The Secret to Startup Success is No Secret
Keep your foot on the gas and never lose momentum.
When I first thought of starting a business, I wanted to find the perfect idea, the breakthrough idea that would ensure my success. If you’ve created a business before, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The uninitiated think that success is imperative once they’ve found the perfect idea. Soon they’ll be driving the Lamborghini and sipping on piña coladas in Hawaii.
If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re in for a shock.
(side note: You don’t need to build a business to sip piña coladas on an island, and if you equate success with a Lamborghini, I recommend some soul searching before you venture any further.)
Soon after I considered starting a business, I carried a notepad around to jot every business idea that I could conceive. It was exhausting, yet my results were underwhelming, and I was stuck. I kept an open mind and didn’t take anything for granted. Weeks passed by, and I had finally compiled an impressive list of unimpressive ideas.
I was committing two significant problems here:
- I was approaching the ideation process the wrong way.
Lesson learned: Focus on problems your business can solve instead of basic ideas of businesses to start. I would have had better success building a list of problems that require solving and later zeroing in on what is a fit for me.
2. I tried to find a breakthrough idea from the shore before diving in.
Lesson learned: Breakthrough ideas are rarely (if ever) found from the onset of a business. Great ideas solve complex problems, and finding them is part of the startup journey.
Great companies are the product of relentless effort.
I had the false belief that great companies started as great ideas, that great founders were great from the onset, and that they have cracked great secrets. But here’s the secret: great companies are the product of relentless effort. Great ideas are shaped through iteration, rapid learning, and course correction without losing momentum.
In the coming few weeks, I will write an article detailing an ideation process that has worked for me over the years. For now, I’ll focus on how to go about building momentum.
What is momentum, and how to build it into your business?
I define momentum in the business context as follows: continued action and progress toward your goals at a fast pace.
More clearly, you achieve and sustain momentum through the routines and practices that ensure the team takes valuable action toward your objectives.
Setting your goals/objectives.
Remember that a ship sailing toward no destination rarely gets anywhere, so your first task is to set your primary objectives. You start from your mission (or the problem you’re set to solve) and think of the first goals you can reach that would get you to the next milestone.
Your goals must be concise, clear, and measurable. Remember to assign ownership to one person, even if the whole team will do the work.
If you’re very early, your goals will be more immediate and achievable over a few days or weeks. This, for example, could be something like “validate the business hypothesis” and “speak to ten potential customers.” As you progress, you will establish longer-term goals and work backward.
In my experience, early-stage startups (and small businesses) should put the majority of their focus on building (and sticking with) routines.
Establish your routines and pursue them relentlessly
This is where you set yourself for success or failure. There is no one size fits all method to develop routines, and every business/team will have different needs, but I found the following three areas to be essential:
1. A pre-set daily and weekly schedule
This is where you set daily standups and weekly retrospectives. You must carve out time to ensure that the team is operating efficiently and that no one is stuck on a task. The daily standups help the team stay in high spirits, on track, and share any obstacles early on. The weekly retrospectives will help you re-calibrate your efforts. This is where you eliminate tasks that are no longer needed, adjust effort estimation, and add new priorities for the coming week.
I also recommend quarterly roundtable meetings, especially as the team grows. It is essential to keep the team informed of your strategy, decisions, and why they’re pursuing specific goals.
2. A method for documenting and tracking action items
If you don’t want your meetings to become fruitless, you have to convert discussions into action points (tasks or projects) and keep track of them. Remember to set deadlines and owners for these tasks. I generally like kicking off meetings with updates on the main tasks and their statuses.
You are trying to establish a peer-accountability system where commitment and responsibility are clear, and support is provided whenever needed.
3. A shared document/storage solution
You don’t have to start with a full-fledged project management solution from the onset. You’ll need a way to keep track of the work being done, collaborate, and track progress. I would recommend starting with Google Workspace, utilizing spreadsheets and documents to collaborate and track action items, and Google Drive to manage files.
Remember to avoid “busywork.”
A mistake that I’ve often committed, and I know other entrepreneurs have, is falling into the trap of busywork. While everything appears to be urgent and necessary in the early stages, you must focus on what is important (and often not urgent).
What works for me is to start my day with what is important but not urgent, where I often spend up to two hours dedicated to the most crucial task of the day or week before the day gets busy.
Key Takeaways
- Ideas never start out being great; they are shaped through iteration and consistent effort. If you learn from your mistakes and quickly course-correct, your chances of finding product-market fit will significantly improve.
- Success requires a high level of commitment and a propensity toward action. You must set the routines and systems that help you keep that momentum and push forward. This is how you shape your culture very early on.
If you take only one thing from this article, please remember: Create a routine for accountability and stay focused on your goal while favoring speed over perfection.
For in-depth knowledge on building sustained business momentum, I highly recommend reading High Output Management by Andy Grove.
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