Tough Markets

It's pretty simple, yet few founders are aware of it, blinded by their own passion and determination. Your business success depends almost entirely on external factors (and not how great your idea is). This is especially true for startups. You either succeed because the market likes what you do and supports you, or you fail because there is no market, or it is already well served, or it is too small or too hard to reach. The market is the elephant in the room that too few acknowledge. The stuff that's in your power - good management, quality, honest business practice, good recruitment, even marketing and sales - accounts for a minority, maybe 20%, of business success So, the first step is to ask yourself: Is the market tide with you, or against you? Are you on a wave? All the superstars can thank the market. Nvidia, the world’s first $4 trillion company, has reached these heights thanks to the wave of global demand for GPUs to mine crypto and power AI. Microsoft’s success is bu...

Y ou can replace the word "strategy" with "focus". Where are you going to focus? Understandably, entrepreneurial businesses prefer to refrain from concentrating their efforts because they aggressively explore every possible opportunity. Yet, they have the most to gain from targeting their limited resources instead of following a spray-and-pray approach. The Consequences of a Lack of Focus  The problem with not putting enough effort behind a single point is that many ideas remain sub-critical - they never receive enough support to either work or fail entirely. In our experience at Firejuice , doing more of one thing allows the business to get a clear sense of whether it works or doesn't. Unfortunately, in too many cases, a chronic lack of focus often leads to murky decision-making and companies that end up chasing their tails. Structured Opportunity Exploration Entrepreneurial businesses will always search for opportunities, but exploration should not be unrestra...