Making wise decisions is essential for the success of a startup, as is obvious. Even if working hard is crucial, it won’t get you where you want to go by it since making wise decisions will decide the course of your trip and, consequently, the trajectory of your project’s growth.
Since every unique problem has a distinct ideal solution, you should take into account all of your own circumstances, values, and goals before making a choice. Unfortunately, the complexity of reality prevents us from having omniscient awareness of both our situation and how the world functions.
Additionally, acquiring knowledge is expensive; you simply cannot afford to spend an endless amount of time doing so for each decision you make. Making judgments without acquiring any data or conducting any research is a serious mistake, but becoming overwhelmed by data is also hazardous.
As a result, throughout the majority of our life, we are compelled to base our judgments on heuristics developed via trial and error, which allows us to develop our own set of guidelines or principles for handling various scenarios.
In this article, you will be guided by the major principles for smart startup decisions to take the best steps for your company. Here are some of the major principles for smart startup decisions:
Make Good Relationships with Everyone
Entrepreneurs must employ skilled individuals since they are unable to handle everything alone. Respectfully treat talented individuals and confirm that they align with the company’s values. For instance, Google employs highly intelligent individuals who complement its unique approach to problem-solving.
Google has identified characteristics linked to good management using its well-known data-driven approach to decision-making. And it has employed and promoted individuals who exhibit these talents using those revelations.
Encourage Teamwork
If a business owner employs brilliant individuals, they should insist that they discuss solutions. Ask them to put their abilities to use so that, by working together, they may produce better answers than they could have done working alone.
Google has promoted increased cooperation in recent years, which has aided the business in realizing innovative concepts like Google Glass.
Do Experiment with new things
CEOs of startups must fight the impulse to wait until their goods are flawless before releasing them. Instead, businesses ought to create quick, low-cost prototypes of their goods, test the market, and then refine the goods in response.
By allowing staff members to work on their own projects for 20% of their time, Google fostered this type of thrifty experimentation. Larry Page, the company’s new CEO, chose to “put more wood behind fewer arrows” in 2011 and phased down 20 percent of the workforce while gradually bringing in the Google X lab to work on innovations.
Winner Takes All with Smart Business Decisions
A startup may become very big, very quickly in a world where digital technologies that do not recognize geographical boundaries, the Internet, internationally networked supply chains, and comparatively freer mobility of labor and money all exist.
Essentially, this means that one corporation may now control a large portion of the market (1% owns 50%). Consider the brands that are now household names and an integral part of most people’s daily lives, such as Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.
The odds of you becoming the next billionaire, even if you don’t become the next Google, are comparatively better since successful firms grow by purchasing smaller competitors. Compared to thirty years ago, there are more startups, exits, and major achievements now.
Fulfill Commitments and Accept Reality
As a business entrepreneur, you should accept the fact that your map of reality—made up of your ideas, vision, and understanding—cannot and does not accurately depict reality. You’ll frequently be in error. If you find it difficult to accept it and don’t take the lessons from it, it will be very tough for you to develop a concept into a successful business.
When you are incorrect (or have incorrect assumptions), you should seize the opportunity to enhance your mental model of reality and modify the course of your project rather than worrying about how other people will see you. Even if making mistakes hurts, they are the best method to develop as a person and get better.
Many startups can’t succeed unless the team is aware of management’s goals and leaders take right decision & appropriate action. Leaders that promise to do one thing but end up doing the opposite will lose the faith of their followers. Google has made an effort to live up to its oft-stated principle of “don’t be evil.”
Unfortunately, it has not always been successful, as was the case in 2006 when it opted to restrict search results in China. 2010 saw the end of it. Avoid making the same error by taking same decisions. Giving up on a business opportunity is preferable to a startup going against its basic principles.
Fight Complacency & Decision Making Process
Don’t let the popularity of one product or service prevent the business from looking for other effective methods to serve clients. Do you remember Blockbuster? To avoid becoming complacent, have a healthy level of paranoia, and constantly be on the lookout for new technology to implement that will provide clients with higher value.
Think about how Netflix went from being a DVD-by-mail business to an online streaming company. In addition to expertly navigating the change, Netflix has also introduced new features including the ability to produce well-liked series and maintain connections with high-bandwidth service providers.
Support Your Community to Avoid Poor Decision Making
Startup management and hiring decisions are particularly difficult since firm owners can’t afford to pay top personnel enough to be competitive. However, they can compensate for the lower income by creating a worthwhile objective. Take the CEO of Embrace Innovations, Jane Chen, who I spoke with in June 2011.
In an effort to save the lives of preterm newborns in impoverished nations, the social venture was founded. Many preterm newborns perished because they were not kept warm on the four-hour trip to the hospital.
The firm attracted skilled employees due to its motivating aim, and they created a little sleeping bag made of unique materials that can keep newborns at the proper temperature. This particular decision prevented numerous deaths.
Conclusion
Adopting the aforementioned guidelines of decision making will probably benefit your work life. These are the major principles for smart startup decisions to take your entire company to new levels of success. It will help you to build a strong relationship, learn from your mistakes, embrace reality, and take big decisions.
