5 Questions To Stay Ahead

Starting a company and being your own boss seems like the best occupation. With the local support in the Boston community and a creative team, starting a venture has become more appealing. Once you get the ship running, here are 5 questions to keep you from sinking. 

1. Who is your TARGET customer?

Having a good understanding of who the individuals that use your product or service is extremely important. Also, understanding why they love your solution rather than your competitors will keep you in business. Listen to your customers, especially the tough ones, since they will be the ones that will help you to continue to innovate. 
 

2. Why are you still alive?

Attracting a few initial customers can be done, but getting them to come back is the hard part. Retention and attraction of new users is the key to this question. How do you retain the ones you already have and continue to grow your customer base? Your market will continue to change: new players will enter/leave, and it will grow or shrink; thus, make sure you understand the dynamics and continue to innovate. 
 

3. What is your competition doing?

“Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer” Always have an understanding of what your competition is doing and where you think they are headed. If you consistently continue to outperform your competition, the market will recognize your efforts and users will begin to drift your way. 
 

4. Do you have the right TEAM?

Your initial group of founding partners might have come together to form this venture; but in order to continue to grow and expand, who is required to prevent you from running out of fuel? This is perhaps one of the more difficult questions, since no one want to admit that they are not the right person for the job. Brining on the right individual(s) can and will help you stay afloat. 
 

5. How will you keep bringing in revenue?

Can you explore alternative revenue models? Creating partnerships or alliances can help you expand your business model. Developing a new product or service can also add another source of revenue. At the end of the day, make sure you have an understanding of how you will continue to grow and expand your company. 
 
Keep asking yourself these questions to maintain your direction and survive the rough waters. 

If you have any further questions that Entrepreneurs should be asking themselves, please share them below. 

Any comments/questions, please be sure to leave a comment or send me a message: 

Ashkan [at] GreenhornConnect [dot] com 

 
photocredit: http://kelly-kirk.com/images/misc/one-step-ahead-of-the-competition.jpg