90% of startups will fail. The road to the next unicorn startup is riddled with fatalities, such as insufficient demand, poor revenue stream, inflexible model, problematic scalability and even incompetent founders.

Working close with founders and established entrepreneurs, VIC Partners believes that at its core, a successful startup must go through 5 crucial elements before the very first steps are taken.

1. The specific focus of your company.
The ideal intersection between your abilities (skills), your interests (passion), and what you can get paid to do (money).

2. The exact problem your team is trying to solve.
“Nobody will pay you to solve a non-problem.” Is your startup a painkiller (solves serious problems quickly and effectively) or a vitamin (provides alternatives to generally strengthen the wellness of an entity). The best companies are painkillers.

3. The particular market your company is entering.
Is the pie large enough? Are there too many players? Is there any dominant player?

4. The unique solution you are offering.
Refine your product, Test you product, Test the demand for it. Test it again.

5. The innovative business model you are pursuing.
What is your business model? Can you scale it?

If you think your team has nailed these 5 areas down, or even only some of these steps, follow our posts, reach out to us! What do you think are also important for startups to consider? Let us know!