Posts tagged android app maker

There are many ways for startups to get ahead of the competition and make the leap from “startup” to “business.” Fortunately, you don’t need to master them all. If you’re able to do just one well, your venture has a shot at generating enough escape velocity to avoid being sucked into the black hole of business failure that swallows up the majority of startups.

1. Product

It’s simple: just have the best product!

(All right, that was my bid to win the “Easier Said Than Done” Award for 2012 while there’s still time. But still …)

Having the best product doesn’t guarantee success, but it makes success a lot easier. Selling is much easier when you can actually say, with a straight face, that your product is better than the competition’s. Customer retention is much easier when people who use your product enjoy it and get value from it. Gaining funding is much easier when most reviews of your product are raves.

Take Instagram, for example. They were not the first to create a photo-sharing app that allowed you to add neat filters to the images. But they were the first to perfect a simple design that pretty much everyone loved, allowing them to grow rapidly and ultimately sell the company for a billion dollars.

Another historical example is the great-granddaddy of them all: Google, which had a better, simpler search engine than those that were available at the time, and which helped them conquer the market so thoroughly that they’re now synonymous with the Internet itself.

2. Price

The lowest price, especially when that price is “free,” is hard for customers to turn down. If you offer the least expensive product, you will consistently be the first product listed when people shop online and “sort by price.” You’ll also appeal to a very broad market, which is extremely helpful in a tough economy.

There are countless examples of free or low cost startups that have succeeded. Dropbox is a great example of a company that is giving users something for free, and then converting them into paying customers after they’ve demonstrated some value to the user.

3. Customer Service

Viewing customer service as an opportunity to create a competitive advantage can be a huge driver for your company’s success. For Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, this advice could not be more true.

If you don’t support your customers, someone else will.

The biggest benefit of delivering amazing customer service is that every review and rating of your company is always glowing. You also have the chance to create “brand evangelists” among your customers. When prospects in your industry seek recommendations, your company will always be the first one suggested.

Zappos probably executed this strategy better than anyone. They are absolutely nuts when it comes to customer service, and their corporate culture is reported to be extremely fun. Call them right now, even if you don’t have an order. I’m willing to bet that they’ll be happy just to say “hello” to you.

Follow Zappos’ lead. Deliver the “Wow” to your customers, and you’ll be in great shape.

4. Brand

Perception can become reality. If you work hard to position your company as distinctive and memorable, you can gain an edge over the competition that is hard to beat. Obviously, your brand can’t be a sham. If you don’t deliver the promised goods at the end of the day, you won’t succeed. If you appear to stand taller than the competition, however, you have a headstart that can be the difference between success and failure.

Just ask Wesabe. They launched a financial advisory app months ahead of another competitor, but ultimately lost in part due to superior branding. Quick! What’s a great site for financial advice and that has a user-friendly budgeting app? If you said Mint.com, you might have just illustrated this point.

5. Speed

Nothing complicated here – just be one of the first through the customer’s door and rely on inertia to keep you there. This gives you time to refine your offering and interact with customers to find out what they really want, allowing you to deliver better value than competitors who come along later. It can also help you become iconic for the market.

eBay, one of the few remaining survivors from the early Internet boom years, was one of the first online auction houses, and everyone has been playing catch up ever since. Being one of the first allowed eBay to capture millions of users early on, and establish a defensible network.

Being the first to market isn’t always a good thing, however, as it could mean that your idea is not valid. You might be first because others have had the good sense to avoid the “opportunity” you’re chasing. Remember, the frontrunner is the first one to fall into the unseen pit.

In addition, it’s possible to play a very strong starting hand badly. AOL was many Americans’ first experience with the Internet in the dial-up days, and now the company’s footprint has been drastically reduced, to say the least.

Being first is good, but changing along with the shifting needs of customers is better.

6. Culture

Culture is critical. It affects every aspect of the company.

Many of us have worked in toxic cultures. Everyone does the bare minimum. Everyone badmouths the company. Everyone is looking for a way out. It’s not a good scene.

In a company with a good culture, however, it’s the exact opposite: people go above and beyond; they speak positively about the company; everyone is looking for a way in. When employees feel respected, they buy in to the mission and don’t feel like suckers for investing themselves into it.

One example is Apple. From the people who work in the retail stores, to the lead designers, many who work for Apple report true pride in being a part of the company. The positivity starts at the top and, amazingly enough, reaches all the way to the customer. The good culture pays dividends in every aspect of the business.

7. Positioning

The more flexible your offering, the harder this will be, but deciding what niche your company is “for” can make a huge difference. If you make a hammer, you could just say that it pounds nails and leave it at that. Or, you could say that you design hammers for do-it-yourself-ers, and cater specifically to their unique needs, assuming they have any. It’s what allows prospects to view your materials and say, “Hey, this company is talking to ME.”

Their favorite person!

Box positioned their cloud storage company as an enterprise product for businesses. This really helped them hone in on a profitable segment, and educate them with specificity on the use case for their product. Box easily could have said that their product was for consumers, as Dropbox did, but chose otherwise and has had solid success.

8. Take Risks

Lastly, do something different, be creative, have fun, break things, and change the world.

All that stuff sounds cheesy, but that’s how some of the most innovative companies in the world started.

Don’t be scared. Be scared to be boring.

No matter which strategy you choose, be clear about it from the beginning. Remember, a well-defined path makes for easy walking.

Andrew Gazdecki is the founder and CEO of Bizness Apps, a do-it-yourself mobile app & mobile website platform for small businesses and Bizness CRM, a CRM designed to make selling to small businesses easy.