I’m a huge fan of quick and simple advice. Particularly the kind that cuts through all the BS and gets to the point.
One of the most frequent questions I hear often is from desperate start-ups or wantreprenuers who want to “scale” faster. And my response usually leans towards better collaboration and creating valuable content for their client-base. Not exactly what they want to hear. Unfortunately, that’s all I’ve got. (Unless they would like to book an appointment and pay me for consultation. Just saying.)
Here’s the challenge with the “scale faster” approach — we really can’t if the product hasn’t gained any traction in the target market. And let me tell you, our estimations for the ideal market landgrab is far less than what it actually should be. I don’t see a point in walking around with a half-baked cookie and asking for the full price. That’s not a business. It’s a rip-off!
I don’t have to quote examples. You probably know plenty of them yourself.
That said, I don’t think “scaling faster” is a bad idea at all. In fact, if you as the entrepreneur is confident about the product who the heck am I to stop it? Go ahead and scale your business. And without a shadow of the doubt, you can do it faster.
The challenge comes when you’ve plateaued and feel stuck. Perhaps that’s a great time to foster collaboration and create valuable content for their client-base. Or maybe it still isn’t. You never know. In my opinion, collaboration is the quickest way to get qualitative feedback that will help you shape your product market-ready. Why? Because your collaborators have their skin in the game. They may not always know better (than you) but they have more experience in the field than you. Leverage that.
As far as creating content is concerned, I’m honestly ashamed to even call it a “content marketing strategy” because it isn’t. Creating content is just elementary! Your sole purpose for that is to educate and thus provide value to your consumer-base. They come to see you as experts and hence buy your service or products or even recommend you for your service/product offerings. Isn’t that scaling?
Like I said, elementary. Yet businesses of today are missing out on the fundamentals to chase the latest fad (digital marketing, metrics, data, blockchain or whatever) that’s out there making a buzz. I don’t know about you but for me (and I’ve learned it the hard way) getting distracted is the worst I can do for my business.
Someone said it the best, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go together.”