Seven Things a Tech Startup Needs In 2021

Despite vaccines rollouts happening worldwide and countries returning to "normal," an imminent need faces business owners- to be future-ready. Especially fronting a complex journey are tech startups, and entrepreneurs must embrace some imperatives to position their venture not just for survival but for exponential success.

While there's no checklist for tackling these challenges, check out the seven must-haves for early-stage tech ventures.

Organizational Purpose

As an entrepreneur, you must always have an answer to two questions, “why does your business exist,” and “why should people join you”? If you only fixate on profits, you'll lose ground to ventures that make their employees believe that they're part of something bigger than themselves.

A McKinsey survey reveals that 82% of US employees agreed that organizational purpose is vital. As a future-ready startup, set your purpose in motion.

For instance, every meeting at Amazon is also attended by a customer. Well, not really. But, Jeff Bezos made it a point to leave one chair open at conference tables representing the customer "the most important person in the room's" role in decision-making.

Employees "living their purpose" at work are four times more engaged than those who aren’t. For inspiring commitment and nurturing a healthy work culture, purpose-oriented business operations are key in 2021.

Clear Communication Strategies

Today internal communication is the glue holding organizations together. But, this doesn't mean burdening employees with a calendar full of Zoom meetings or flooding inboxes.

Instead, find the balance between sending too many emails and under-communicating actionable. Here's how you tread the fine line:

• Block "no meeting" time: Too many communication channels can curb productivity. Your team needs sufficient time to brainstorm, reflect, create, and test. That's why schedule a chunk of "no meeting" time on the shared calendar daily.

• Build a common team language: To declutter information, create a shared communication language to identify which message is menial and which matters. For instance, an email requiring urgent action can have FYA at its beginning. Contrarily, a purely informational message can start with an FYI.

It might seem trivial, but imagine this- a co-worker is on the deep end of solving a problem, and a message pops up, but it starts with an FYI. They won't break their flow to answer.

Segmented Customer Database

Whether yours is B2B or B2C business, a segmented customer database is a must to engage niche prospects. Especially when the business ecosystem is in flux and odds are stacked against marketers, having customer data tailored to your business objectives can be epoch-making!

Here's why. Databases with discrepancies and irrelevant leads are available at throwaway prices, but a lack of customized contact data can stretch your sales cycle. And a targeted, accurate, and data-intensive customer database can infuse new life into your stagnating marketing efforts.

Putting Your Data To Good Use

TL; DR: Resurrect your marketing strategies to zig when everyone else zags.

Traditional marketing isn't yielding optimal returns and multi-channel efforts are the way to go. Tune in to present-day customers' needs to corner markets teeming with an informed and busy clientele.

For instance, LinkedIn currently houses over 740 million active monthly users. Since the platform lets you identify customers based on their job titles, it’s a gold mine for nurturing leads. Moreover, most of your audience possesses twice the buying power as compared to your average online base.

With verified, validated, and vetted data of this target audience, you can do wonders!

Agile Methodologies

Startups are known for not sticking to rigid organizational structures, but too little system can lead to chaos and failure to meet external deadlines! And too much structure hampers creativity. Here, tech startups can bring their tasks, teams, testers, and developers, under a roof with Agile approaches.

Agile project development approaches lead to 28% higher success than the conventional system. Moreover, tech startups can transition to Agile to make room for cross-collaboration, self-organization, continuous iterations, and adaptive planning in short sprints.

Smart Scouting To Hire Talent

What do you think is most critical to any tech startup? Here’s a hint - 23% of startups fail due to not having the right team in place! As an early-stage tech venture, the people surrounding your product and becoming a part of initial brainstorming and R&D days are crucial for your business's health.

Robust Remote Workforce

While startups worldwide are fairly accustomed to remote work, be prepared to create and sell products with a remote workforce from scratch. Here’re some suggestions:

• Plan the goals and sub-goals of your projects.
• Set ground rules and strict timelines for project updates.
• Constantly stay connected with your teams to understand what’s working and what’s not.
• Track project progress with project management tools.

Conclusion

The good news? 2020 served as a learning curve to deal with the curveballs of 2021. The bad news? You don’t have time to lose. In today’s winner-takes-all scenario, seeking new approaches, adapting, and learning on the go is indispensable. If you aren’t doing that, your startup might be on borrowed time.