How to Start a Stealth Startup, the Easiest Way. Starting a business is challenging enough. But if you’re planning to launch your venture and you don’t have any connections or experience, things might seem even tougher for you. The good news? Starting a business is easier than you think. The first thing that comes to mind when planning to start anything new is having a lot of funds at our disposal. And while it’s true that starting a business with money as your primary resource will be more challenging than doing the same with less capital, there are still ways of going about setting one up without anyone knowing.
Read More: Healthcare Startups Ideas: Where to Find the Next Big Thing
Make a great product first.
The first thing to consider is what product or service you want to offer. You will spend so much of your resources on manufacturing and marketing that it’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to do before you start. It’s no good starting a company that produces cardboard boxes if your true passion is writing books. If you don’t know what to do yet, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways you can start. Consider what your core competencies are and what you have experience in that can be used to solve other problems. Once you know what to do, you can create a product or service that meets those needs. Your product or service doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be worth offering to customers. Every product or service has its own set of problems that need solving. You can identify these problems and create a product or service that addresses them.
Make it easy for people to buy from you.
Once your product or service is ready for sale, you will need to find customers and make it as easy as possible for them to buy. The easier it is for customers to buy from you, the more chance they have of doing so. I’m sure most of us have bought something from a company with so many hoops and hurdles in place that we gave up trying. It’s important that customers can find out what they want and how much they will pay without too many obstacles in the way. It’s also important that once they have made a purchase, their experience with your company is positive and hassle-free. It can be not easy to achieve – particularly if you sell something online.
Hire smart people
Even if you are the best product developer in the world, there is no point in opening a company with you as the sole employee. Entrepreneurship is a team sport. No matter how brilliant you think you are, you will only be able to achieve so much if you don’t have help. Smart people can make all the difference between success and failure. Find your co-founders and team members early on. When you join with others, it doesn’t mean you have to give up on your vision or values. It would help if you kept that in mind even as you’re exploring business ideas. Co-founders should be people who share your values and bring you something that you don’t have. It’s not always about adding people to the business but understanding what they bring that you don’t.
Be transparent and proactive.
This might sound too simple to be effective, but it’s true. Anyone can start a company. But it’s hard to sustain growth and success without being transparent with your customers and proactively solving their problems. If a customer has a problem they want to solve, you can bet that other customers have the same issue. Being transparent doesn’t just mean sharing information about the business’s operations with customers. It also means being open and receptive to their problems and offering solutions. One of the best ways of keeping your customers happy and engaged is by solving their problems.
Find an investor or two.
If you can’t find a way to get funding, you can also easily start a stealth startup. Many entrepreneurs find that raising funds from investors is too public and prefer to have their businesses remain under the radar. But raising funds through private equity or debt only makes sense if you plan to open the company to the public shortly. This means you can find a way to get funding without having to open the doors to the public. Search for ways to raise funds without raising funds. You can do this by selling equity to your investors, offering them dividends, increasing their share in the profits, or signing a consulting agreement with them.
Only hire employees when you’re ready to scale
It’s best to scale your company by hiring people only when you have an actual need for them. This will help you avoid hiring people just for the sake of it. If you know, you will use extra hands only when your business grows. You can avoid hiring people who are only supposed to be there temporarily. Scale your business by slowly hiring people and adding them to the payroll. You can also use contract or freelance workers when you need extra hands for a limited period of time. A good rule of thumb is to never hire someone for more than you would pay for their services for a period of time.
Finances
The first thing that comes to mind when considering starting a new business is how much money you will need. As already mentioned, the more money you have at your disposal, the better chances your business will thrive. And if you don’t have enough, there are still ways of getting by with as little as possible. One of the best ways of doing this is by using startup tools and resources available online for free, such as free domain names and hosting services.
Conclusion
That’s it! You now know how to start a stealth startup. The key to starting a business is to have a great product or service, hire smart people who believe in what you’re doing, and be transparent and proactive as you solve your customers’ problems. When you’re ready to launch your product or service to the world, only do so when you have the right funding. And last but not least, scale your business by hiring people only when you have an actual need for them.