From a startup to a multimillion-dollar company – hardships are inevitable

More and more people around the world want to start businesses, which is excellent for the economy. Founding a startup and getting started in the business world can be daunting, as there are many things to consider. One thing that often halts entrepreneurs from starting their own business is the fact that there are risks involved, and of course, hardships are inevitable. 

The founder of Value Marketing, Reza Shojaei, has started a startup and taken it from the bottom to the top. Today, he will tell us what kind of hardships you can expect as a new business owner and how you can navigate through them successfully.

Prepare with projections and backup plans

Before a business can even be established, it needs to have a business plan that outlines every important aspect of the business. It should state the purpose, demographic, mission, and other details. In addition, it should have a financial plan and projections, risk assessment, and marketing plan. 

If any investors are involved in the business, they are also going to want to see a backup plan. In other words, if something goes wrong, how are they going to get their money (or at least some of it) back.

• Value Marketing operates in the iGaming business and online casinos can be a highly volatile market. Thus, we have had to set some financial backup plans, and of course, our financial forecast and cash flow projections are followed and updated constantly, Shojaei tells. 

According to Shojaei, it is important to be prepared for an unpleasant situation. For a new business, it is hard to make financial projections if there are no existing, previous business transactions to use as a base for planning. Thus, in addition to ensuring the math is right, a business should have a what-if -plan to fall back on. 

There are going to be dips in sales

No matter what kind of business you run, you will eventually run into a period when sales are not as high as you would want them to be. It can be due to a general economic situation or other factors that you have no control over. Regardless, you should be able to carry your business through the hard times as well. 

• Having savings or assets that can be quickly liquidated is a good idea. After all, even though a business might run into hard times, you have to pay rent, salaries, utilities, and other expenses. Successful businesses generally have a few months worth of expenses in their bank account as a cushion, Shojaei advises. 

For these times, you should also have an effective marketing plan in place that lets you reach as many people as possible while still not going over your marketing budget. Evidently, marketing is what is going to let you reach more and more people and hopefully, get your business back up as quickly as possible. 

Plateau is a real thing

Taking the business forward from a startup can seem like a lot of work, and that is because it is. Many businesses never get past the startup phase because they do not have an effective plan to execute. During the startup phase, it is important to keep pushing and keep improving. This phase is where the company defines itself and its financial projections. You will be able to fully see the potential of your business. 

However, many businesses plateau, because nothing changes. The sales will not go up, or maybe expenses increase as the sales do. The company should keep growing in all aspects, come up with new revenue streams and a way to reach more people.

Should such a plateau phase occur, it is smart to turn to your investors or consultants and ask for advice. Oftentimes, especially investors have a keen interest in improving a business and they can be a big help. 

Sometimes, you have to adapt

• Value Marketing did not always operate in the iGaming market. Before, we used to deal with face-to-face marketing. However, I started seeing more potential in the ever growing iGaming market, so we changed our goals and business model. This helped us grow more and faster, Shojaei says. 

Sometimes, you will have to adapt to the times ahead. In fact, you might even need to change your business model. It is important to remember that change can be very good and it can help your business to get over a hump. In the best case scenario, it might even make your business more successful than ever but for this you need some thing like goldenslot.

Many business owners make the mistake of strictly sticking to what they started with. In a long run, that is not going to work, because you will want your business to grow. In order to do so, something needs to change constantly. Sometimes, the changes can be big, but it might end up being a good thing.