It is a well-known fact that only half of all startups make it past the first year of trading, which highlights just how easy it is for your venture to fall at the first hurdle.

While a lot of people assume that the largest business challenge of all is actually starting a business, the truth is that is not the case - the most challenging aspect of owning a business is sustaining it against the many market changes and competitions that emerge on a constant basis. 

The key to achieving sustainable success for your business venture is to retain that sense of urgency you had when first launching your business - back when you urgently needed to create brand awareness and growth.

A lot of business owners make the mistake of slowing their efforts after achieving their first successes when actually it’s important to continue running your business with the same sense of urgency. 

The key here is to aim to build a solid business strategy that will increase your chances of long-term success for your company. Of course, knowing how to go about doing so is not always an easy task, but that does not mean that it isn’t achievable.

It’s a case of understanding what elements the strategy must hold - the guide below should help to provide you with a greater understanding of what these elements are. 

Ensure that you are delivering value 

First and foremost, if you want to give your business the very best chance of success, it is vital to ensure that you are delivering value wherever possible. This might seem like a basic concept but when it comes to achieving long-term business success, it is something that it’s important to take seriously. 

A lot of business owners make the mistake of increasing their prices in the hope of achieving short-term gains to help better fund their business.

While this is a smart move in the short-term, in the long-term is will wreak havoc on your business strategy. It’s for this reason that it’s far better to ensure that from the get-go, you are delivering true value to your customers. 

Take advantage of financial support 

If you want to give your business the best chance of sustainability, you need to make sure that your finances are being properly managed. A key aspect of good, durable financial management is making sure that you are taking full advantage of the financial support that’s available to you and your business. 

Sourcing the financial support that is available might mean spending some time doing research into what options there are on offer, however don’t let this put you off. It is more than worth taking the time to source what options there are available to you, if it means that your business will have the chance of achieving longer term sustainability. 

For instance, if your business provides a product that offers a useful benefit to consumers or certain industries, then you may be eligible to apply for R&D tax credits - you find out what you may be eligible to by using the R&D tax credits calculator online. 

There’s no reason not to take advantage of grants and financial credits that you are entitled to, as by doing so you can increase your business’s chance of long-term sustainability. 

Work with integrity 

The fact is that if you want to give your business a fantastic chance of seeing long-term success, it’s important that you build your business with integrity at the forefront.

The fact is that the reputation that your business has is a crucial element of how successful the company will be, which is why running your business with integrity from the get-go is so crucial to your long-term success. 

It’s true what they say: it takes years to build a strong reputation and just a few minutes to ruin it. Don’t be a business owner who tries to pull something over on clients, customers, partners, or team members, make sure that you always endevour to operate your business with integrity.

You will find that your customers will remain more loyal to a business that is well-known for being run with integrity and fairness, than for a business that is run in an unfair and unjust way. 

When it comes to launching a business, naturally you want to make sure that things get off to a good start. However, you also want to ensure that you have set your business up for longevity, and have built a brand that has the potential for long-term sustainability.