It’s not a surprise that startups are widespread. Such businesses allow to accomplish ideas and make the product very fast. Thus, startup culture is very attractive for creative people who have a lot of ideas and are eager to accomplish them. Unfortunately, even a great idea is only a part of the complicated process of implementation. There is a huge amount of startup services which must be included in the process. You might read about startup services here – https://itsvit.com/services/startups/. Below we will talk about IT startups and what to do for successful implementation.
Startup lifecycle
Let’s say you come up with the idea of a great IT product. It might be some interesting system, web service or application. What do you need first? You need to secure investments but it’s very hard to get investments only for the idea. So, you need a business plan and, preferably, a Proof of Concept (PoC). This is a kind of presentation where you prove that the project can be implemented. Also, you need to explain how the product will be useful for end-users.
The first stage of the startup is also called Seed funding. At this stage, you can use your own savings and profit from previous projects, angel investment and loans to form a team and begin developing your PoC.
After PoC development starts the Series A. This is the stage when you get Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This is the first workable version of the product. It can be the application with the basic functions, for example. At this stage, you might receive some profit. Also, you already have some end-users and can work with their reviews to keep customers loyal and improve the product based on their feedback.
The next stage is about scaling. You develop your project, gain a new audience and more profit. This stage is called Series B, as you can attract even more investors to help your startup grow faster. Here you can pay some debts from previous stages and think about how to make the product even better.
The last stage has two variants. In the first, you sell the startup (exit) and come up with new ideas. In the second you turn into a product company and continue to develop your product.
This is a short description of the startup lifecycle, so now you know what to expect.
Ingredients of a successful startup
What do you need to succeed? As we said, the idea is not enough. So, you need something else. Namely, you need a team, investments and a business plan. We’ve talked about investments a bit and now we’ll talk about the team as a most important component. You’ll agree that without a team, the project can’t be accomplished.
So, how to find a team? There are two common ways. You might hire people or find an outsourcing team. Hiring in-house can be quite difficult for the startup because you need to find an office, equip the workplaces and literally open the company. This process might be very long and expensive, so this is not the most efficient way to create a team for startups.
Another way is to hire a Managed Service Provider (MSP). What is it? This is an outsourcing company providing dedicated teams for projects. Such companies have a wide experience in work with startups and different projects, so they know a lot of modern tools and techniques for IT startups.
What can an MSP do for the startup?
- Making the Proof of Concept. You’ve read how important this step is. An experienced MSP who’ve worked with many startups can make good PoC and help you attract investors in the early stages.
- Creating a Minimum Viable Product. The dedicated team from the MSP company can develop the whole product from scratch. Such teams know how to work fast and create a high quality product.
- Technical support. Some MSPs also provide technical support teams for your project, so you can work with feedback and complaints more efficiently.
- Access to specialists and new technologies. MSP companies work with skilled talents and modern tools. Thus, your product will be flexible, scalable, efficient and convenient for users.
We’ve listed the common services, they can be different in the different MSP companies. The main idea is gaining access to great specialists without hiring them in-house. You shouldn’t look for such talent, hire him and pay a salary after the project ends. You can just “rent” the services you need. This is a very cost-efficient approach and very suitable for startups.
How to find an MSP for an IT startup?
Sometimes is really hard to find a reliable partner, especially for a startup because the business owner is very sensitive to the idea and wants to do his best to succeed, and expects the same from the partners. If you are looking for a good MSP, you should look at worldwide ratings like Clutch, for example. Try to find feedback from previous clients and ask the MSP for successful cases, especially with startups. This will save you from unscrupulous MSP, which you can still meet.
And one more piece of advice. When you find your MSP, try not to argue with the team because their experience allows them to estimate some issues you can’t even notice. Heed their advice, as they know what NEEDS to be done to provide the results you WANT to achieve.
Use the right tools, find the right team and you will succeed for sure!