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Too often, founders cite a shortened runway as the reason they are not fully realizing the best strategic spend for their startups. This is becoming all too common, especially as markets proceed to be on a soft landing path and rates of interest remain high. The dilemma is easy – founders don’t need to overpay, they see their runway as too short, and they feel they cannot build traction through VC funding, crowdfunding campaigns, or other capital raises. Founders know they should spend to get the traction they need, but it’s a variable risk with an unclear return. As countless founders face this dilemma, what are the best decisions to make next?
Stop looking at perceived runway length – start looking at strategy
The perceived runway is merely what is currently in the bank and at best a projection of what the financials will appear to be over the next few quarters. It does not take into account future growth, financing breakthroughs, and even disruptions and failures.
With so many founders concerned about the perception of their short runway, a step back is needed. First, review the MVP (minimum viable product). Is it actually feasible in its essential elements? Is your startup a copy of others or is it truly unique? Will the solutions or products offered solve problems, disrupt the functioning of the industry or significantly help in a way not currently available on the market? If you are unsure, stop and check your compass using outside resources.
What does a proper compass check appear to be for your startup? Start with a brand assessment with a renowned brand strategist or innovator with extensive industry experience. Why? Your short runway issues may simply be the results of key messaging, a revised funnel strategy, or higher personas of realistic investors or customer base.
What are the best options for applying the right strategy?
Every startup that is looking for investors, enterprise capital, crowdfunding or customers develops certain business plans and strategies. When the runway is too short for any funded campaign, the natural tendency is to place all marketing spend on hold, in the reduction of on spending, and create a dilemma: you may’t spend to earn, but you may’t earn without spending. It’s a false assumption, but all too familiar.
How can a founder solve this problem through strategy, and what expenses are needed with a perceived limited runway? First, start with the most significant elements of your development strategy:
- Plan your paths to becoming the most famous – not only the best – at what you do.
- Make sure your funnel strategy works and captures incoming queries appropriately, quickly and efficiently.
- Make sure your customer journey builds on itself to show customers into advocates of your brand.
First, change into the most famous. This doesn’t necessarily mean being the best. While this does not imply offering an inferior product or service, too many get stuck attempting to improve reasonably than consistently promoting or promoting appropriately. With this, look inside. As a founder and your team, are you doing every thing you may to leverage your key message strategy? Does this strategy appeal to the right audience? This is very vital and so often missed. Too many people spend too much and make a mistake or are too near the current message to see the flaws.
Start here to repair your perceived short runway. If a key message is not getting through to the right audience, stop every thing else, including ongoing expenses, and fix it immediately. Get outside help from the right strategist who can provide expert and objective advice on getting your key messages right. Then use it to your advantage and lead with it. Almost every time, a higher call to motion strategy beats a latest product.
Second, make sure your funnel strategy is working. When you launch your latest product or service inside your startup, display to investors, VCs, or your crowdfunding campaign how well the funnel works. If the key messages are correct, but it is the funnel strategy that is causing concern about a perceived short runway, stop and evaluate. It is not enough to generate interest in the message itself; the funnel should be as tight as possible.
Once your funnel strategy is in place and your key messages are working, continually analyze the results. When selling products or services, implement surveys, obtain feedback, reply to reviews and act on them. Identify the rate and causes of customer churn and continually improve it. Ask customers about feature requests for your products or services and use this data to judge and optimize feature affinity. Additionally, make sure that any changes to publicly available marketing assets, especially web sites, social media, PR and email, are in line with your funnel strategy and don’t throw your brand off track.
Third, make sure the customer journey finds ways to proceed on its own and turn latest and existing customers into advocates of your brand. It starts with a near-seamless customer journey as they move through the funnel. From the basics of journey creation, value proposition and the process made easy and straightforward, every brand must advocate for its customers before the customer begins to advocate for the brand. All it takes is one bad experience, or a perceived poor experience with no response, to push away a customer and some of your audience.
You took a risk with your startup; why hand over this risk now?
If the strategy is sound, trust it. Build on strategy. A perceived short runway partially represents a lack of religion in the strategy, execution, team, or product or service being offered. With the right steps in place to make sure key messages are accurate and motion-frightening, a funnel strategy that draws the right audiences and brings them into the decision-making process, and the simplest customer journey, the wins will build themselves.