These 5 little changes will make a big difference in your startup. As a passionate startup founder, you need your business to make money fast so that you can get back the money you invested.
As the saying goes, “sometimes it’s the little things that matter.”
If you have a startup and have been running it for at least more than 3 months and you don’t feel like smashing your head against the wall or plucking out your hair, I need your sorcerer’s number—especially if you have a young business which seems to be invisible to potential customers.
Don’t be discouraged by this however. Sometimes we are misled to believe that startups offer overnight or short-term success by motivational speakers, misleading success stories and blogs until we are neck-deep in obstacles.
Having your own business is rewarding, so don’t give up just yet. No one is truly immune to the rigorous whipping of a new startup; those that claim to be are probably lying to you.
The endless number of discontinued products from tech giants is a testimony to the fact that even having immense resources won’t make you immune to challenges.
So, what 5 little changes can you make to your startup and still make a big difference?
Since most of us don’t have a big budget or may not have a ton of experience with running a marketing campaign or startup, we must take advantage of simple yet effective methods that allow us to punch above our weight.
1. Start blogging
As a young startup you must invest in blogging. I cannot emphasize this enough. Blogging is one of the easiest, low-cost or even free ways for you to establish your brand reputation and attract customers.
Invest in blogging for your startup and let it work wonders for you
You should always write about your startup’s journey, document and announce what you are releasing, share your vision, stay ahead of the media with relevant press releases and share your experiences within your line of work on your website/blog.
These lessons or resources will attract people looking to learn from you and you can use this opportunity to link in your product or service as an easy solution to some of these problems.
A good blog post will also get people to demand what you have to offer. Your expertise will further show why you are trustworthy and seal the deal.
2. Optimise your startup’s SEO
Which brings us to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Usually the most overlooked aspect in marketing in traditional markets like Africa, SEO tells search engines like Google about you, what you do and how your startup ranks compared to other businesses like yours.
If you rank poorly or not at all, when people search for you in Google, they won’t be able to find you. And given trends today, people love to Google everything—either to confirm it’s legit or when they are looking for someone or something to solve their problem.
This is where your blog comes in. If you have been writing blog posts that fit and offer a solution to the problem the user is facing, they will click on your blog post, learn about you and either share it with others or contact you—which increases your reach and credibility.
Indexing your site in Google Search Console and ensuring your pages and website are fast, mobile-friendly, and structured properly will improve your rank and give you a better chance to be seen altogether.
3. Listen to your customers
The mistake most young startup founders make is that they create a product or service without their end users in mind. In the very beginning that might happen because as you come up with your idea, you don’t know yet how it will be received.
But that is not an excuse after the first launch or release. You should always have a system in place to observe, study, analyse and listen to your customers so you can know what they like about your product or service and what they would like changed.
This form of continuous adjustment and iteration will help your startup go a long way. For instance, if you have an e-commerce website or app, it is good to understand how your customers are using the website, whether they are finding the signup process long or short, if it is easy for them to find the products they are looking for and what feedback they are leaving for you.
Psychologically, humans love to be heard and listened to since it is so rare. Getting this feedback and responding—as well as making real improvements—will put you miles ahead of your competition.
4. Build a community
I’m sure you are not surprised by this if you know my background: most people skip building a community, yet it is probably going to be your startup’s strongest secret weapon.
A community will go a long way in helping you with the feedback we talked about above. They will provide insights you can listen to and adjust, as well as genuine engagement with your work. Your first community members can start right with your early adopters, friends and peers!
The coolest thing about building and managing a community is that in the long run, it reduces your marketing and retention costs. Your members will champion your products or services and even help onboard and support new members.
A strong community will champion and grow your startup sustainably
I intentionally left paid social media ads out of the top four because many young startups with small budgets dwell too much on paid ads and don’t get the results they need—turning a single channel into their entire strategy.
5. Vision and planning
Before you even scale your startup, you should always have a clear vision and draw a practical plan on how you will run it, sustain it and the kind of people you want it to serve.
However, as you do this, don’t be too rigid to making adjustments to your idea and objectives all in the name of being a stubborn entrepreneur. Sometimes a calculated pivot is what unlocks growth.
That’s about it—these 5 little changes will make a big difference in your startup when you implement them consistently.
Curious why fewer Africans share their business experiences and journeys online? Read Why We Don’t Share Our Experiences, Thoughts and Lessons.