The Reasons why you don’t need to be in Silicon Valley to have a successful startup

A lot of entrepreneurs and innovators are obsessed with moving to Silicon Valley because they think, going there could automatically mean the success of their business ideas. Well, this perception is necessarily not true because Silicon Valley isn’t the only place that could shape the success of your startup. This article explains some major reasons why Startups don’t essentially need to go to Silicon Valley in order to breakthrough or succeed.

It takes a good idea and Business Model

The success of any business relies on the power inside the idea and the business model behind it. Even going to Silicon Valley with a vague idea and business Model will not automatically guarantee success. Whereas most people think that, Silicon Valley is a place where you can find a couple of opportunities like easier access to financial and human capital, it is also important to note that what matters is the idea and business model you have. Investors are not willing to sink money into an idea which lacks a clear strategy of generating profits. The most ultimate advice is to come up with a market disruptive idea that has the potential to take the world by storm. This means the success of your startup isn’t achieved by moving to Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley costs are higher

Life in Silicon Valley is undoubtedly expensive. This place is associated with tech-boom gold rush, where people are earning millions of dollars per year, for just working there.  If your startup doesn’t have the financial muscle to afford operating from Silicon Valley, then it is not the right idea to move there. It comes to things like renting space for your startup, paying remunerations to employees and many other important needs which the company would require to successfully run.  For example, rent in San Francisco, especially in Silicon Valley areas tops $70 per square foot. This is way more expansive more so if the business has just started operating and hasn’t generated revenue yet.

Focus on building the brand, everything else will come!

What matters in the business world is the brand, which your startup puts out. No matter where you located, as long as the brand is powerful, your startup business is more likely to succeed and even have the potential to attract better opportunities from anywhere. Let’s say you’ve built a product which is disrupting the market; the word about it is likely to spread like fire in all corners of the world. TikTok is one example of a disruptive product in the technology sector. Even though TikTok wasn’t launched from Silicon Valley, its ability to employ artificial intelligence and use it to analyze users’ interests and preferences through their interactions with the content, and display a personalized content feed for each user has become so disruptive and attracted serious attention from industry players. In fact, in 2018 TikTok was the most downloaded app in the US and the first Chinese app to achieve this.

This means that creating a disruptive product on the market can put your startup in a much more powerful competitive position than other players.

The internet is a global village with opportunities

Many entrepreneurs fail to realize that the internet has every opportunity they need to run their businesses successfully. Through using the internet, it is easier to outsource talents from other areas at even a fair price. Whereas many startup entrepreneurs think that going to Silicon Valley will help them to gain access to the top minds, this can also be done using online outsourcing, which Is likely to be affordable for starting businesses with limited capital resources. When it comes to finding the necessary capital, the internet is still a place to go. There are various ways to find capital for your startup on the internet, one of which is launching online crowdfunding campaigns. Various startups have successfully launched online crowdfunding and raised tens of millions of dollars to scale their products. For example, Coolest Cooler Startup rose over $13m on Kickstarter; one of the most popular online crowdfunding platforms in the world.  

Build a robust team

A top-notch team is what your startup needs to succeed. You need a team that is flexible, dependable and one which thinks out of the box. These days it is easier to hire the brightest minds, willing to put your idea to the next level. If your startup is into tech products, then hiring eagerly tech-savvy undergrads from local college campuses could be one of the best options to consider. It is important that you hire people who are passionate about ideas and innovation. Furthermore, building important connections in your local community could also be very important. Your community is filled with smart people who may not have any problem working with you. In addition, hiring homegrown expertise gives you important endorsements and credibility in the community. However, if your business needs specific expertise, not present in the local labour market, then the idea of hiring a remote worker from other regions could also be considered.