As much as it is exciting to decide to be your own boss, germinate your very own ideas and start a business, startups typically face a myriad of challenges to get their ventures up and running. A sound business plan based on rigorous market research to gauge demand for services or products is the first one.
Getting the right people on board with the appropriate skills and knowledge, and who share your same passion and energy, could also be a make or break. Entrepreneurs will also tell you that implementing target marketing is elemental to achieving brand awareness and position the company well against any competition, for the business to gain traction.
Considered the most crucial, however, is getting the funding to kick-start. Startups need money to hire people, purchase equipment, rent offices and go-to-market. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to use own funds. However, more often than not, founders need to source third-party finances. This is usually done by securing venture and seed capital or by taking out loans from financial institutions. Both hurdles have become even more challenging due to market and geo-political fluctuations as well as stringent regulation and compliance.
Unless you’re considering launching your venture or scaling it in Malta and you are eligible for non-dilutive funding from Malta Enterprise.