5 Effective And Innovative Survival Strategies For A Tech Startup Tech startups require effective survival strategies to flourish.

By Shilpa Mahna Bhatnagar

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Technology seems to be the most enticing industry choice for a majority of today's aspiring business owners. It is an aggressive field that has always grabbed attention of potential investors and venture capitalists. Tech startups require effective survival strategies to flourish. Some of them are discussed here.

1. Dealing with the Constant Change:

Technology constantly changes at a much faster rate. This is the toughest challenge for any tech-based startup. New technologies and software are introduced at a frequent pace which makes it very tough for tech-based industries to match pace with it. Tech startups face a lot of pressure to embrace new technologies quickly and complete with other thriving and veteran businesses.

2. Value of Being

Unequalled: India's startup ecosystem is the fastest growing industry model in the world. Over 3000 companies registered in the year 2014 and the number is projected to reach a value of 11,500 by 2020. This indicates that entrepreneurship is not a passing trend in this country. Rather, it's a revolution that will completely flip the way Indian market has been doing business. Considering the overwhelming number of startups venturing every year, another challenge companies face is about the unicity of the idea. Your venture should be able to have deep differentiation among other ventures. When there are 50 other companies selling the exact same thing, why would the customer turn to you?

3. Generating Profit from Start:

A business tastes success only when it starts generating considerable profit. Any idea can be transformed into a business, but the success of the idea is judged on the basis of company's turnover. This is where a lot of companies fail. Not every idea is capable of generating good returns. Here you need to set your emotions apart from practicality and think what customers actually want instead of selling them things you want to sell. There has to be a market that needs your product. Techniques like customer acquisition management and financial modelling also helps to elevate the sale.

4. Safeguarding

Your Idea: Tech industry is infamous for incidences like intellectual theft. Therefore, protecting your idea is an added work for any tech Startup. The process is not as big of a hassle as you can easily get your authentic ideas patented. Over 3000 patents are filled every year in India. It is a necessary move to ensure nobody steals your idea or create similar products as yours. This will cut down future competition to a level as well.

5. Invest in Your People:

Employees are assets to your company. For any startup, hiring talent is a nerve-wracking experience, but for tech startups, extracting suitable talent for the company is like finding needle in a haystack. A tech business is an individual idea and to have people that resonate with the ideology of the company is tough. IT is a skill-dependent sector and requires people who are quick at learning new technologies. Tech startups are infamous for upscaling prematurely by hiring too many employees. Near about 74% of high-growth internet based startup conk out because of premature upscaling. Another issue with new tech companies is their inability to acquire top talents into a startup environment.

Is Your Solution Value for Money?

Customers are always looking for products that have more value for money. Your business may be selling a great product, but unless it is valued seeing customer's pocket, your product will not sell the same way. Customers in India have saver mentality. If the price of the product is high, it becomes another constraint for customers to give it a try. While tech Startups face steeper competition compared to ventures in other industries, the level of dedication determines the ultimate success or downfall of your company.

This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (June 2016 Issue).

Shilpa Mahna Bhatnagar

CEO and Co-founder, Evoxyz Technologies

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