Worthwhile Advice For The Humble Tech Startup

With the internet providing more opportunities for accessing markets than ever, more and more people are starting to find the benefit in running a startup. With computers on your side, video conferencing apps, and marketing via social media becoming easier than ever, you’d be surprised at how many of these ventures are starting to develop competently. TV shows like Silicon Valley comically show the hidden realities behind running a firm like this, and the intrepid talent behind such initiatives.

That said, as opportunities have increased, so has competition. For this reason, understanding how to avoid common pitfalls while you chase your value is good sense, and we can learn plenty from case studies in our industry moving forward. Now is also a great time of change for many tech platforms, as some decide to embrace NFTs, and some look to further international markets.

It’s easy to lose yourself in all this noise. In this post, then, we hope to discuss some worthwhile advice for the heroic tech startup, allowing those that adopt such guidance to have a chance of prospering:

Test Your Software Thoroughly

The reputation of your product will grow further than the reputation of your brand will, and so more than ever, it’s essential for you to let this work speak for itself. This means making absolutely certain that you have tested it thoroughly. This is more than just lip service, however. Using a test automation company that can help add thorough pressure to the testing process by using realistic behavioural testing can help you identify any flaws, bugs and more. It can also help you see how the app or software stands up under pressure and volume.

It’s best you do this now, notice bugs and issues, fix them, polish those up, and add to the dev cycle than it is allowing your first users to serve as non-consensual software testers. You can run alpha tests, beta tests, and more, but never allow your first actual users to go through the work you should have done.

Provide Realistic Functionality

Of course, it’s easy to say ‘just add more and more features!’ as a means of success. There’s nothing that says you need to have the most complex app or software package ever in order to succeed, and more doesn’t always equal better. The truth is, however, that software should never be a limited version of what could be found on the web.

Functionality does not necessarily refer to many features, but at least a few features done very well. This kind of development approach can help you nail your exact design ideals without intensive feature creep, without overpromising, and without straying from that you find most essential.

Allow For Many Security Options

As a tech startup, you know that security is important. But it’s important to help your users empower themselves when securing their accounts, workflow, or orders through your software, too.

This might involve allowing for multi-factor authentication, biometric logins, or more. It might involve security keys, or backup codes. It might involve registering software to certain devices, and providing a limit where that’s applied. Yet where there’s security implementation, you can bet that verified users may need support to manage that from time to time, and so it’s worth investing in your support functionalities so that you can respond to requests on-time.

Implement Worthwhile Support/Feedback Links

Software is ultimately a dynamic product that develops over time. In fact, most software suites work as services rather than delivered projects that will remain the same until the next software package is purchased.

Think of how even large-scale providers like Adobe have developed their own approach towards subscription models, with regular patch updates. Even firms like these, however, make sure that this experience is provided for now, that the support can be accessed now, that feedback can be given at any time using simple shortcuts in the packages itself. Allow your users to report bugs clearly, to send screenshots of their bugs, to offer the full error logs that help your dev team get to grips with what you have to work on.

It may seem as though support/feedback functionalities are yet another chore you have to deal with, but actually, the insight they can provide makes this a valuable proposition, allowing your team to properly assess their direct recuperative approach. It’s not hard to see why so many firms find value in such an approach.

Keep Your Branding Clean

It’s important to keep your branding clean and identifiable. Tech firms often work well when showcasing their modern, clean, UX/UI-driven design ideals. Some tech firms enjoy tongue-in-cheek naming strategies, or website conventions such as ‘.io’ as a domain name suffix, standing for the popular ‘input-output’ term for computers.

Keeping your branding clean also means keeping it aligned with your product. In some cases, a product can be synonymous with the name of your brand itself. Think of Google and you think of the search engine, of course, but the addendums to that are additional Google products that have spawned from this foremost service. 

It may be quaint to name your tech firm something classical, rustic, or inspired by a visionary aesthetic like art deco – but it may be that some potential clients feel confused as to what it is you’re actually offering in this light. Clean, modern, focused should be your mantra. With good design, that doesn’t have to be boring.

Quality Copywriting Is Key

Even those with programming skills and computer science degrees can find it tough to understand the full scope of what a new service or startup offers if you don’t explain it carefully. Hiring a quality copywriter to condense your value proposition into something eye-catching, understandable, and engagement-worthy is a fantastic idea. You may be able to do this in-house, but programmers and project leads tend to be so detail-oriented that it’s easy to get lost in the reeds.

With this advice, we believe you’ll be able to structure your humble tech startup in the most promising manner possible.