Unlike what many fledgling startups might believe, a breakthrough product/service isn’t a fool proof road to success. Given the oversaturated markets today, startups often struggle to find a hold in the market after launching themselves into the race. In order to stay on top of the game, it’s mandatory for the startups to work out innovative strategies that would give them a competitive edge. Hence, before stepping into the market only to find themselves struggling to create an identity for themselves, it’s advisable for the startups to chalk out the key differentiator that stands them apart from the rest. Here are a few fundamental pointers that you must remind yourself of in order to gain an edge over your competitors.

• Focus on the Need

First thing first. No path-breaking innovation is good enough if it fails to serve the need. We often see startups getting swayed by a fit of passion and enthusiasm for an idea/innovation that they think is unflinchingly brilliant. You cannot make the need fit into the innovation. It’s exactly the other way round.

While looking for a problem, make sure it isn’t your own bias-ridden problem, but rather a problem that infests a good number of people who shall constitute your chunk consumers. Do your research to confirm whether the problem in question is a problem the people are talking about too. According to the CBI insights, 42% startups fail because they try to ‘tackle a problem that’s interesting to resolve rather than those that serve a market need.’

• Observe your competitors

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” said the wise men. The secret to staying ahead in the competition is to closely track your competitors. Know the things that are working wonders for them. Minutely follow their marketing strategies. Deep dive into their promotion activities that are conspicuously yielding benefits. Also analyse the gaps in their offerings to strengthen your products. Fortunately, today’s digital world has made it quite easier to monitor the competitors with help of various digital tools.

• Stay in loop with technology

In today’s competitive world of business, startups must leverage technology to beat the slack. COVID-19 has magnified the need to stay abreast with technology like never before. Be it working from home, managing projects and database, communicating with customers and businesses, or automating workflows – technology is the key to multiplying efficiency and smoothing the rough edges.

• Make your customers feel valued

More than half of the battle is won if you have achieved your customers’ loyalty. What better way to achieve this than to make your customers feel valued! To make the customers choose you over your competitors, make offers that clearly speak of your edge over the rest. Don’t hesitate going that extra mile to strike a personal chord with your customers and augment the overall customer experience. While it isn’t advisable to completely do away with transactional marketing, relationship marketing is the key to making your customers return to you with, possibly, a group of new ones as well.

• Let the assumptions go for a toss

You may come with assumptions based on your experiences and learnings. Running a startup comes with its own sets of challenges that would require dynamic redressals. Be flexible enough to let your assumptions go for a toss – be it about your own business or of the competitors. Rather trust the real-time data. This will help you stay on your toes to handle the shifts and navigate better as and when required.

• Hire judiciously

Most of the early-stage startups have limited bandwidth. This makes it even more crucial to hire a team that is brilliant skill-wise, and is aligned with your passion and goals for the company. A team that is willing to walk that extra mile and has a brilliant knack for innovating solutions and resolving bottlenecks in crunch situations.

• Build a strong Brand personality

When it comes to building a strong brand personality, Apple is the king of the game. Brand personality is a set of traits that the customers perceive a brand with.

The first step to building a strong personality is to know your business in and out. Determine how you would want to be perceived. Gauge the strengths of your business that you’d want to communicate and would help you carve a niche. The idea is to create a distinctive demeanour of your brand that will instantly make you stand apart from your competitors.

• Network extensively

This is another important factor that startups often fail to lend enough weightage to. Remember that entrepreneurs thrive because of the people they know rather than what they know.

Building a strong network is a crucial factor deciding the success and sustainability of a startup. So, focus on building and nurturing a support network of likeminded people who could be your peers or people from the business world. You will be surprised to see the number of times you will be able to fend off the risks of failure.

Here are a few reasons you must network extensively:

1. It gives you and your brand visibility and builds your reputation.
2. It improves your confidence.
3. It helps you to get prequalified referrals that could be converted into permanent clients.
4. Networking is the most appropriate way of getting mentorship and guidance. Fellow entrepreneurs or investors can offer you advice on different matters.
5. Opens the gate to mutual sharing of knowledge across various industries that helps everyone grow together.