We know it’s frightening being the small fish in a wide-spread sea, especially with larger predators circling around you.
But swim beyond your fears! While they’re on the lookout for the perfect timing to attack, if you’re always on your fins, they’ll never catch you. And before you know it, you’ll be swimming alongside them.
As a startup, it’s very challenging to gain success because no matter how great your idea is, without seed funding, you’ll struggle to get off the ground, let alone scale and grow.
Seed Investment: The Biggest Challenge for Tech Startups
In the past year and a half, tech startups faced tougher tides as investors reevaluated the tech sector. This made these companies shift from growth to focusing on making profits. Many had to change how they worked, let go of employees, and adapt their strategies to sail through the economic storm. According to Atomico, a venture capital firm, the challenges still linger as recent study shows a 39% drop in investments in European tech startups this year, revealing ongoing sector challenges. (SOURCE)
BM Insight: Despite these hurdles, our team’s resilience and commitment to our community steered us through rough waters, helping us satisfy clients and ensure our colleagues’ safety. We’re proud of our team’s strength and adaptability. Dive deeper into our journey in these last 365 days (LINK)
Raising Seed Funds – The Right Approach:
Raising seed funds is like casting a line into the vast sea – simpler said than reeled in. Yet, during those crucial early days, finding the right investor requires understanding your target market, knowing your customer currents, and reeling them in with a captivating narrative that convinces them that you’re a big catch.
Blueprinting Success with an Effective Business Plan
Crafting an exceptional business plan is like setting sail on uncharted waters with a clear destination in mind. Your plan serves as both a map and a compass, guiding your startup toward success.
1. In-Depth Product or Service Description: Unveil Your Offering and Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Seed-Investors need to understand what your product or service is and why it is unique. They also need to know how your product or service solves a problem or meets a need.
2. Identify Your Target Market: Understanding Your Customer Base, Their Needs, and Desires for Business Plan Success
Define your target market with precision. Describe their desires, demands, and preferences. Paint a vivid picture of your potential customers, helping investors see how your offerings align with their needs.
3. Demystifying Your Monetization Strategy and Revenue Streams
Explain how you plan to reel in profits. Detail your revenue streams and clarify how your business intends to monetize its offerings. Keep your explanation concise while ensuring it leaves no room for ambiguity.
4. Revealing Financial Projections – Analyzing Expenses and Projecting Revenue
Just as the tide can be predicted, investors expect to see your financial projections. Provide a robust display of your business’s financial health. Share comprehensive projections that outline your expected revenues, expenses, and projected profits.
The Importance of Market Research Before Product Launch
Market research and creating product-market fit are two essential steps for any startup. It helps you understand your target market and what they need, while product-market fit ensures that your product meets those needs.
- Start by defining your target market. Who are you trying to reach with your product? What are their needs and pain points?
- Do your research. Reach your target market through surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
- Analyze your data. Once you have collected your data, analyze it to identify trends and insights.
- Develop a PoC, prototype or MVP. The best approach to take will depend on your specific product and stage of development.
BM Insight: In general, a PoC is a good starting point for new and innovative ideas. A prototype can be used to further refine the design and test the functionality of the product. And an MVP is the best way to collect feedback from users and validate the product-market fit. Learn more about Role of PoC in our deticated blog.
- Get feedback. Once you have a Proof of Concept and later on a MVP, you need to get feedback from your target market to see if they are interested in your product.
- Iterate and improve. Based on the feedback you receive, you need to iterate and improve your product until you have found product-market fit.
Connecting with the Right Investors
With your finely crafted business plan in hand, your startup is ready to swim into the world of investment.
- Dive into Research before you dive into the depths of investor outreach, immerse into research. Explore the waters of seed-stage funding and get to know the different types of investors, from the Angel Investors to Venture Capitalists. Understand their preferences, what lures them in, and the depths they’re willing to explore.
- Be prepared to Answer Tough Questions about your business model, your competition, and your plans for the future. Prove that your startup isn’t just swimming in shallow waters but is well-prepared for the deeper unknowns.
Staying Ahead of the Competition
Keep a watchful eye on your competition, tracking their every move and the latest features they unveil. Seize every opportunity to enhance your product where theirs falls short. As Eric Ries wrote in his book “The Lean Startup” – “The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.”
Your ability to adapt and learn swiftly will be your ultimate advantage in the race to the top.
Assembling Your A-team
In the vast tech sea, where big sharks are lurking, assembling an A-team can be a daunting quest. Amidst the currents of high demand and fierce competition, recruiting your own internal Product Engineering, Cybersecurity, Marketing, Design and QA team can prove to be both a formidable task and a significant expense.
However, as you embark on this journey, consider the beacon of our services. With a comprehensive suite of skills and expertise, we’re dedicated to guiding you through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Our role is to help you navigate these waters, ensuring you swim steadily toward success.
BM Insight: At BrightMarbles Group Holding, we assemble proficient and seasoned experts from diverse business backgrounds. From the heart of our software development team to skilled visual artists, engineers, and various other professionals, we take immense pride in offering expert proficiency in all our project. Discover further insights into these teams and their roles through our blog post.
Is There a Proven Formula for Success?
It’s important to recognize that in these depths, there’s no predefined formula for conquering the tough currents. As Ben Horowitz said, “That’s the hard thing about hard things—there is no formula for dealing with them.”
The journey isn’t about instantaneously mirroring the giants; it’s about developing your unique strategy, honing your skills, and charting your course through uncharted waters.
Just as the small fish matures to challenge the mighty sharks, your startup can thrive and succeed, making big waves in the sea of giants, that won’t go unnoticed!
About Author
Nastasija Trajanova is a marketing maverick with an impressive track record in diverse fields. She’s worked with NGOs and big-name companies like The Body Shop and Converse and has led digital marketing efforts for Silicon Valley clients