The path to success is not always easy. Every year, around seven in ten startups fail. The startup world can be unforgiving and challenging if you do not have the perseverance to pursue your goal relentlessly, even when faced with rejections and hurdles.
Yet, this arduous journey was not daunting for me, even after many personal lows, including depression, a failed marriage, and the passing of my father. There was hardly anything left to lose, so I jumped into creating my business, and unsurprisingly, I’ve learnt plenty of important lessons.
Like many others, I was just an IT geek, employed in a cushy job, good with what I was doing in my field. In fact, I was one of the fastest to promote in my department within a year. When I was approached with the opportunity to start a business by my friends, I took the chance.
I was excited to build something special and believed in my partners and me to do so. With minimal experience and little money to fund our efforts, we created our first startup to provide business consultancy services.
Yet, I was unprepared, or ignorant, so to say. All the dreams about succeeding within a few months burst quickly. The truth was: for the next few years to come, I never saw hurdles coming my way until I tripped over them.
The business was struggling to stay afloat in terms of operations and revenues, and in a desperate attempt, we decided to pivot into digital transformation solutions with a second startup. Unfortunately, the second startup faced the same fate. During the same period outside my career, my marriage was failing, followed shortly by the sudden passing of my father.
It was really the lowest point of my life. I still remember the day when I tried to withdraw money from an ATM and was only left with a two digits sum in my bank account. I felt miserable. Any sane person in that situation would make the most logical decision to go back to find a stable full-time job.
But I have already lost so much. Thinking I have nothing more to lose, I went on to start my third startup, Ximple, with a ‘do-or-die’ attitude.
Although my first two startups failed, there were precious experiences to be learned from these setbacks which I kept in mind while building Ximple. There were a few main reasons why the first two ventures failed.
The first mistake was not identifying and targeting the right industry and audience. Second, not having the right mix of talent to lead the various functions in the business. Thirdly, we couldn’t find the right unique selling points to stand out from the many competitors providing the same solution in this saturated market.
On finding the right service and USP
One common mistake is assuming there is a demand in the market, and all you have to do is to launch your product and expect a need for your solution. In other words, do not be convinced you have found a solution or a market demand until it has been assessed by consumers.
Also Read: How mental health startup Intellect’s founder catalysed his personal battle with anxiety
During my experience as Head of Regional Logistics in Singpost, I’ve witnessed different products from every company having their own return policy and process. For consumers, this means different products might have different procedures to go through for warranty exchange or servicing.
Personally, I have also encountered the issue with warranty tracking and service maintenance for my own home appliances. I thought to myself: why was there no one-stop solution to address these issues and simplify the consumer experience? That was the idea that sparked the birth of Ximple.
When I was developing Ximple, one of the first things I started to work on was understanding the market. I started sharing ideas about the pain point of warranty tracking and maintenance based on my personal experience as a consumer.
I did a survey with more than a hundred friends to get a general idea of issues they faced with warranties and the way they handle them. Based on my market research, I began reaching out to companies in the industry via LinkedIn with a simple pitch deck.
Although the idea was acceptable from the start, it has to evolve quickly to cater to changing market needs and behaviour. Today, Ximple has evolved to become more than just a warranty management tool, but a one-stop platform that promotes a circular economy in the electronics market.
So, if there is one thing aspiring founders must know, it is to know the market needs before deciding to plunge into a venture, and be prepared to adapt and change when necessary.
Pick the right team and elevate your own skill sets
Finding a key business proposition isn’t enough, a team has to get the right people to propel it forward. One of the key reasons for previous failures was due to no diversity in the management team with relevant experience to lead the many important functions within the company.
My Co-Founders in the previous ventures were all, like me, like-minded souls who specialised in IT. Realistically speaking, there was no one experienced enough to take charge of the sales and business front. No matter how great the product is, if there is no one skilled enough to present it to the public or investors, the business is bound to fail.
To ensure better success for Ximple, I know I had to onboard someone who knows how to sell the business better than me. That’s why in Ximple when we gather investors, we are not just looking for someone with money, but also with the right experience and value to help propel Ximple.
Although now I have a strong management team to help run the business, I am still learning new skills as the Founder. I, too, have to up my game by constantly upgrading myself in order to learn and know everything from the ground up on the operation of the business.
During the initial stage of Ximple, I took up an accounting course to learn how to handle finance operations, and despite being an introvert, I attended a public speaking course in order to improve my presentation and networking skills.
Also Read: Succeeding as a technical founder with Dave Shanley
The key is to constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone and learn as much from the experience of your business partners.
Careful expansion
Every startup would, of course, be eager to move and expand their business forward into another market but this takes calculated risks and considerations. My advice I give to new business owners that have come to me would be to understand the market and have someone you trust that can help run the business in the region.
In the case of Ximple, one of our trusted Malaysian shareholders is assisting us in the expansion. A year before we even expanded into Malaysia, we have already started connecting and talking to local business partners to understand the market.
By the time of our official launch in Kuala Lumpur, we had eight working business partners that shared the same vision with Ximple and to help drive Ximple into the Malaysian market. The right partnerships are important at the very core of any scaling process, so always take time to connect with others.
A note on taking the plunge
At the end of the day, the challenge in building your own business doesn’t just stem from the long hours you’re willing to sacrifice, or the guts to take ownership over something by yourself.
Always stay humble and stay curious when meeting new people. A strong management team with the right mix of talent and experience is always the most important to ensure the success of a business.
–
Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic
Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page
Image credit: Ximple
This article was first published on August 30, 2022
The post Building a business isn’t Ximple. This is what my startup journey taught me appeared first on e27.