For startups — to be a unicorn startup is an amazing experience to be had.

Though, most people think that unicorns achieve this feat because they were at the right place at the right time or had a run of luck. However, to join the herd it takes a lot of hard work and strategy, and as of March 2023, there are only 1200 unicorns globally.

“Genetic de-extinction startup Colossal Biosciences being the youngest in this Cohort, an energy infrastructure and commodities platform Xpansiv and an internet technology company ByteDance are the companies to join the league in January 2023.”

While it may seem a daunting task at first, there are startups that beat the odds.

After all,

“Startups are Not About Ideas, It’s When Ideas are Implemented”

But, how did they do it? What’s the secret ingredient to unicorn sauce, making it look so attractive?

Let’s have a look!

5 Easy tips to help you build a successful startup unicorn in dynamic market

Be dedicated to expeditious growth!

Establishing a unicorn startup is not like building any fledgling company, but it’s not like founding a multinational organisation.

The secret ingredient crafting the subtle difference for unicorn startups is their “business strategy”. This is guided by focusing on accelerated and aggressive growth to break the boundaries that define conventional startups in the industry.

So, to be dedicated to this expeditious growth, businesses should have essential characteristics consisting:

A crystal clear view and respect for business values, mission and culture.

An unwavering confidence in the product or service you’re offering will improve your target customers’ lives.

A well-defined plan to build a disruptive solution simultaneously addresses the market needs.

Lastly, a business model that’ll allow you to reap benefits from day one your product makes its debut.

Undoubtedly, the approach to planning and scaling is imperative; a bigger portion of what portrays a unicorn startup’s success is already baked into the product. Ohh, that brings me to the next point…

Sell what your customer actually wants

If you are like most entrepreneurs, you come up with excellent business ideas daily. After all, company founders have a mindset of continuously searching for aspects that could be improved.

Whether that’s buggy features in software solutions or inefficiencies in supply chains, the great minds of successful entrepreneurs are always poised to find challenges and offer solutions to address them. This is why it’s important to sell what your customers want.

And, who knows, if the ideal customer, their requirements, and a clear value proposition fall into your lap, your startup skyrockets to join the unicorn league.

Another unskippable indicator to be a unicorn-worthy startup product is the potential to produce the product in behemoth volume, that too in a way it caters to the global market. This difference clearly outlines why a bigger segment of unicorn startups are in the software/technology sector.

Finally, startups should remember that a product is as good as the business behind it. So, it’s important to have some fantastic talent with experience and skills that create an innovative product in the brimming market.

Pay attention to branding and marketing from day one

Often, startups fail to reach their full potential not because they don’t have a great idea, but instead, the underneath reality is their marketing and branding are left unaddressed.

Building a brand identity and crafting a comprehensive marketing strategy might not sound like a “must-do” task on your to-do list. Still, if you overlook it for too long, it can be the reason for a declining trajectory.

Don’t worry! With a clear vision of a targeted market, you have a quick escape to insights that help you establish the brand identity.

Use what you already know about:

Your audience
Your product
Your potential competitors

This will help you establish the crucial aspects of your brand, like name, logo, buyer persona, and many other things.

And, once you have a definitive idea of the brand, next you need to do is execution — execute a marketing strategy that presents the brand to your targeted audience effectively and effortlessly.

The rise of the camel

“To be a unicorn, you need to think like a camel!”

A camel, while referring to a startup, represents characteristics like perseverance, commitment, customer-oriented and adaptability.

So, this mindset, especially during business uncertainty — like a pandemic- allows you to thrive through the crisis and brace for growth during unexpected conditions.

To achieve this, long-term growth, financial planning, successful tips, and effective cost management throughout the business lifecycle are unskippable.

💡 Tip: Minimise your burn rate by eliminating unnecessary costs and investing in things that matter — your product, your team and how you hire your team.

Be disruptive

In the business landscape, “being disruptive” is actually a good thing, especially for would-be unicorns.

“Disruption pinpoints innovation that radically impacts the modus-operandi of an industry or market.”

This approach not only holds true to begin at the bottom of the market for affordable solutions, but act as a boon to handhold the “Purple Squirrel” a.k.a the too-true-to-be-real candidates for your startup.

And, if you are looking for a creative escape to do this, think outside the box!

“An applicant tracking system” is a solution that works for you the way you want. Plus, it saves both — your efforts and finances along with improved quality-to-hire and time-to-hire.

Though it can be challenging to do, with industry geeks at your side, you can easily build a unique and disruptive product to set unicorn startups apart.

Rome is not built in a day!

Hopefully, this synopsis of unicorn startups and what gives them a competitive edge over others will help you put the right foot forward. Though establishing your startup in the unicorn league may still sound arduous, adopting these tips will help you maximise the chances of reaching dizzy heights.

And, who knows, your startup may be the next big name in the global business arena.

Originally Published at: https://medium.com/management-matters/scaling-a-startup-5-success-tips-from-accomplished-unicorns-to-do-it-right-7c54b6f7740d

Scaling a Startup: 5 Tips From Accomplished Unicorns to Do It!