Freedom of a Startup Mentality
As the world continues to change during a global pandemic, businesses must stop and think like a startup. Whether you’re a large cap, middle market, small business, established or new, it’s time to embrace a startup mentality. The current business landscape demands it. A startup mentality creates the freedom to adapt, blossom and pivot; something that companies have to master to survive.
As you start thinking like a startup (or maybe you are one), consider these four key concepts-- scaling, managing investors, investing in digital, and building your partner ecosystem. These concepts are critical to your leadership mindset and business success.
Scaling your business in a well thought out way is vital to the longevity of your business. Scale too fast and you may overextend yourself. Scale too slow and you may lose momentum.
What are your next steps for scaling? How do you design your organization so that you set the pace for scaling? If you want to continue to grow revenue without adding a ton of extra cost or investment, you must assess your scaling opportunities.
Taking on outside investment is another big decision and brings new influence into your company. Getting investors is very different from managing them. You have to deal with the investors. It's on you to keep the investors’ confidence in you high, in both your ability to lead and manage the company. You need an investor management strategy, and you need to action it.
In addition to bringing on the right investors, you must also consider which partners to add to your ecosystem. Choosing partners who align with your business is imperative to accelerating your results. What type of terms should you use to structure the agreements to your advantage? Having a strategic plan to build your partner ecosystem will pay off in the short term and in the long term.
Digital investments are key in order to scale your business. You need to reach customers, be the authority, and remain authentic. Keeping your content fresh takes enormous effort. Investing in all the various platforms takes money. Adding features and expanding your platform also requires investment. How do you ensure that your investments, effort and messaging are paying off? Are you reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right information? Do you need help to extend and expand your reach? Are you prioritizing the right areas and actions? Deciding how to spend your effort, select a digital or content partner, and focus your digital marketing efforts will guide your digital platform investment strategy.
These steps are often overlooked, when in reality they are critical to a thriving and sustainable business. Utilizing a startup mentality will pay off.
In an unprecedented time such as this, reevaluating your digital strategy as if you were a startup will be important to the longevity and relevancy of your business in a socially distant world. Ask yourself this: are you reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right information? To get on track and plan ahead, check out our free Startup Mentality Workbook.
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