The journey of a successful brand from startup to scale-up covers all the ups and downs any company faces while working in the market for its audience. Feeding your idea into a full-grown organisation is not only a destiny but also includes covering key business growth milestones, and working round the clock which gives you confidence in existing in the market.
Any startup walks through the different phases to finally shape up as a profitable business. It has to consider the deep aspects of planning, designing, marketing and development that boost the profit and give a new height of success.
Every important milestone teaches a new lesson and has equal importance in providing an idea about future goals and plans.
The life of an entrepreneur is not easy when lived with their eyes who continue to cover new milestones in their business career. It becomes a little bit easier if such business growth milestones are earlier known to them to reshape their success.
| Table of Contents Key Business Growth Milestones 1- Conceptualizing Your Product 2- Product Development 3- Marketing and Promotions 4- Growing Your Team and Office 5- Financial Milestone 6- Scale up 7- Exit Strategy Conclusion |
Key Business Growth Milestones
Here in this article, we will discuss the important milestones that almost all startup life deals with and their experiments in the market to predict their business success.
1- Conceptualizing Your Product
An idea works as a seed for a startup and also it is considered the first and foremost factor in your business career which can have the following steps:
Need for Opportunity in the Market: Any startup should check the need for the product and services in the market and look for the opportunity that can give you a perfect space to thrive.
Solutions for Need: The next step is to prepare solutions that match this need and not only solve the problems but also surge the growth of the startup.
Product should be market fit: It is one of the most crucial factors to check whether the product is market fit or not and it should be done before giving your product in the market. This could be examined using ways like visiting the market to examine targets, looking for their competitor, generating brand and engaging with the market.
By following all the tactics the startups should ensure a strong product market fit and also it will help in finding the path to success which will save time, money and resources for any startup.
The very first step of ideation or initial product seems effortless but it’s not as it also requires a lot of research and financial support. Sometimes your neighbours and family members also contribute by giving any idea about your concept and checking whether the product is a market fit or not.
2- Product Development
Once the first step of ideation and conceptualization is done the very next step of development and making of your product is to know the specifications and features. This milestone may require more funds so make sure to have your investors at your backside.
Before heading to the product making it is advised to have a tech co-founder and some manufacturing team to make the product that will also be a part of your tech support.
Prototype design: Designing a prototype means having the first in-hand product with all its capabilities and features and after looking at the working ability it will be easy to find out the potential and ability. While designing a prototype it may take time but it is also a necessary step ahead to making an MVP.
Looking at the prototype your idea can be evaluated and also the next step of development could be started. This step is also an update step in which the needed update can be made in the final development.
Development of MVP: MVP stands for Minimal Viable Product and after designing a prototype it is the product that goes outside for use which may add value to your idea and also give more chances of feedback.
This product is going to be assumed as the initial advancement of your concept having all the features and specs possibly have. After giving your MVP, wait for the feedback and be ready to update your product.
Following the initial stages of having an idea for a startup to having a team and designing an MVP which means final product development and getting feedback the crucial milestones are covered.
3- Marketing and Promotions
Launching your product in the market and developing MVP means half of the work is done but still the crucial part of the milestone is here i.e. Marketing your product and dealing with the promotional aspect of your product.
The marketing tactics include different ways which are listed below-
Build your audience and social media presence: It is an important milestone while running for growth in your business and all startups need to establish their identity and a presence in social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube. They should focus on engaging more audiences and developing a following across all the social media channels. For instance, result and great presence startups can also run paid promotions by running ads promotions.
Media Cover and PR: Good media coverage and listing the stories in media publications leads to a boost in your product’s credibility. Startups should approach the publications and specific media/journalists that publish their stories including their ambitions, mission, founders, product features, founders, milestones, and reviews that will eventually enhance the numbers of customers.
Partnerships and Collaborations: Approaching good partnerships and collaboration with successful firms can provide a way to communicate with new networks and their audience and ultimately your products and identity will be spread with their connections. Making your brand presence in the social media channels is important and also making the matrices of all these advertisements is necessary to know the success ratio.
4- Growing Your Team and Office
It becomes necessary to operate your company where you can have your employees and space to work and here the next milestone comes and it is known as “Operational Milestone” in which we can discuss the infrastructure and hiring factors.
Build a team: Unity has power and we all know that to make great success having a skilled team is necessary and for any startup hiring the important part of your team is very necessary. Those will be heading to different domains of work.
Working space and equipment: If a startup is looking for a boom in its growth it must think of having big office space and a big team. The working professional area and aura increase the percentage of concentration which results in the enhancement in the profit. There will be a need for several like systems, tables, chairs, and tech gadgets which will enhance the productivity of your work in the company.
Making a system: When working on product development it is necessary to complete all the documentation procedures for developing products, sales, HR, and customer relations. Completing the documentation of all the related fields of work and making it visible in the form of legal docs are also a part of making growth in the business.
5- Financial Milestone
All startups once or ever deal with this milestone which is very common in every stage from starting to the scaling. There are different methods of availing the funds for financial support listed below-
Find your investors: Present your idea and find your investors to avail the funds that will help you to achieve your goals in this successful journey. Here based on the valuation of the company and ideation the funds are allocated by the investors.
Crowdfunding: When any startup needs to strive for funds, here is the latest way of having funds known as crowdfunding in which you can ask for funds by mobilising your social advertisement using your specs, features and business concept.
Contacts: Use your contacts like family, friends, and relatives who might know your skills and valuation of your idea to raise your funds to achieve overall goals in your business career.
6- Scale up
This milestone is very common in almost every startup in which a company looks for unique ways to scale up its success. Scaling up may involve many paths depending on the working nature of the startups. Here are listed two important steps-
Prove your Profitability: As any startup is ready to enter into a next phase of success proving profitability is necessary and this can be proven using the financial data of accounts and reports showing the annual data which are often known as Key Performance Indicators which are set by the industry.
When any company shows its annual financial reports of profits it also gives a path of strategic partnership in which it is clear with the financial report how a partner firm expects a return on their investments.
Final Scaling Up: After proving your profitability the next step is finding a way to scale up and as a company founder and businessman, you should know at least one way of scaling up. These can be different for different types of startups and as per their working nature and factors, they can be known. Generally, the scale-up depends on depicting the sales growth and then finding ways to achieve it or investing in any other new technology.
7- Exit Strategy
This point in any startup is the last success cheers after which either the startup will be sold or given its public offering using IPO. All the success and profit made by all the founders and members are calculated as a value of the company and decided to be used for different purposes.
It is the point when the startup is going smoothly and the profit is at the highest point. By letting go to the investors to buy the IPO whether the company releases its offerings or by adding all the valuation it may be sold.
Conclusion
Building a successful company from an idea is a journey of all those explained milestones covered by that company. These milestones may also differ for other startups who might be different so whenever anyone planning to have a successful company must also find those who will be suited to his nature. Startups are the best thing for those who are looking for a private working culture and today it is more appreciated by all industries.
