Growth by Numbers

For a tech CEO, growth has to be the top priority. As a techy founder and CEO, its been a priority but perhaps not my top most. And that I’ve realized has been my mistake all along.

Our asset tracking software, www.ezofficeinventory.com, has had some great growth over the past few years. We’ve grown from 0 to being one of the leading solutions in the space with some of the biggest names in the industry as our customers. BUT …. we’ve lost a lot of opportunities along the way. Some of the mistakes we’ve made:

Good growth numbers were not looked down upon. Its the phenomenal growth numbers that everyone should strive towards. We didnt. And that meant we left potential opportunities on the table by being happy with the sales we had. Hindsight, I would have done things differently, but those doors are closed now.

Underinvested in marketing. Being bootstrapped, we felt being efficient was critical. Its not, whats important is that there is a clear understanding of different channels and their ROI. When cash becomes cheap, it ought to be a no-brainer to grow. Not knowing all the channels and their growth potential and ROI is a huge handicap.

Didn't measure growth sources. Growth is not automatic. Not having clear numbers on sources of signups, their conversion rates, their average lifetime value means when things go south, it takes time to course correct. And yes, we’ve had our ups and downs. The downs would have been less impactful if we knew immediately what was off.

So if you’re a tech startup CEO, do yourself a favor. Invest your time in building a dashboard that shows all the big numbers, including the funnel and more. You can’t grow what you don’t measure!