One of the hardest parts of planning a startup is coming up with a successful idea. It takes a lot of research and planning, but you also need to have something creative. The most successful startups are the ones that were able to think outside the box. Here are some inspirational startups who took their unique ideas to success.
Shofur: Changing An Industry With Less Than A Grand
Until recently, the public transport industry was coming along slowly. Uber changed taxi services, but buses were still stuck in the past. Entrepreneur Amir Harris had the idea to make bus services much more efficient. You can find a lot of inspiration from the Shofur backstory.
Harris’ company Shofur provides transport for the average citizen, as well as big corporations like the NFL and Facebook. He got software developed to make it easy for customers to book his bus services. They can also view reviews of drivers and track the location of their bus.
What’s shocking is he started out with nothing but $800. By finding a way to change a stagnant industry, he was able to turn it into eight digits. It shows how much you can do with one big idea. You should always manage your business budget wisely and focus on what customers want.
Dollar Shave Club: From $1 Razors to $1 Billion Acquisition
With giants like Wilkinsons and Gillette, it seems like it’d be hard to challenge the male shaving industry. Not for Dollar Shave Club, apparently. The startup, founded by two friends, sold functional shaving equipment to subscribers for a dollar a month. Within just five years of operating, they were bought out by Unilever for a shocking 1 billion dollars.
Their rise to success all started with a viral video back in 2012. Their YouTube advertisement got millions of viewers, plenty of them becoming customers. They also saw the importance of social media. They regularly engage with customers through Facebook and other channels.
It shows how important using modern media is to market your company. Creating entertaining content can catch many people’s attention, and using social media also helps a huge deal. Price also comes into it. They drew people in with low prices, but fans of their $1 offerings go on to buy their more expensive products.
Brewdog: Lying For A Loan Led To Massive Success
One of the biggest problems for startups is funding. Businesses often have a hard time turning over a profit in their early stages. When they start to come under stress from loan repayments, many fold. But Brewdog didn’t.
Brewdog were filling bottles by hand when they got an offer from Tesco to sell their beers in 500 stores. The company needed to expand, but were already missing payments on their current loan. They needed to get a loan over seven times as big as their original one, but naturally, their bank wouldn’t give it to them. Instead of giving up, they lied to another bank in order to gain the funding.
It paid off. They turned the £150,000 loan into a £32m (approx. $39.1m) yearly turnover for the company. It shows the need to take risks in business when you have a route to success. Instead of giving up, find creative ways around your problems.
This article was provided by ellie jo