Usman Ahmed October 15th, 2019

Challenges Faced By B2B Tech Startups and Ways to Overcome It

Businesspeople understand the potentials of B2B markets, and that’s the reason entrepreneurs’ are quickly shifting into the digital world.

It is entirely different from B2C marketplace. In the B2C market, you sell to consumers only, but B2B environment enables you to sell to other businesses. It means that when you deal with enterprises, then there are huge profits and investors involved. 

The B2B market is growing faster, and the return on investment is also enormous. But business owners that are about to get started should not only focus on the potential benefits. Entrepreneurs’ must also keep their eyes on the significant risks that are associated with the B2B startups. When you enter into a new market, then you have to face various challenges. Particularly, markets who have more opportunities are full of bigger risks. The same case is with the B2B market. 

There are various B2B startups like Direct Macro that are taking their place in the market. The incessant launch of tech startups is encouraging other entrepreneurs to leverage the business-to-business opportunity. Undoubtedly, the B2B market is full of benefits.

If you are also planning to start your B2B tech startup, then keep reading to figure out what challenges you may have to face during the inception phase. Also, find ways to overcome those challenges. 

1. Reaching out to Customers 

Reaching out to new customers is the first step of lead generation. If you are not reaching out to the right customer base, it means that your lead generation efforts will definitely go down the drain. With everyone receiving tons of text emails, every day, business owners are worried about catching the attention of prospects and engaging customers. With video emails, you can get your responses and engagement up by 3x.

Since the B2B business model is entirely different from B2C. B2B business owners have to sell products to other companies which means that they need to be very particular about their target market segment. The first step to reaching out to the target audience is continuous pitching through which you can create strong brand awareness. 

Sending emails continuously will help you to explain your services and solutions through which you can help other companies. Keep in mind that sending too many emails will get your account blocked therefore, before starting your email campaign don’t forget to read emailing tricks. 

2. Deciding Business Partner 

Deciding your potential business partner is one of the biggest challenges that any B2B tech startup has to face. You can partner with other relevant company, it will help your business to grow dramatically. 

A lot of startups partners with companies, but later on, several disputes appear that destroy the entire business pattern. Therefore, it is important to mention all the policies clearly and legally. 

Moreover, it is essential for the tech startups to partner with well-established companies that can cooperate in the long-term.  If a startup will partner with another startup company then there will be more chances for risks. Hence, the combination of a well-established and a new company will mitigate the associated risks. 

3. Hiring Employee 

Hiring new employees can also be a big challenge for tech startups. Due to the constant technological advancements, startups are required to hire a team of great professionals. However, since they are new in the field, so they face a lot of challenges in hiring professionals. The best way to do so is to start by hiring remote employees for initial project execution. You can also reach social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to let people know about the opportunities that you are offering. It will be very helpful for skillful professionals to reach you. 

4. Gathering Relevant Marketing Data 

Relevant data can be a powerful tool for any startup. Data collection is vital for so many reasons. With the help of pertinent marketing data, new companies can better understand what marketing channels are effectively working for the business. Tech startups use marketing channels for promotional activities. The right marketing channel not only promote your products but also play a crucial role in generating high sales. To identify the most useful marketing channel, tech startups need to track and monitor marketing channels through which they are receiving maximum prospects and qualified leads. 

5. Building Customers’ Trust 

For startups, gaining customers’ trust is a next-level challenge.  You are new in the market, and there are more champions of the field, who are already doing well in the market. In this case, it is quite a daunting task to gain customers’ trust. 

Gaining your customers’ trust is a long term process. You can win clients with time. However, there are some measures that you can take to delight customers around you. The best thing to do is to maintain your work quality. 

When you will deliver quality work, then people will do word of mouth marketing which the best and the most potent marketing technique, and it requires no money. Plus, constant marketing of your tech products will definitely help you in the long run and eventually, you will earn your customer’s trust. 

6. Rapid Technology Changes 

Technology advancements are rapidly emerging into the tech market. As a startup, you have to beat the competition to make your place in the market. Tech companies need to be updated about the modern, cutting-edge technologies plus, it is also essential for the startups to deliver fast. Staying on the top doesn’t mean that you have to invest in every technology that is coming into the market. First, you have to analyze your clients’ business requirements then decide what technologies can benefit your customers. You can ask clients’ via surveys and interviews then implement the most voted technologies. It will save your time and money and will provide you expected reasons to some extent. 

Plan Before You Begin the Startup! 

The bottom line is starting a new tech company comes with a lot of challenges. You need appropriate resources in terms of both money and human capital. A good strategic plan will save you from various market obstacles. 

Being a tech startup, you have to face so much, and you will be required to put so much effort. Your core challenges will be lead generation, building credibility, meeting technological expectations and a lot more. 

You first have to analyze all the possible challenges that you will face. Once you have an idea about the potential risks, then you can come up with a plan that will alleviate the initial risks. 

Always keep in mind that being realistic is essential rather than keeping unrealistic expectations. The more realistic you will be, the more risks you can analyze and plan accordingly.

Featured Image by Mario Gogh on Unsplash

Usman Ahmed

Usman Ahmed works as the Digital Marketer at Cubix a Florida based software Development Company. He is an experienced marketer and passionate about the latest technologies. He comprises a broad experience and frequently writes on topics related to mobile apps, Blockchain technology, SharePoint, E-commerce, and others.

3 comments

  1. Hi Usman,

    Dealing with customers is more skeptical than dealing with businesses when it sees through bird views. Even though its true that B2B has more potential of generating profits than B2C but in actual it has lots of factors and drawbacks as well in B2B.

    The more you risk (more challenges) the more you get profits. Which means there is more risk in B2B than B2C.

    Usman, you have written very well, it is logical and practical. I appreciate your work.

    Cheers,
    Jeangam Kahmei

  2. Not correctly identifying a target audience and failing to get the intelligence required in order to obtain that information. The term “marketing” has the word market in it, and that seems to go largely forgotten by many – that is, that most B2B are competing in competitive market spaces.

  3. Thanks you SO much for sharing these thoughts on your experience i am so happy to read it and also i was share this post to my friends group — so helpful!

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