15 Ideas for a Lean Startup for Growing a Business w/out Spending much or no $$$
“The goal of a Lean Startup is to move through the idea> build> measure> learn> beta> feedback loops as quickly as possible – when Growing a Business”
Lean Startup Topics: Scope, Delegate, Social Media, Referrals, Simplify, Reward Team, Bill Faster, Spokes person, Quotes.
Today we’re sharing what we call “low or no” cost ideas for growing a business a Lean Startup. They are all real-life ideas from successful businesses. Action steps you can pick up and run with right away, without having to research, test or otherwise delay implementing them. And, you don’t need to spend much or no $$$ to do them.
Action. Pick 3-4 ideas that you can do immediately, and don’t hesitate to contact B Pplans.com or Peter at Wiz4.biz, if you want more information or help implementing them — these days we all have to work together for you to have a Lean Startup.
1. Scope it out. Make sure you’ve clearly outlined Mission & Vision. This will inspire & motivate your Team.
2. Learn to Delegate. Figure out what you do best – that no else can do – that brings in $$$. Now, delegate the rest – as much as possible.
3. Go where your Audience is on the Web. If your potential audience hangs out on Forums, then post to those forums. Do a Talk at a relevant Meetup. Become a trusted advisor to all. You’ll learn from it and it may help you to improve your product or service.
4. Start Social Media accounts with Twitter.com, Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com, etc. Provide info about your company, contact info & post interesting info.
5. Highlight Offers, Features, Promotions & News in your Email headers, footers & letter signatures. Do a monthly Newsletter to describe these items and include other useful info on how to use your product. Also include Testimonials from customer
6. Give something Valuable away on your Web site; at your front counter; when you send out your Invoices; when you deliver goods. This should be free or low cost to you, but valuable to the recipient, for example, Discount Coupons or a “How To” guide (ie, on applications)
7. Get your Prospect directed by a Directory. Get your business and your web site listed in relevant directories. To find directories, Google the name of your town + directories url”.
8. Get your Supporters to refer you. Plan a Referral Program – with a generous Reward. Let everyone on you Web-site, Social Media, Correspondence know about .
9. Simplify your business. Weed out the unprofitable & the hard-to-sell products or services and focus on the winners !!!
10. Cut Overhead by automating most of the non-producing items – like Accounting, Voice mail, Sales reporting, Product ordering and other record keeping.
11. Encourage employees to explore more “efficient” methods to their tasks, instead of relying on their standard way of doing things. Reward their accomplishment in this with praise or other rewards.
12. Reward your Team for meeting Budgets & Time-lines. A 5% bonus is cheaper than a 20% increase in costs. The Team will feel much better and work even more harder & smarter.
13. Bill faster. Your Receivables can count for 40 – 50% of your actual assets. Don’t batch invoice: bill as soon as you can. (at least weekly, unless you don’t need the Cash Flow.
14. Don’t forget your Suppliers. They might not be on your payroll, but they are more apt to do a few things for you at no charge, because you are really loyal to them.
15. Since you’re an Expert, offer to be a Spokes-person on your specialty – when your local or industry media need an expert opinion. Send out a relevant Press Release about improvements to your products or services periodically – as you feel is relevant.
Quotes on Growing a Lean Startup
“Our motto for any lean startup: “Think big zxzxzx, start small zxzxzx, learn fast”
“Lean thinking defines “value” as providing outstanding “benefit” to the customer; anything else leads to failure”
“Focus on customer “value” when developing your startup. Craft a killer Value Proposition for each customer segment”
“True startup productivity is not just making more stuff, but systematically figuring out the right things to build”
“A Lean Startup’s job is to find a synthesis between their “vision” and what customers will buy”
“Talking to customers early and often means you discover the bad news earlier”. LoL
“Explore your Desire Engine (cant live without) to make your product addictive & get your users hooked”
“Keep iterating & improving. Don’t stand still. Most startups takes 5-7 iterations to get their product right”
Comments: Do you have any other ideas on how to Grow your Business on the “lean”?
from B Plans.com 01/17 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz
For more Info, click on Growing a Business, Lean Startup, Lean.