reviews they apparently took a decision to merge Vodafone and Idea.

May you become the Force!