The phrase ‘start-up’ has been floating around with increasing popularity over the past few years, and in Singapore which is such a modern and dynamic environment for business, there is a wealth of them. Here we look into the definition of what a start-up really is, what it takes to be successful when growing one, and how prosperous they have become as a business venture.
Firstly, let’s start with a definition. According to an article on Forbes, “A start-up is a company working to solve a problem where the solution is not obvious and success is not guaranteed”. This means that when beginning a start-up, those involved, are passionate about building on existing ideas within business in order to solve key problem areas and create incredible growth and impact within an industry.
Credit: e27.co
Generally, start-ups can be considered so, up until they have been existing for around three or more years, which is usually when they are acquired by a larger company, and start to expand in terms of office space, employees and revenue, although some within the start-up industry would beg to differ, explaining that as soon as the company has no interest in creating an impact, it ceases to be a start-up.
One of the main characteristics of a start-up, is its ability to grow, unrestricted by location. In my opinion, a start-up is most closely connected to tech industries, as technology is the easiest available asset, available to most of the population, which can be utilised to solve problems and allow the growth needed in a start-up company.
In addition to growth, a start-up must be able to attract investment from either local or foreign investors, to support them in their venture. Based on findings online, 62 start-ups in Singapore raised a total of $573.8 million in venture capital in 2014 alone. If we take GrabTaxi as an example of a start-up utilising technology to its advantage, we can see that it raised $340 million of funding alone which is incredible, but the returns are clearly worth it, with everyone trying desperately to order a taxi after a night out when it’s shift change, or needing to get somewhere fast before the rain begins to fall.
If you’re looking to begin a start-up venture, you don’t necessarily need to have a brilliant idea, you simply need to be able to provide your audience with technology better than what exists at present. If you begin your venture with great people, a demand from the public, and by spending as little as possible, preferably with investors behind you, you are likely to succeed in this market. The most important thing of starting a new venture, is ensuring that there is a demand for your product. You might have great people working with you, who are technical and able to achieve the greatest of feats, you might have a great idea and investors behind you, but if you don’t have something that people want, your idea will not succeed.
As an entrepreneur, one of the best things you can do is to gain information and advice from the best in the business, with successful entrepreneurs heading up talks, investments and mentoring in the area, helping you to avoid the same mistakes that they made and to increase growth faster.
Singapore has some of the best start-ups in South East Asia, including Trade Gecko “recognised as one of Southeast Asia’s hottest startups, is an inventory management software for retailers and SME wholesalers” which according to an article on e27, has “already built a global client base in 90 countries” and Ninja Van which is a delivery service specialising in logistics and next-day delivery, raising “US$2.5 million in funding”.
So, if you think you have the weight in the market to be able to pull together a successful start-up, make sure you have the demand in the market from your audience, ensure funding is in place, and finally make certain that you have the right people working with you, passionate for growth and success.