Four short-cuts to start-up success

There is a belief that start-ups all begin with a killer idea; a new product or service that is going to change the game forever. It’s true that some visionary founders crack ideas on the back of an envelope or while they are having a shower but is dangerous to think that all success starts with the idea.

It is easy for founders to have a pro-innovation bias; a belief that their new product or service should be widely adopted without being altered. Founders can have such a strong bias that they push forward without being able to identify limitations or weaknesses, often with detrimental consequences.

It’s similar to the Ikea effect, the allusion that the idea is disproportionally better because we have played a role in creating it. The key to success is understanding these biases and doing the work mitigate the risk.

Behind every successful start-up you will find four essential foundations that offer a short-cut to success:

  1. find a customer problem to solve
  2. offer valuable solutions
  3. sell experiences
  4. amplify your story.

Seek problems

Customers pay brands to solve a problem for them. They have needs and wants, but often something is getting in the way of them achieving that. I want to be healthier, but nutritious food means a compromise on taste or convenience. I want to own a house but don’t have enough money to buy it outright. Customers’ willingness to pay is linked to the size of the problem.

You may have a great start-up idea, and you equally might be very clear on the problem that it solves, but servicing one person is not a business model. Scaling a start-up involves finding a broad market of customers that are willing to pay.

It’s critical to understand both the customers’ needs and the barriers to successfully satisfying them. It is easier to tap into an unresolved motivation than try and create one just because you have a product to sell. Spend time in your potential customers’ world; it will be the most valuable time you spend in setting up for success.

Design solutions

Once you have a firm grasp on the customer tension, you can set about solving it. Building detailed features to differentiate yourself from the competition’s an easy trap for start-ups to fall into, but remember that customers buy benefits. Features give confidence, but benefits solve their problems.

The features and benefits of your product or service need to connect. Ask yourself why customers should be confident you can deliver the benefit they require. Whatever you answer after “because” is the reason to believe or key feature. Equally, you can start with the feature and finish the sentence; therefore, we deliver X, and this is your benefit. Think about benefits broadly as they can be functional, emotional or social and the best products provide all levels.

Sell experiences

For any start-up, cashflow is critical. Cash can be raised via venture capital, but the most sustainable path is to generate revenue by selling products or services.

Within every industry, there is a spectrum of sales avenues from those that thrive on the lowest price to those that offer the most exceptional experience. Start-ups should avoid the price-led channels unless, of course, your innovation has a cost advantage.

Finding routes to market that provide a multisensorial experience will provide two advantages to your start-up; they are likely to provide the greatest margin, and they will also help build kudos and buzz about your new business, creating the most valuable marketing possible – word of mouth.

Amplify your message

If you have successfully navigated steps one, two and three, the final step will be easy. The key to accelerated growth is gaining new customers, which starts with them hearing about your business. The media is the obvious starting point, and it has two distinct functions, sales and editorial.

If your story is interesting you will be able to gain editorial coverage, which for cash-strapped start-ups is ideal. If you solve a problem with a unique solution and it’s a part of a great experience you have a newsworthy story. If you haven’t done the work in the first three steps, chances are you will have to buy your way into the media with paid advertising.

Start-up life is a high-risk way to fortune, with most new businesses failing within the first year. There are no certainties to success, but there are some strategic short-cuts that can be made. Find a problem to solve, solve it with great features and benefits, sell it as a part of a multisensorial experience and amplify your message.

Troy McKinna, Co-Founder, of Agents of Spring and Calm & Stormy and author of “Brand Hustle – 4 critical foundations to accelerate brand growth”