What are the Challenges of Starting a Business in Developing Countries?

Did you know that 90% of startups reach their demise within the first five years? Of course, you don’t want to be another number in those stats. The developing countries are facing horrifying issues that need front-seat attention. Entrepreneurship is on the high tide. It is easy to find investors and convince them to fund your startup. In this era, starting a business can be simultaneously a piece of cake and challenging. Easy because there are so many resources that can help you learn and move forward.

Moreover, challenging, because several pitfalls mark your way when you are starting a business in a developing country. Despite the popularity of entrepreneurship, some common business challenges need to be addressed — listed below are some startup challenges and issues that entrepreneurs across developing countries are facing. By working on these business challenges, you’ll be able to create a startup culture that will nurture employees so that they can build a product worth marketing.

Startup Challenges in Developing Countries

• Cliff-Hanging Competition

There is a bone-chilling competition out there. The nail-biting competition between giants has left little room for startups. The new startups are teetering on the edge of survival. If you have an online business, the competition is a tough nut to crack, and only increasing by the day.

The hostile environment keeps startups on their toes. There is no margin of error. Both B2C and B2B are fighting hard to survive. To survive, new businesses need to play aggressively. Follow these six steps to bring insane traffic to your website. Establish brand recognition. Creating a brand identity will help develop trust among customers. Focus on scaling your business right from the start.

• Idealistic Expectations

Success doesn’t come alone. With the American dream grilled down our throats, expectations are only escalating. However, sadly, these lofty expectations can only lead to disappointment down the road for young startups.

Startups need to realize that unrealistic expectations will lead to short-term success because expectations never end. If you’re starting, you might not know much, but as you grow, you will learn the tricks of the trade along the way. So, It never hurts to keep your expectations realistic.

The name of the game is sustainability. Moreover, sustainability entails constant hard work. A unique selling proposition will help businesses establish authority in a short period. Analyzing the market and iterating as per the requirements is the core need of every startup.

• Hiring the Right People

Jack Welch, in his best-selling book ‘Winning’, compares running a startup with driving a bus. When the bus embarks on its journey, the first responsibility of the bus driver (owner) is to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus. This makes it easier for a startup to scale fast.

Among other common business challenges, hiring suitable candidates is a mind-boggling job. To create a dream team, it takes a lot of trial and error. There is a vast pool of resources out there. Selecting the person who is right for your startup is a tough nut to creak.

What startups can do to build business values before they hire anyone? Moreover, any candidate that doesn’t fit within those values should never be hired in the first place.

• Cyber Security

This is a digital age. An age where your mobile phones are recording your conversations and Facebook is giving away your personal life to individuals. In this chaotic world, protecting your business from security threats is nearly impossible. DDoS attacks and SQL Injection have become quite prevalent and can harm your business even before you start generating some income.

Unless you’re using a reliable DDoS protection service, it will be difficult for your startup to survive. At times, competitors hire hackers to infiltrate systems and get all the information from the business, leaving behind a state of bedazzlement.

To safeguard your online data, it is advised to use military-grade security systems. A VPN connection serves the right purpose in protecting the confidential information of customers and employees by adding an encrypted layer of security.

• Winning the hearts of Customers

Customer is not the king anymore; in fact, he is an Emperor. If you can win the hearts of your customers, they will start trusting you, and with that trust, you will be able to eliminate critical challenges in your business.

The highly successful customers can spread the word and at the same time, help you scale your business towards exponential growth.

If your business is seeing no sales, there is no reason for it to keep going. Moreover, customers can bring real bucks to your account. If you make them happy, they will do the marketing for you. Willingly. Free of cost. They might share their experience on social media or tell a close friend about your brand. This is free marketing which you cannot afford to miss as a startup.

Customer loyalty is critical for the profitability of the business. Turning customers into raving fans is an art. Exceptional customer service can give you great business. Start by implementing customer-centric strategies. Eliminate all the hurdles that customers face while solving their problems. Once the customer realizes that you have something worthy to offer, they will come back to you for more.

• Poor Communication & Technological infrastructure

When you are starting out, there is much room for people who come from various backgrounds. There will be a communication gap, but as a startup, it will be easier to control. However, once you grow, it will be impossible to control. So, the best practice is to keep all communications clean and transparent. There should be no confusion among employees, and moreover, the employees must convey everything as it is to the customers.

Secondly, as a startup, it will be difficult to develop a technological infrastructure. So, it is necessary to implement as you grow. Find out ways in which technology can help. Automate things that are killing your precious time. Use chatbots to ignite your marketing. If you have an e-commerce website, implement AI to grow your business.

To face and tackle the so-called challenges within a violent business world, startups need to be resilient and focus on keeping their integrity intact, against all odds. Nothing in this world is permanent; even your worries are short-lived. If you have a business which is helping other people, make sure that you keep it running, no matter what hurdles you face.