Your startup, ideas, business - ready-made business plans

Like any other project, a startup starts with an idea. And, interestingly, this idea doesn't have to be brilliant. It is often enough to create a solution that will outperform the existing analogues. But how to implement the idea and create a product that is attractive to consumers and investors?

Stage: Idea

The idea of ​​the Gurulook project, a social service for searching for goods by pictures with game elements, where the user posts a photo of the thing he liked, and other users publish the answer in the form of a link to the desired product, was suggested to us by the clients themselves. In the Kitmall and Kupinatao groups (our online stores of goods from China), requests for help in finding a product began to appear frequently on social networks. Users came across a beautiful thing on the Internet, but they did not know where to find it. At some point, they started posting requests asking them to find a "similar dress" or something else and attached a picture. I had to create a separate topic for discussion "help me find". And here the idea of ​​creating a service came up.

Stage: Team

Gather people who like your idea: at the stage of starting a business, the potential of the employee and the “burning eyes” are of great value. The success of the project largely depends on the kind of people you attract to work on the project. It is not difficult to identify such people from the rest of the mass. As a rule, they are energetic, proactive and “rooting for” the cause (read the article Team Building for a Startup: 7 Common HR Mistakes).

Stage: Market

Try to estimate the size of the market. If the market for the services you offer has not yet been formed, try to analyze the data from similar and related segments. To determine the return on investment in your project, you need to understand how many potential customers there are. Study your competitors, identify their strengths and weaknesses and, based on this, formulate your unique advantages.

Phase: Concept

At this stage, you will create a short description of the initial hypotheses about your business. It is worth starting with the formation of a goal: what, why and, most importantly, for whom you want to create. It is advisable to support this information with numbers. It is important to research the target audience in detail and draw a portrait of the prospective client based on the information received. This will help to more clearly define his needs and correctly form an offer. The conversion rate of a user to a regular consumer directly depends on the correct choice of the target audience.

To accurately predict the behavior of a potential consumer, try to describe in detail one day in your life, breaking it down into intervals of 15-30 minutes. Pay special attention to your time on the Internet.

You need to understand that in addition to the main audience - the one to which you will primarily target the project, there may also be a secondary audience - persons potentially interested in your product. Describe how you see the client from each group. An important point is to estimate the number of audience willing to pay for your product. Typically, this group of people is much smaller than the total number of potential users. Close attention should be paid to the analysis of the strategic prospects of the project (SWOT analysis), as well as possible ways of its monetization. Describe how the company's income will change over the course of three years? How much traffic should you achieve during this time in order to achieve the indicators you need? After the income clarity has appeared, start forecasting expenses for the same period. Based on this, estimate the possible profit. If you plan to attract investments, then determine in advance their share in the project.

Stage: Terms of Reference

Hello! Still dreaming about your own business and seeing that magical day when you don't have to drive across town to your unloved job? Well, I think it's time to stop fantasizing and move on to decisive action! I am sure that many of you will literally be overwhelmed by skepticism, because it is easier said than done. Yes, this is really so, because it takes a lot of time, effort and money to implement your own project. Well, if the matter is simpler with the first two points, then the financial side of the issue for starting a business is quite acute. Nevertheless, despite all the difficulties of this event, finding an investor is quite a feasible task. It is much more difficult to develop a project that will not only be interesting, but also beneficial for a potential investor. If you still have not figured out how to get rich, I suggest you consider working ideas for a startup with me, which have already brought millions to their creators and have become their lucky ticket to the world of financial independence.

The nature of a startup: is it comparable to a business?

In my last article, I already told you what a startup is. Therefore, I will not start a theoretical excursion all over again, but I will just remind you that in translation from English startup is a new company with a unique idea, big ambitions and a desire to get huge profits in the future, which was opened at the expense of investor funds.

Amazingly, quite a few people confuse the concept of a startup with a small business. As a rule, the problem of identification arises for those who have a superficial knowledge of this topic. So that such a misunderstanding does not happen to you, I consider it my duty to put everything on the shelves and convey to you the whole essence of a startup.

Features of startups

So, the first and most important thing that distinguishes startup is innovation. It is very important that the project is aimed at creating something new or at least improving the existing one. Since in this case we are drawing a parallel between the two concepts, it should be noted that uniqueness is practically not inherent in small businesses. In addition, to understand the essence of a startup, it is worth considering the following characteristics:

Become a startup: which direction should we take?

If it seems to you that you cannot come up with a truly worthwhile project, I hasten to assure you otherwise. Generating interesting ideas is not so much a talent as a skill that needs to be constantly developed. All successful entrepreneurs travel with a small notebook anytime, anywhere. They simply need this satellite in order to be able at any time to outline an interesting observation that has visited a thought, or to create a banal note. In your free time, all these records can be calmly pondered and discussed with like-minded people. Coming up with a project from scratch is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Innovative ideas literally float in the air and just do what they wait for someone to bring them to life.

To increase your sensitivity to new proposals, use the advice of seasoned entrepreneurs:

Weak industries to operate

It is worth considering that even the most interesting ideas have their weaknesses, which do not allow them to become a full-fledged profitable startup. It is because of the wrongly chosen niche in the market that over 90% of startups are closed during the first three years of existence. Here are a few topics that investors and entrepreneurs are advised against working with:

• Online services for feedback and recommendations
• Apps for finding vacation spots
• Any projects that involve scanning QR codes <
• All kinds of micropayments
• Creating and maintaining blogs with the aim of further turning them into working business projects

You shouldn't look for sources of investment in startups that repeat successful developments on the market that have already taken root. The fact is that most consumers quickly get used to a specific product (program, application, social network or search engine), and therefore such projects are simply left unattended.

A unique opportunity to see now and here!

The opening of the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan was supposed to include a grand fireworks display. Fireworks were prepared for the opening ceremony in Tokyo, but due to COVID-19, the games were postponed. render completely.

The fireworks could not be stored until 2021, so they were launched a few days ago under the beautiful Mount Fuji. This video is tuned to an overture by William Tell, so turn on the sound. See fireworks like you've never seen before! Enjoy!

How the Samolet developer helps billionaires and largest landowners in Russia to earn money

The creators of the developer "Samolet" were able to find a common language with the main Russian landlords, gathered the largest land bank and held the first IPO of a construction company in nine years

For her 60th birthday in the spring of 2021, singer Alla Pugacheva could receive a really expensive gift. On Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, it was planned to lay the foundation of a concert hall named after the People's Artist of the USSR, crowned with an arch in the shape of the letter "P", which would house offices and VIP apartments. In January 2021, a good friend of Pugacheva, co-owner of the Russian Sea group, Maxim Vorobyov, undertook to help with financing the project worth about $ 100 million. He invited to the project his junior partner in the "Russian Sea" little-known businessman Mikhail Kenin.

Alla Pugacheva's theater remained on paper, and after a while Vorobiev and Kenin left the project. On the other hand, one of the largest Russian developers, the Samolet group, grew out of their partnership. Starting in 2021, in six incomplete years, "Airplane" took the eighth place in terms of revenue among the builders of mass housing in Russia. In October, the group became the first construction company in the past nine years to hold an IPO on the Moscow Exchange. Investors estimated it at 57 billion rubles.

Business ideas of startups and working businesses in a year.

Small business ideas without investment

Most often, Russian startups borrow a successful idea from foreign countries and try to adapt it on the territory of their state. The main problem of a Russian startup, according to the assurances of experts, is that from the very beginning of the launch of the project, domestic startups are trying to catch up with competitors and completely forget about their target audience. It is necessary to anticipate the client's request - then both investors and clientele will be drawn to the startup.

What criteria can be used to distinguish between small business and start-up?

• Relationship to finance.

Relationship to finance

A businessman and a start-up have a completely different attitude to money: getting an opportunity for additional investments, the start-up risks not his own money, eventually relaxes, while the businessman realizes that he himself will have to pay off all his debts.

Small business develops mainly thanks to the funds belonging to the aspiring entrepreneur.

Attracting additional investment from other people at the start of a business is fraught with consequences:

Dependency

The term startup appeared in the United States of America in the 90s of the last century, along with the development of the first Internet companies. This name refers to a group of like-minded people working on an innovative idea, project or technology that can generate income in a short time.

It doesn't have to be an IT company. A business can be anything - a cafe, an online store, or an intermediary agency. The main thing is that a startup must have a clear understanding of the audience, which helps to quickly capture the market. The key features of different start-up companies differ depending on the business model of the startup.

What is a startup business model?

Experts say that it is impossible to launch a successful project without a business model. This is primarily due to the fact that, without a clear understanding of the goals and ways to achieve them, it will be difficult for young entrepreneurs to attract investors' money.

This is exactly what the business model of a startup is - a logical understanding and display of how the business functions at all levels, as well as how the startup attracts customers and makes money.

Ideally, such a presentation should be graphical or schematic. In the field of business, there is an opinion that an idea is incapable and does not exist until it has found its reflection on paper.

Today there are different approaches to what counts as a business model. They can all be combined by saying that the business model should explain what demand will be met by creating a company and how this idea is better than the offer of competitors, as well as how and how the costs incurred will pay off. The startup business model is the ideal way of how a business should function. It must take into account the following factors:

• Product (what does the startup offer?);
• Consumers (who needs the product?);
• Marketing (how will the ?);
• Suppliers and production;
• Market (volume and type);
• The presence of competitors and their characteristics;
• Method of obtaining income;
• System of formation of expenses;
• Non-economic factors influencing the project.

Funding a test model of a startup, its prototype

A prototype or test model of a startup is not yet a full-fledged project. Usually, only the key points of an idea are brought to life to test and collect feedback. This makes it possible to understand the reaction of consumers to a new product and further improve the startup, making it more attractive in the eyes of investors.

The prototype is the basis for the implementation of the final idea of ​​the project, but the test model is not always successful the first time. This is the raison d'être of its existence, to identify the weak points of the idea and refine them. After going through the basic steps of prototype testing, you can finally define the business model. Startups should be prepared for the idea to undergo significant changes during this time and perceive failure as an impetus for development.

The prototype is usually launched at the expense of the creators. Attracting investors at the idea level is difficult. However, you can try to interest "business angels" who do not impose increased requirements on projects and are ready to invest in an idea they like. You can find them on crowdfunding platforms and sites. But more often than not, investors are ready to invest in a project with an already formed business idea.

Business Model Diagrams