Pedaling Through Success: The Lean Startup Model
Here are a few insights I got from the session by Thomson Skariah , CEO and Co Founder of placeorder.com about An approach of an early stage startup founder during WE Start, a 3 month Pre-incubation program organized by Kerala Startup Mission.
Riding the Business Bicycle: A Startup Adventure
Just as cycling demands balance, focus, and the ability to navigate through unexpected turns, running a startup is a parallel journey. Like a cyclist building mental and physical endurance, a successful founder cultivates resilience to pedal through business challenges.
The Canvas of Dreams: Lean canvas
Imagine your startup as a work of art. The Business Model Canvas/ Lean Canvas is your canvas, showing off your partners, costs, activities, resources, and the big goal. It’s like a superhero map for your startup journey. It’s objective is to provide a single view of purpose and strategy to keep the team aligned.
How to approach Lean canvas
Follow a structured timeline for drafting and refining your business plan. Don’t wait for the perfect mood; dedicate focused time. Break it down into half-hour, one-hour, and two-hour sprints. Now, align your canvas with the rocket speed MBA principles: value creation, marketing, sales, value delivery, and finance.
Identify the Problem:
Focus on solving a genuine problem, not forcing a solution. Choose a problem that aligns with your passion or is close to your heart.
Analyze Existing Alternatives:
Acknowledge competitors and alternatives in your space. Understand the pain points of staying with existing solutions and how your offering improves the situation.
Craft a Unique Value Proposition (USP):
Develop a clear and unique value proposition. Define why businesses should choose your solution over others. Use examples like on-time delivery in real estate or consistent quality like IKEA.
Understand Customer Segments:
Differentiate users and customers. For instance, in edtech, users might be children, but customers could be parents or schools. Segment your customers into tiers.
Target Early Adopters:
Identify early adopters willing to use or even pay for your solution. Be cautious with free trials for big companies; consider paid trials.
Revenue Model:
Clearly outline how your solution generates revenue. Be strategic about pricing and consider paid trials for early adopters.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Key parts of business may include value creation, marketing, sales, value delivery, and finance.
Now, finding the right way to measure success is like finding a magic spell. Just focus on being efficient and look at the Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio as a signal of profitability.
Crafting the Outcome: Team, Market, and Growth
After the canvas is done , it’s important to find the outcomes which is basically the ‘Team,’ the market size (how many people might want your stuff), where your startup fits in (‘Market Positioning’), how well your product matches what people want (‘Product Market Fit’), and your plan for growing(‘Growth’).
Let your startup journey be a simple bike ride to success. Just keep pedaling, and your startup adventure will be a big hit! 🚀✨
Also attaching the deck shared by Thomson : Link