Starting a business is nerve-wracking. You pour all of your hopes and dreams, not to mention quite often some serious money into it and no matter how much you believe in what you are doing you know that most startups are destined to fail and yours could be one of them. It can be pretty stressful, so let me hopefully put your mind at rest a little by laying out some serious signs that your startup is destined for success:

You Secured Finance Easily

If you had no problem getting a small business loan from the bank or a company like https://smallbusinessloans.co/small-business-funding/, for example, it’s a good indicator that you have a solid idea and that you have planned your operation very well. It’s no guarantee that you will be successful going forward, but it is a very good sign indeed.

You Have Validated Customers

If you can honestly say that you have a decent number of customers who like your company and who are willing to pay the price you ask for your products/services, then this is, of course, a very good sign that you will be able to keep the money coming in and potentially expand your operation. You should never try to scale your business without existing validated customers because if there isn’t already a market for your offerings, spending money on branching out would be like throwing good money after bad.

You Have Future Plans

If all of your time is spent in a panic trying to sort your cash flow for the present or trying to entice customers to spend on your goods, then that is a clear sign that you’re in trouble. If, on the other hand, you’ve been busy working o your one and five-year plans and projections, it’s pretty clear you’re doing well and that you’re meeting your important milestones.

You Aren’t Spending Huge Amounts of Money

I doubt there’s a business on the planet that doesn’t spend a fair old amount of capital on things like marketing and acquisitions, equipment, maintenance and a whole host of other things but if you’re spending liberally rather than conservatively it could be a sign that you do not have things under control., especially if your cash flow is taking a serious hit as a result of your spending. If, on the other hand, your expenditures are modest, it’s a good sign that you know what you’re doing, you can manage your cash flow well and you won’t end up going bust within the year.

Your Employees are Loyal

A really good sign that your business is in good shape, and that it is likely to go onto bigger and better things, is staff loyalty. If your employees spend their days working hard for you rather than surfing www.indeed.com for new positions, if they take few sick days, stick around for the long-term and genuinely enjoy their job, chances are you are running things well and they can see the opportunities that your company will present in the future – opportunities they will help you realize.

How many of these signs have you spotted in your startup?

Photo at the top of the page by Ian Schneider on Unsplash