Avoiding Start-up Failure

Abstract

A great deal of business ideas never makes it to the end due to a wide range of problems that extend from the flawed conception of the idea to the failure to capture investment for their enterprise. The objective of this study is to analyze the causes of failure of start-ups and then interview successful entrepreneurs turned into small business owners to derive the causes of success of start-ups. Three interviews to small business owners were conducted to collect data on market and technology risks and difficulties faced in turning their project into a business. There were three main conclusions taken from the interviews: That all successful entrepreneurs were motivated to start the enterprise due to finding a real market need first and then devising a product/service to respond to that market need; that the vision of the entrepreneurs for their enterprise did not change substantially since the foundation of the company; that among the companies there were different levels of innovation being implemented that depend on company’s business model. These three conclusions can be summed up into the following: Any enterprise to endure must answer to a real market need, building its vision around those market necessities and adjusting the level of innovation according to market demands.