How to Make your Strategy for Start-up Growth?

How to Make your Strategy for Start-up Growth?

 

Did you realise that just half of all start-ups last longer than five years? Many start-ups, however, fail to reach product-market fit. Start-ups don't have a clear path to long-term success unless they have a sound growth strategy in place.

“It's a cause for celebration when an entrepreneur takes a concept and transforms it into a lucrative business,” says Ed Sappin, CEO of Sappin Global Strategies. “However, it won't be enough to keep doing the same thing; continuous success will require new and evolving ideas. Business owners must prioritise a growth to-do list to expand up and grow significantly.”

In general, investors want to know about your potential for growth, the techniques you've used, and, of course, your company strategy, so they can quantify and assess your recurring Return on Investment (ROI) afterwards. So, for any start-up founder, the need of the hour is to develop an ever-winning start-up development strategy that is long-term sustainable.

Before we go any further, let's start with the basics and answer the following question: What is a growth strategy?

A Growth ‘game plan' to cut into the existing player's market pie is the exact definition of a ‘growth strategy.' In truth, the growth plan for start-ups differs significantly from that of existing businesses; the start-up growth plan begins with the identification of a go-to-market product, which is the first stage of any start-up. To summarise, start-ups must first identify the correct product before considering a growth strategy.

Do you want to achieve long-term success? Wait; don't jump the gun; instead, develop a short-term growth strategy, as having a profitable firm isn't enough to keep it going for the long haul. You know what, the road to success is paved with your developing strategies. You must develop a step-by-step plan and then, yes, add "fuel" to keep the "fire" burning.

 

In the following part, we'll go over six easy techniques to increase your development storey:

 

1. Figure out your Value Proposition

 

Your value proposition is what sets you apart from the competitors. It should be crystal clear and cogent why someone should buy from you rather than one of your industry competitors. If you know the secret sauce for the perfect recipe, what makes you stand out from the competition, and how to get there successfully, then you and your company are already on the correct track to telling the crisp storey in the long run.

First and foremost, you must determine why clients approach you. Is it truly a differentiating strategy? Is your concept so unique and first of its kind that you have a first mover advantage in the market? If you can answer all these questions, you'll be able to explain to them why they should do business with you. It's possible that your value proposition is also your USP (USP). People have no motive to cooperate with you over your competition if you don't have these.

 

2. Understanding the Target Market

 

Members of your target market are likely to have similar personalities, interests, and habits.

To learn more about your target market, do the following:

Define your ideal clients' age, income, gender, geographic area, and demographics. Understanding this can provide you with a solid foundation on which to build the rest of your study.

Gather information from surveys on your market's interests, preferences, and dislikes. This can assist you in developing goods that better solve problems and meet the needs of your customers. You can also send your surveys to your target group via email marketing campaigns or regular mail. 

Create ideal customer personas that describe your target customers' behaviours, expectations, and wants. These might also be used to describe the difficulties that your customers confront. This might help you tailor your messaging to appeal to various demographics.

Examine who your target market follows on social media and how they use various platforms. You should also check into how people interact with your competitors on these sites, as well as the kind of content they like and share.

To evaluate if your content is resonating with your target audience, use Google Analytics. For example, you’ll want to look at the pieces of content that are most popular with your customers, including blogs and social media posts.

 

3. Focus on your Strengths

 

We frequently hear that we should focus on our flaws until they become our strengths. Trying to turn your deficiencies into strengths isn't a good idea for entrepreneurs nowadays, regardless of the past, because you might waste time and energy pretending to be someone you're not.

Rather, try this option: translate "what you are good at" into "perfectionism." It makes more sense to focus on your strengths and leverage them into larger assets.

 

 

4. Set your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

 

Keep an eye on the Performance Indicators; they serve as a kind of pulse check on the current state of the business. Successful start-up founders make it a habit to work on their key performance indicator. It's a useful tool for determining where your company stands right now in terms of where it came from in the past and where it's headed in the future. It enables you to create goals for putting your growth strategies into action. To attain the desired Key Performance Indicators, you must invest both time and money (KPIs). There's no better way to track your startup's progress than this.

 

5. Business Model Review

 

Most of us take care of the tiniest details on a regular basis, such as maintaining our vehicles, visiting the dentist for a check-up, and having our air conditioner serviced before summer. But do we take a step back and devote some time to examining our business model to ensure that everything is running smoothly?

The sections titled "goals" and "assumptions" are extremely common in business models. One of the first things you should do is assess whether you are on track to meet your objectives. Are you on the right track or heading in the wrong direction? Examine your business plan and determine where you want to go. If you're not on track, re-plan and re-strategize what you need to do to reach your objectives. If the goals are out of date, change the business model and update the goals.

You should also inform your employees about the new aims and expectations. Plan, a strategy, and a set of goals for the coming year. If things don't go as planned, don't be afraid to change your goal.

 

6. You got two eyes, right? Keep one eye always on your competitor!

 

You'll want to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the other companies you're competing against for a competitive analysis. To do so, you'll need to:

Find out who your competitors are: The best place to start is by looking at who offers similar products and services to you. You may read industry blogs using search engines like Google. Following that, you can visit various conferences and networking events to meet other businesses in person and learn more about what they have to offer.

Monitor social media: Look at what people are saying about your competition on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. This provides you with information about your clients' thoughts and expectations.

Inquire of your customers: This is one of the most cost-effective methods of gathering data. If you get a new customer, find out who they were previously and why they switched to you. You'll want to figure out why they weren't happy with their former supplier, and then utilise that information to strengthen your business.

Examine the job openings of your competitors: You'll want to look at what jobs they're employing for this, as this will give you an idea of how they're expanding their business and the direction they're heading in. 

Some lessons you’ll learn during your analysis that’ll help improve your business plan include:

• New sales and marketing ideas
• How to better connect your audience on social media
• What competitive pricing looks like in your business?
• The most popular content categories that your audience interacts with
• What specialised markets exist?
• Which competitors have a larger market share than others?

 

 

Hoping that above strategies will help you attain your maximum potential while working on your ventures.

 

All the very best to entrepreneurs across the globe, let’s make this world a better place for us as well as for our coming generations!

 

Thanks for reading!