5 Ways to Grow Your Start-Up Today
Over 90% of start-ups fail within the first year, so it’s no surprise that growing and maintaining your business is a difficult task. This high failure rate is often due to ineffective marketing, no product-market fit, or cash flow problems. That being said, using the right tools and strategies below can significantly increase your chance of success.
Find Key Measurements
Constantly check in with growth indicators of your start-up.
Keeping abreast of measurable changes in your start-up is vital to understanding what’s working and what’s not—there is no single path forward, so it’s important to stay agile when starting and be willing to make adjustments when necessary.
Without a clear, concise objective, growth is subject to fluctuation. Not to mention, you’re vulnerable to misunderstanding what is working in the company.
Pick a discreet set of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to track and report. Decide what is the most important and narrow your focus to those.
Start Small
It might seem counterintuitive when many investors and entrepreneurs encourage the most scalable, widely replicable business; it can be helpful to start in your community.
As that is probably where the idea originated, spending time interacting with personal users and sending your business to local blogs for a shoutout can help jump-start upward growth.
Every business has to start somewhere, so it’s wise to spend time building a foundation with regional and personal connections and maximize local meet-ups. Start-ups usually have the most significant potential for growth when they narrow their audience.
An example of this is QuickHire, a start-up for helping service industry workers find jobs that managed to grow in the pandemic, a time when job-seekers were desperate for work, and companies needed staff more than ever. The two sisters, Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-HallDeborah saw a need in their local community in Kansas and capitalized on the opportunity.
Another great example is Nearby, a tech startup that empowered consumers easily shop from local merchants. Consumers in the U.S. statistically prefer to buy local and will pay more for things "Made in America."
Digital Advertising
As technologies have dramatically evolved in the past decade, our advertising methods have, too.
In today’s complex online landscape, digital advertising is your friend. Worldwide, billions of active users exist on platforms like Meta and Google. This should be no surprise if you’ve lived in the world for the past ten years, and while digital advertising is a potent tool for growth, it must be implemented correctly to grow your business.
Everything from the messaging and design elements to the platforms showing your company to new users must be considered. There are billions of people on the internet; how can you connect with them? Sustainable growth depends on finding the right customer.
Utilize color psychology, relevant fonts, and choose the right platform for your content. Trying to reach the younger generation? Reels and TikTok are the way to go. Is your start-up pertinent to job-seekers? LinkedIn is a great platform for engaging professionals through copywriting, personal updates, and articles.
Over the years, there has been an uptick in Real-time bidding (RTB) technology in ads. This is primarily the type of platform used by Google and Meta. Essentially, brands or companies use a demand-side platform (DSP) to choose which content they would like to promote, how much they are willing to spend, etc.
When used correctly, it is a cost-effective way to fine-tune your audience, directly matching up your ads with potential buyers.
However, there is a chance that your ad could end up in any corner of the internet so it's important to not only fine-tune your product but the medium and content in it has to be eye-catching and relevant to the viewer.
Look at this athleisure brand on TikTok and Instagram. This creator uses primarily videos (our primary way of interacting with content these days) and gives us insight into the personal story behind the brand. I have little interest usually in Athletic wear, but I find myself drawn to these videos (and by association, the brand) simply because the content itself is engaging and showcases the product in a thoughtful, positive light.
Hire the Right Team
Starting out, many founders find themselves wearing multiple hats—balancing several jobs, including strategizing how to grow their business. With every stage of development, hiring new team members is wise to fill the gaps in your expanding operation.
Vital players are often in HR, marketing, content creation, and development. Even one to two new team members can offer tremendous support in taking your start-up to the next level.
One of my favorite things to do as a virtual assistant is to take on projects that actively build efficiency and better communication with the company I'm working for. Not just working within the systems but improving them when needed.
Consider The Productive Co.
Don’t limit yourself to candidates only in your region when looking for talent. Hiring remote and part-time workers decreases upfront costs like office space and full-time benefits while allowing your company to grow.
The Productive Co. is an intelligent hiring solution that pairs you with an experienced, college-educated Virtual Assistant to help with operational strategies, administration, marketing, and content creation. Growing a start-up is difficult, but with the right mindset and team behind you, the sky is the limit.