1. Market Size If you target a niche market it may not be the kind of business that attracts investors. This means that you may need to find your own way to fund your business, making it vital to get your cash flow positive quickly and to keep your costs low. On the other hand, if you target a large market and have a scalable business you may need investors to help your business grow. You need to do your research and learn about your market, what funding you will need and how this will be spent. 2. Market structure The size of the market is important but so is the market structure. Does the market have a few dominant businesses or is it a fragmented market where nobody controls the industry? You need to adjust your strategy depending on the market structure. Fragmented markets are much easier to penetrate. 3. Competition When you are small, your competitors are likely to ignore you. However, once you start to grow competitors will respond and try to push you out. You should choose a market where if a competitor competes with you it would undermine their assets and business model. You need to have a product and a business model that are better in some way than those already on the market. 4. History There is a lot to be learned from other people’s successes and failures. You need to realise why your competitors are successful and learn from the mistakes of companies in your market that have failed before you; make sure you don’t make the same mistakes that they have. You need to plan where your business is going and how you’re going to get there. If you learn from the mistakes of other Start-ups you can significantly reduce the chances that yours will fail. The S4B Team We are a team of Profit Consultants and Chartered Accountants who work with you to help ensure your success and fulfil your potential. Send our team an email at [email protected] or call 01628 623444 to see how we can help you.