The 6 Stages of a Startup: Where Are You?

Many people confuse that money is the end goal of a startup but we propose that money is the end result that we achieve after solving a problem, so shifting goal to a problem statement is primary and here are six stages to it .

6 Stages of Startups

Like of all growing thing, all businesses have lifecycles, and although many factors influence growth, there are 6 specific stages of a startup as they develop. Though the time spent in each stage will be different for every growing company, there are six main phases. Why does it matter what start-up stage your company is presently in? “Knowing where you are in your journey will help you manage your time and resources efficiently,” and get’s your targets accomplished

Stage 1: Concept and Research

It seems everybody has (what they consider) a million-dollar idea, but making an idea into reality is very rare. Rarer still is the “great idea” that not only gets off the ground, but finds its perfect audience. So identifying perfect customer base is as important as the idea it self so a detailed market research is required to identify and estimate customers expectation

Stage 2: Commitment

Many startups fail even though they have a great idea and reason is is lack of commitment , commitment not in terms of how much you work but commitment on how effectively you drive value propositions for each action you take

Stage 3: Validation

Traction, or validation, is typically the first year of a start-up. This is the stage where you begin to get the word out about your product and gain your first customers. Here you find out whether or not your company is truly viable. And to test viability a minimum viable product (MVP)is a good start

“Before their companies start to grow, most entrepreneurs mistake traction for growth. Both come at different stages in the lifecycle of the startup and play very different roles,” says Varshneya. At this stage, focus on growing your customer base and actually attaining the product-market fit you researched earlier.

Stage 4: Integrations and refinement

In the refinement stage, typically year 2, you are receiving — and soliciting — feedback from early adopters, then using that feedback to continue refining your product or service. How can you improve your offering? What about your customer experience? Concentrate on expanding the aspects of your product that are most beneficial to customers. Your early interactions with customers go a long way toward establishing your credibility and building customer trust. Show that you are taking customers’ concerns into account as you continue to develop your offering. Refinement also means refining your process, making it more efficient. How can you streamline your process? Are there parts of the workflow you can cut out altogether? Is product performance matching your projections, and if not, where is it getting derailed? Test your strategies and track conversion rates, social media analytics, and any other data you can to inform your decisions.

Stage 5: multiply to scale

The next stage of a startup is scaling, or growing — further growing your customer base, your offerings, and your company itself. In this stage, which can start at year 2 to 3 and last for years, you iterate on what’s working and put processes into place to iterate faster. Continue optimizing your marketing strategies to efficiently pull in customers and increase your conversion rates. Build out your staff and infrastructure to support your growing workload. For the smoothest scaling up, build scaling mechanisms into your business plan from the beginning. How and when will you hire more employees? How will you expand your marketing? What about growing your physical premises and technological infrastructure? Keep in mind, however, that you’ll need to stay agile as you grow — the process can be unpredictable. Like refinement, scaling requires considerable awareness about your process. As a founder, this likely means limiting or delegating any non-essential tasks you are performing. “While scaling up, there may be many tasks on a daily or weekly basis that hold you back or slow you down,” advises Varshneya. “While scaling up, you want to channel all your focus on just one thing — growth.”

Stage 6: Venture

Congratulations — your company is no longer a start-up, but an established enterprise. In this stage (likely year 3 or after), you may see considerable growth, although not at the dramatic rate you did while scaling up. Focus on increasing customer retention and loyalty, testing and refining your marketing strategies, and further developing your strengths.