When aiming to secure your startup, it’s key to understand that innovation and detail are not mutually exclusive. Updating your business or improving your vision doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you’ve achieved so far.
We give you 9 things that will help you maximize your progress, minimize your losses and stay on top of your game:
1. Know your employees.
To build a strong team and have a successful company, you need to know your people. They exist for a reason. Your job as their boss is to know their strengths and weaknesses and realize who can be good at what. In addition, you need to have a trustworthy relationship with them so that your cooperation is based on good and mutual respect.
2. Protect your base
It doesn’t matter whether you are in your office or your home, you need to install some safety measures. Keep in mind that every industry has something fishy about, and startups are no different. There may have been contact with a breach of physical security. If you want to completely seal your workplace, don’t think twice about investing in a proper security system.
3. Trademarks!
Under no circumstances forget to trademark your intellectual property! Here’s why: the transit of information is accelerating as we speak. Everyone today can have insight into what other entrepreneurs are doing. It more often happens that some of them have similar if not the same ideas as yours. So, trademark!
4. Customer safety
Whatever happens in your company, never forget that your customers are your first priority and most valuable asset. Always make sure they are protected and accommodated. You need to think about your credibility all the time. Because, if you lose your customer’s information, you not only lose their protection but a lot more. Be professional.
5. Organize your document
Even though everything is digital today, there are still some things we need to put on paper. Because of this, you may find that you will be stockpiling some writing materials. There will be a lot of unimportant things mixed in with important things. So you need to protect your sensitive documents with a lock, for example.
6. Don’t avoid NDAs.
Non-disclosure agreements are the norm in nearly every industry. Whatever deal you make, whether it’s with a designer doing a dummy logo or the like, you need to create an NDA. After all, no one wants to get into a sticky situation, right?
7. Get informed.
Read about the differences between copycats and reliable web sources. Hawkers lurk from almost every corner of the internet! If your product is web-based, do your coding with incredible complexity! And remember: test, test, test, test. To protect your product, you need to find ways to compromise your own security and fix it.
You don’t want anyone else to do it, do you?
8. Hire outside help.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. It’s totally normal to get help, especially when you’re just starting out. You’d be surprised how many specialists are genuinely willing to help with anything related to your business.
9. Insurance.
Look for liability insurance. Now that you’ve established your business, you need to think about insurance sizing. Accidents happen so you need protection against things like someone slipping and falling down the hall, on the stairs or anywhere else. There are many different types of insurance so you will need to explore a bit, but you will find the right one for you with just a little effort.
