Listed in: Starting up

Four strategies to help strengthen your start-up after launch

Once the dust has settled from opening your business, consider taking these four steps to help lock in future success.

2 minute read

After starting up a new business, it can be helpful to take a step back to reflect on what went well and what you could improve. It’s also recommended to switch from ‘start-up’ to ‘existing business’ mode as fast as you can.

Here are four key strategies to help you achieve this.

Strategy one: Focus on your most valuable customers

Once you’ve launched it’s time to identify your most valuable customers, develop strategies to retain them, and encourage repeat or cross sales.

These customers may not always be those that spend the most. Maybe they’re the ones who understand the way your business works, pay on time, buy high margin products or services, and refer other customers with positive word of mouth. 

Strategy two: Spread your net

Actively look for new customers that have similar needs or characteristics as your most valuable customers and develop a plan to get in front of them.

A few ways to do this could be by:

• building your professional networks and approaching new customers directly
• developing profiles of your most valuable customers and targeting audiences that look like them through online and social paid advertising
• adding interesting and relevant content to your website to build leads via SEO (Search Engine Optimisation
• developing a social media strategy to widen your audience reach.

Strategy three: Find new channels

Sometimes there are growth opportunities that surface by exploring new ways to do business. Some businesses sell monthly subscriptions to users, others license their intellectual property or collaborate with complementary businesses to sell on their behalf. Consider what third parties and external sales platforms you could use to help increase the visibility of your products and services.

Strategy four: Tighten up cash flow

This last strategy isn’t about trying to find more growth revenue, it’s about re-discovering the cash that’s fallen under the couch. Improving your existing systems and processes will often drive extra profit to the bottom line, reducing the effort to get new revenue. This is even more important if it’s getting harder to increase sales after the initial surge of sales, often experienced by start-ups.

You could look to fix potential cash slippage by:

• implementing compulsory credit checks to reduce bad debts
• having strong systems to reduce fraud
• conducting regular (and unannounced) inventory audits to identify wastage or theft
• adopting your industry software to streamline processes (every industry tends to have specialist software)
• using accounting software to track daily cash flow
• requesting deposits or progress payments
• using credit scoring systems and setting appropriate credit limits to minimise any losses
• reviewing your pricing.

Once you’ve worked through these four steps you should have the confidence to move from ‘start up’ mode into ‘existing business’ mode. Take a moment to celebrate the wins and acknowledge the mistakes, so you’re ready to build a sustainable business for the future.

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This article is solely for information purposes and is not intended to be financial advice.  If you need help, please contact BNZ or your financial adviser. Neither BNZ nor any person involved in this article accepts any liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage arising out of the use of, or reliance on, all or any part of the content.