STARTUPS BECOME EASIER!!

the entrepreneurial spirit become more common in Egypt although a lot of facilities are missed but in the other side there are many problems that can be solved in a profitable way.
so, i decide to write this article to share some tips that may be useful to entrepreneurs in ideation phase through product-market fit processes.

This list is more or less curation of tips i've surfaced from reading , research, trainings and from what i have observed through being around entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, ... etc "eco system"
I wish it can be useful and waiting for any comments, opinions &feedback.

tip#1 tell a lot of people about your idea and make it spreading, listen to their opinions and take notes to develop your idea. "Don't worry about people stealing your idea, worry that no one will care!" -Dharmesh Shah

tip#2 choose an idea you are very! passionate about. "life is too short to spend your life in building something you don't have a passion for!"

tip#3 build something people want! "you should care that your idea must have revenue stream! must have customers to serve, must make a solution of something is paining some people"  a small market research for your idea may be useful.

tip#4 live with your target segment to know what hurt them what they feel about the problem that you want to solve to find the solution that suit them. "you can ask them and make qualitative &quantitative surveys." "market analysis is mean finding information about your target audience. Find out who are your target audience i.e. there age, sex, qualification, profession, knowledge level, income, status, likings, disliking, personality, customs, traditions, religion, lifestyle and PROBLEMS!

tip#5 solve your own problem you will have a passion to solve and have all the information that you want. " e.g. Raye7 app is one of ahmed &samira negm ,the founders, problem "

tip#6 if you want a quick success tackle hard problems that face the community "don't put yourself or your startup in competitive edge if you still hasn't the required resources to fight! find a problem that no one try to solve "IF YOU NEED A QUICK SUCCESS!"

tip#7 focus on markets that you can master "dominate" if you make a cheese cake in jars "say cheese" you better open in eltgamo3 than ramses!

tip#8 know the potential growth markets of your company "accept the challenge as in theses markets you'll face many competitors" and REMEMBER! "THE JUICE IS WORTH THE SQUEEZE"

tip#9 self awareness is a trait that shows maturity, humility &creativity " you must know your strengths and weaknesses as a founder and think is that your weaknesses are enough to search for co-founder who may neglect your weaknesses, in addition to, how you will get the best of your strengths to help your startup.

tip#10 if you decided to search for a partner "co-founder" PLEASE , again PLEASE choose your co-founder wisely you'll spend a lot of time together. and as said before he must be with complementary skills.

tip#11 more than 3 co-founders may be preferred in social entrepreneurship but i am highly not recommend more than three co-founders because the return will be very very small, you can be the only founder and hire wanted positions. if you can manage lonely your startup.

tip#12 benchmark every day your effort &progress.

tip#13 maintain daily motivation and inspiration to your staff.

tip#14 follow up with advisors&mentors and get them updated with your progress and listen well to their advice.

tip#15 search regularly on your idea or company you might find a competitor that start and reach a better progress than you in something or you find any idea that help you keep your progress.

tip#16 pay attention to your competitors early "mahmoud ayman told me before that his startup fail because of that reason he wasn't expect that dubizzle will start with all its resources".

tip#17 Build something, Measure it, Document what you learn, Repeat "THE LEAN STARTUP METHODOLOGY"

tip#18 pivot to cut losses before it's too late if you haven't validate your hypothesis.

tip#19 make sure that your customers rally want to use your product and it will help you the risk of charging your product or to increase using fee.

tip#20 let your product speak for itself, focus on branding your entity and its products &services. you don't have to set a marketing budget for a long time.

tip#21 utilize revenue to grow your business

tip#22 FUNDRAISE when you don't need it " if your company is doing well, you'll have the leverage "power" to use and make any cooperation. you may don't need cash but you sure need to penetrate new markets.

tip#23 your pitch is very important so read how to make it awesome and improve it.

tip#24 update your investors monthly with the updates

tip#25 take care of your customers "you should pay attention to your users if their happy or not"

tip#26 create a list of KPIs to track. " what gets measured gets managed"
know how to deal with leading and lagging indicators to act quickly when you measure your performance.

tip#27 display company progress and company KPIs on a live dashboard it may give the staff the spirit when their passion decrease.

tip#28 ask yourself what type of company culture you want? "something like positioning"

  tip#29 hire cultural &talent fit people when you have a vacancy. 

tip#30 Don't pay for office space until you have to and when you do, stay cheap
" don't make it such a meeting point with management team in early days its a waste of money &detracting. 
*the place must be inspiring, beautiful &reflecting what your culture is.

tip#31 do things that make your stuff happy everyday and try to make it awesome. in addition to yourself you can make all you missed in Friday"meet your family, go to the park, any restaurant that you love, ...."

 tip#32 NEVER! STOP LEARNING

tip#33 set a weekly, monthly &annually goals for you &your company.

tip#34 make strong network and make apersonal bran.

tip#35 you are not in the journey alone! so take care.

tip#36 wake up early and in the same time every day. 

tip#37 make your morning special and make it" me time" pray and have your breakfast. don't open your email until you are in your office.

tip#38 spend most of time with people you loved

tip#39 get outside your comfort zone

tip#40 travel every 6 months in a new place that you never went before.

and FINALLY THERE IS A FIVE PRINCIPLES OF STARTUPS that you must know.

1- Entrepreneurs are everywhere

You don't have to work in a garage or co-working space to be in a startup.

2- Entrepreneurship is management

A startup is an institution, not just a product, so it requires managemen.

3- Validated learning

Startups exist not to make stuff, make money, or serve customers. They exist to learn how to build a sustainable business. This learning can be validated scientifically, by running experiments that allow us to test each element of our startup. 

4- Innovation accounting

To improve entrepreneurial outcomes, and to hold entrepreneurs accountable, we need to focus on the boring stuff: how to measure progress, how to setup milestones, how to prioritize work. This requires a new kind of accounting, specific to startups. 

5- Lean startup methodology "Build-Measure-Learn-Repeat"

The fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. All successful startup processes should be geared to accelerate that feedback loop.

 i wish it can be useful and helpful, waiting your feedback and don't forget to share it with whom it may concern.

special thanks to Eric Ries.