by Lewis Robinson
Uber is among the fastest growing businesses in the globe today despite having been in the market for only six years. Since its launch, Uber has provided more than 160,000 job opportunities in the United States alone. This statistics shows that the firm has created millions of jobs across the world. Uber plans to provide over a million jobs in the United States in the next five years.
Just like any other startup business, Uber has faced several challenges despite being one of the remarkable businesses in the world. Consequently, there are various lessons that startups can learn from the growth of Uber. The experiences may be either positive or negative.
1. Safeguard your company activities to avoid scandals.
Uber has won high reputation over the years of its service. However, the organization has faced some negative reviews as a result of some of its few scandals. Some clients who receive Uber services claim that drivers cheat them out of money and in some cases assault them sexually. Some of these claims are false accusations while there are others that have been confirmed. Whether the stories are real or not, they affect the company negatively.
To avoid such scandals, the brand and any other company that follows its lead should put safeguards in place. They should also ensure that they publicly nullify any false accusation to avoid a lousy rumor from spreading and tarnishing the company’s image. It is imperative to be proactive about your company scandals and devise ways to deal with any story that may arise. Since Uber is a business in transport, they have a personal car accident lawyer for each situation to represent at any time there is a lawsuit concerning the vehicles.
2. Come up with genuine solutions to people’s needs.
Every existing business is viable as a result of meeting a need for its clients. It is not enough to use the same limited set of business strategies to solve all the various customers’ needs. A business that finds better and safer solutions to problems are likely to develop more quickly. Uber has been able to use more advanced tactics to solve problems that clients have been facing under the services of traditional cabs and public funded transportation programs. Uber has been able to provide quality transportation services at the average affordability of customers. The brand allows customers to rate the level of services they receive from drivers. This ensures that the company keeps the right drivers and other staff members.
3. Look for new possible areas for expansion.
A growing business needs to expand to reach more customers and places. Upcoming businesses should consider new avenues to lay their expansion on such as penetrating into new markets, expanding the services that you offer, and finding new client demographics. Uber has capitalized on developing its services to new areas as a growth strategy. While focusing on expansion, it is not wise to venture into avenues where you are likely to experience more expenses than income, but Uber has developed its services in China despite the likelihood of limited revenue generation. Uber targets other places with the aim of improving its reputation all over the world.
4. Simplicity.
There is a widespread belief among entrepreneurs that a growing business needs to be elegant. This belief may be contrary to what startups require. Having more moving parts in a company allows a higher possibility of doing things wrong. Uber brand has maintained simplicity from its foundation time, and the tactic has worked. Uber has demonstrated that simplicity helps entrepreneurs to streamline their businesses. A successful business needs to have a clear vision in advance and communicate the procedures that the business intends to follow to achieve the goal.
All the above are business lessons that a startup entrepreneur can learn from Uber. A business that uses the various solutions of the discussed challenges is likely to grow to higher levels. It is always wise to learn from the mistakes of other people to avoid repeating the very mistake.
Lewis Robinson is a business consultant specializing in social media marketing, CRM, and sales. He’s begun multiple corporations and currently freelances as a writer and business consultant.
