Scaling your startup when you have invested a good amount can be hard because you have to put more money into it, making you more vulnerable. All you need to know is how to move forward with your startup when the money you invested there is not coming back anytime soon.
You are done with the hard work of building your product; you have built it just the way your customer wanted it, the product has been validated, the demand seems to be increasing every day, and you are all set to scale your startup business.
Ways to scale your startup when you have invested in it.
You have invested a good amount of money in developing the product, and now you are wondering how I scale my startup business when I have invested a good amount in its development. Below we have explained how you can scale your startup business when you have invested in it?
Scale is proportional to (value x audience size)
This equation boils down to a simple way of determining how much more value an audience member can provide for your business. You can apply it in two ways: Look at how large an audience is needed for a new feature or calculate what features should be prioritized based on their ability to increase value. To determine how many people are needed for a feature, determine how valuable that feature is and divide by how much additional money it will make.
Scaling requires unprofitable experiments.
Scaling is all about validation. However, experimenting to find out what works and what doesn’t usually means incurring costs that don’t contribute to company growth. The benefit of experimentation is more than worth it, though: if you aren’t experimenting, then there are two scenarios where things will go wrong; either you are doing something that other people know how to do better, or no one wants what you’re offering.
The only way out of that kind of conundrum is experimentation. The best thing about scaling is that it’s easy and simple: all you need to do is experiment. You should create minimum viable products, or MVPs, and then test them on potential users to see if they like what they get. If they do, great! If not, perhaps it’s time for more research or maybe an idea change.
Your message may matter more than the product.
Once you’ve found a product/market fit, it’s time to think about growth. The first step is straightforward: analyze what people like about your product and how they talk about it. For example, if customers say they love Slack because it makes them more productive, consider ways you can integrate it with productivity tools—this would be an opportunity for further product innovation. If they say they like Slack because funny gifs of kittens are included with every message (don’t ask), then figure out ways hilarious kitten gifs can become part of your communication strategy.
The internet is larger than you think.
Don’t focus on reaching more people—focus on providing more value. Try expanding into new verticals where you can help solve different kinds of problems and provide answers to questions that people aren’t asking.
For existing customers, make it easy to share and recommend your product with smart referral features, reviews, and recommendations (i.e., People Who Bought This Also Bought…). By creating valuable products, providing value for your audience, and making it easier for them to spread that value, you’ll organically see growth through word-of-mouth marketing. No outreach or advertising is required!
Scale is about more than marketing and product.
So many companies think about marketing and product and then get into scaling. Those who understand scaling think more deeply about three areas: hiring, data, and business development. Those three functions feed into each other and affect others inside an organization.
A great example is sales – which we consider part of business development, though it’s traditionally selling method. The only way a salesperson can succeed is if they have multiple ways to generate leads for their organization, not just word-of-mouth or cold calling alone. Sales have become where more lead generation channels need to be built. And with more leads, sales numbers increase.
Fixing a mistake is a powerful strategy.
Many of today’s most successful companies started with missteps. The list of market-changing startups that began their lives as failed startups is long, including Apple, Barnes & Noble, and IKEA. As entrepreneurs often say, failing early is one of the best ways to succeed. With case studies detailing common missteps and advice on rectifying them, it’s a must-read for would-be small business owners and entrepreneurs hoping to avoid costly blunders down the road.
Treat your marketing engine like a machine.
If you are already running paid marketing, ensure that you treat it as an engine and constantly measure and refine different performance variables (cost per lead, conversion rate, cost per acquisition, etc.). Experiment with different ads on Facebook.
Try Google Display Network instead of Facebook or YouTube. Create simple landing pages for every piece of content. Include retargeting pixels in all emails sent out. Any given change will produce slightly different results; rinse and repeat until you find what works best for you! If done correctly, in a few months, if nothing else changes (revenue model, etc.), then having an automated market-making engine in place should result in 5-10% more revenue at a significantly lower cost than before…and that’s pretty valuable.
At scale, EVERYONE is your competitor.
The more popular and successful you become, the more likely big players in your industry will notice—and try to take market share from you. It can be a real problem if all their resources and assets are bigger than yours. But there’s hope: As you grow, expand into new industries and make money doing so, your business can build up economic moats around itself—or barriers that prevent competitors from taking away too much of your business.
Sounds like an abstract concept? Think about patents: When businesses obtain patents for new products or services, those patents give them (and only them) monopoly power over certain parts of their industry.
Conclusion
When scaling a company, entrepreneurs are often at a loss. It takes so much hard work, determination, and patience that many founders don’t even know where to begin. However, suppose you want to turn an idea into success and support yourself with it in an increasingly competitive industry. In that case, scaling may be one of the most important tools in your arsenal.
We help startups in growing their business with end-to-end services. Our specialty is in MVP Development that scale and we’re happy to help with your company’s needs. We have a wide range of customers from startups to large organizations who trust us as their technology partner. We are here to serve you, just drop a mail at hello@citrusleaf.in.