Launching a startup is exciting—but keeping it alive and growing is the real challenge. Here’s a complete guide to help you run your startup successfully and avoid common pitfalls that cause most startups to collapse.
1. Focus on the Company and Its Environment
ව්‍යාපාරයේ සෑම අතින්ම ආවරනය වන පරිදි අවධානයෙන් සිටින්න. ව්‍යාපාරයේ ඇතුලත පරිසරය + හා පිටත පරිසරය යන 2ම!
Running a company is not just about internal work. You must manage the internal systems—like:
- Finance (budgeting, cash flow, burn rate)
- HRM (hiring, training, culture building)
- Marketing (branding, outreach, positioning)
- Operations (processes, quality, scaling)
But that’s not enough. You also need to monitor the external environment:
- What are competitors doing?
- What technologies are rising?
- What are the market trends or geopolitical changes?
📌 Example: Netflix shifted from DVD rentals to streaming by observing tech and consumer behavior trends early.
2. Develop Deep Understanding—Go Beyond the Surface
ගැඹුරු අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගන්න. ව්‍යාපාරයක දී මතුපිට තොරතුරු පමනක් ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවේ. ව්‍යාපාරයේ තුන්කල් දැක්ම (අතීත, වර්තමාන හා අනාගත පැවැත්ම සම්බන්ධ සුපරික්ෂාකාරී අවබෝධය)
You can’t lead with shallow knowledge. Real success comes from understanding deeply:
- What happened before?
- What’s happening now?
- What’s likely to happen next?
Only deep insights can guide good decisions in product design, pricing, customer needs, and team dynamics.
📌 Tip: Talk directly to customers, analyze data, study failed competitors, and always question assumptions.
3. Effort: You Are the Engine
In a startup, especially early on, you are the system. Your energy, discipline, and consistency define momentum.
ඔබේ උත්සහය ප්‍රධාන ඉන්ධනයයි! ඔබ උත්සහවන්ත වනවා සේම ඔබේ කාර්‍යමන්ඩලයේද සහයෝගය උත්සහය පවත්වාගෙන යන්න. බලෙන් වැඩ ගැනීමට නොව ඔවුන්ම සිතා වැඩ කිරීමට පොලඹවන ක්‍රියා සිදු කරන්න.
But don’t carry the weight alone. Build a motivated team who wants to give their effort—not because you force them, but because they feel part of something exciting.
🧠 Inspire your team:
- Share your vision
- Celebrate their wins
- Give them ownership
📌 Example: Elon Musk worked 80–100 hours a week in Tesla’s early days alongside his team, showing what’s expected through action.
4. Celebrate Small and Big Wins (Joy Matters!)
One of the most underestimated success habits is celebrating victories. It builds morale, bonds the team, and recharges your energy.
ව්‍යාපාරයේ ජයග්‍රහණ සැමරීම අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය වේ. වැඩ පමනක් නොව එහි ප්‍රතිඵල වල සතුට භුක්ති විඳීමද දීර්ඝ කාලීන පැවැත්මට අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය වේ.
🪩 You can:
- Throw a mini party after launch
- Go on a team trip
- Share shoutouts in group chats
- Write personal thank-you notes
📌 Example: Richard Branson often celebrates Virgin team wins publicly and energetically. It’s part of their DNA.
5. Believe in the Mission (Even During Storms)
There will be problems, delays, mistakes, and failures. That’s normal. What keeps companies alive is an unbreakable belief in their mission.
ව්‍යාපාරය ගැන විශ්වාසය අභිමානය ගොඩනඟන්න. අභියෝග හමුවේ නොසැලෙන ප්‍රධාන ශක්තිය වන්නේ ව්‍යාපාරය පිලිබඳ විශ්වාසයයි!
- Keep your eyes on the big purpose: solving a problem, helping people, creating change.
- Help your team feel it too.
- Don’t let short-term pain kill long-term vision.
📌 Tip: Set a purpose-driven goal that’s bigger than money (e.g., “Empower small businesses,” “Bring healthcare access to villages”).
6. Build a Calm, Stable Environment
සන්සුන් පරිසරයක් පවත්වාගෙන යන්න. ව්‍යාපාරය තුල පවතින සංස්කෘතිය සන්සුන් සාමකාමී වන තරමට එයට ඇති ඔරොත්තු දීමේ හැකියාව වර්ධනය වේ.
Chaos kills focus. A calm, respectful, and safe work environment leads to better decisions, higher productivity, and lower burnout.
- Avoid constant pressure or fear-based culture.
- Let people think, experiment, and breathe.
- Protect mental health.
📌 Tip: Introduce silent hours, wellness breaks, and honest team check-ins.
7. Never Overreact—Problems Are the Job
ප්‍රශ්න වලට අනිසි ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීමෙන් වලකින්න. මධ්‍යස්ථ තීරන ගැනීම හා ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීම ව්‍යාපාරයට ඉතා ඉහල ප්‍රතිරූපයක් ගොඩ නංවන අතර ගැටලු අවම කරයි!
Startup life = facing problems. That’s the job.
Don’t panic. Don’t shout. Don’t act emotionally. The best founders stay calm, even under pressure.
- Break the issue down.
- Find root causes.
- Get help.
- Fix it.
📌 Example: When Airbnb bookings dropped overnight due to COVID, they calmly restructured, focused on long-term hosts, and came back stronger.
🔚 Final Thoughts
Running a startup is not easy, but with the right mindset, structure, and leadership, you can keep your business moving forward. Focus on the fundamentals, inspire your team, enjoy the process, and never forget your mission.
Full Content: Ravi (me)
Grammar check: CHAT GPT