Insider Insights: The Startup Edge Over Small Businesses

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Besides running a small business, I’ve also gotten into radio and podcasting. This hobby led me to produce a podcast for Starter Studio, a startup accelerator in Orlando. While working on the podcast, I watched startup founders get trained and mentored on turning ideas into real businesses. Some of the advice they received is just common sense, but a lot of it is incredibly useful for existing small businesses too.

Imagine you’re in an elevator and someone asks you what you do. Do you have a pitch ready that explains your business, what it does, and why it matters—all in under a minute? Startups get a lot of practice in perfecting this “elevator pitch.” Here are the two main steps:

1. **Create a Connection**: Your pitch should instantly click with the listener. Using comparisons can help, like saying, “It’s like Oprah’s favorite things but for every major city in the US.” Another way is to identify a problem and position your business as the solution, like, “Need a plumber but don’t want to call all your friends for recommendations? My business solves that.”

2. **Practice Constantly**: Rehearse your pitch everywhere—in the car, shower, or even with your parrot until it’s second nature.

Startups also need to understand their users and buyers. If you make toys for toddlers, your end-users are young children, but your buyers are probably their parents. Your product should not only appeal to kids but also reassure parents that it’s safe and educational. Misunderstanding who the actual purchaser is can lead to a great product that doesn’t sell.

Customer validation is crucial for startups. When someone says they have a great idea, the immediate response should be, “Have you tested it with potential customers?” Customer validation ensures your target market will buy what you’re offering before you fully develop or launch it.

One way to validate an idea is by asking potential customers if they would buy it. An even better method is to set up a landing page with a “Buy Now” button. If people click it and the page says “out of stock” but offers an option to sign up for notifications, you can use this data to gauge interest without spending much money upfront.

Successful startups need to be lean and nimble. They often don’t have much money or time to waste on ideas that aren’t working. This means constantly pivoting to meet customer preferences. Unlike larger businesses, which might have the luxury of sticking with a bad idea for too long, startups need to recognize when to move on quickly.

As Kenny Rogers famously advised, good businesses “gotta know when to fold ’em.” The sooner you can abandon bad ideas and pivot to better ones, the more successful you’ll be.