Everything you need to know about starting a startup

  • Henk Herkink
  • Edited 27 November 2024
  • 2 min
  • Starting

Usually, startups bring a new idea or product to market. Startups are often looking for ways to grow quickly. They usually do not have a lot of money or resources, so they need to be smart and creative to achieve their goals. With proper preparation, guidance, and by taking the right steps, startups can achieve tremendous growth and even take over the global market.

Several startups and startup hubs share their experiences and talk about turning ideas into reality, with Cathy Oh, KVK’s Startup Officer, offers tips.

Develop your idea

Develop your idea by asking yourself the following questions:

  • What problem does your idea solve?
  • What solutions already exist for that problem?
  • How does your product or service differ from existing alternatives? Is it really innovative and interesting for customers?
  • Who are your customers and users?
  • What is your business model?
  • How will you get money to market your new product or service?

KVK’s Startup Officer Cathy Oh says: “Your ideas and enthusiasm are key ingredients that will help foster growth. But also write a business plan and think carefully about your revenue model.” This is the only way to come across as a credible company for investors and your (potential) market.

Register your idea

Once you have fleshed out your idea, you can register it in the i-DEPOT. By legally registering your idea, you get proof that you came up with, created, or designed your idea on a certain date. This can be invaluable if you end up in legal proceedings. You can register all sorts of ideas in the i-DEPOT, from fashion designs, lyrics, books, movies, scenarios, inventions, or prototypes.

Have you turned your idea into a product or service? Protect it with intellectual property rights, such as a patent.

Approach potential customers

Once your idea starts to solidify, you will want to put it on the market. Cathy Oh: “Is the market ready for your product or service? And is your product fully developed and ready to be sold? A common obstacle for many startups is that although there is interest in their product, not everyone is willing to be a customer. This can happen for any number of reasons. People might not be ready for your product or service. Or your product may not meet the customer’s needs and wishes.”

Looking back, Onno van der Poel of startup TicTag can clearly see the merits of this approach: “At TicTag, we waited until our first real potential customer showed up. While you can put your product through lots of test and research even before you land your customer. In retrospect, setting up our own test panel would have been smarter for TicTag and, more importantly, it would have helped us save a lot of time." So make sure to share your idea with potential customers or involve them in the development.

Turn your idea into a business

After you register your idea, you can start thinking about forming a company to sell your product or service. See this checklist to find out exactly what you have to do when you start working for yourself.

Arrange money for your startup

"Developing a product and starting a business costs money. And as your startup starts to grow, you may need funding more often," says Oh.

Make an investment budget to find out how much money you need. Also think about how much money you will need in the future so you can grow your business. You can look for business angels. They invest in companies they find interesting, often startups. Business angels often also offer knowledge and advice.

There are also organisations and associations that help startups get started. See which organisations suit you.

Grow your startup

Once you get your business to run successfully, money will start coming in and you will be able to grow into a scale-up. As a scale-up, your business plan will target a broader audience. You will be able to sell your idea internationally.

During this growth phase, you will have to make lots of new decisions.

  • Hiring staff for the first time: Can you no longer handle the work alone? See what to think about when hiring staff.
  • Leadership: As your company starts to grow, your role will grow too. You will have to be a manager. Leadership is a very particular skill. If you realise that being a leader is not exactly a strength of yours, hire a manager.
  • Finance your growth: To grow you will need money. But how do you go about finding financing? Find out what grants and schemes there are for startups. And attract investors.
  • Selling your business: Do you want to keep growing? Or do you want to make money fast and prefer selling your business?

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