If you're interested in going fast, sign up for the lean startup to help your company grow properly.
When setting up a startup, there is no time to lose: you can plan a long-term strategy, but, in general, the operating model of purely technological companies is usually faster than that of other sectors.
If you are involved in the sector, you will be interested in learning about the lean startup methodology, a term coined by Eric Ries based on the strategy that Toyota carried out several years ago to lighten its production processes and be more efficient in the search for business results. The lean startup philosophy can be explained, very roughly, in three key concepts:
- Agility. Your company has to move fast, very fast. If you are here it is to be aware that you cannot think about your scenario in five years, but in five months. Any change must be executed lightly, and the structure of your company must be prepared for it.
- Cheap. You don’t have all the resources in the world, precisely, so you should do quick, decisive experiments… and above all cheap. Don’t waste money on things that won’t give you very short-term results.
- Trial and error. We have come here to play, haven’t we? Well, that’s what it’s all about:
experimenting as much as necessary until you find the right key . Of course, you should experiment as quickly as you notice your mistakes and modify them.
Are you convinced to apply the lean startup methodology to your company? We recommend that you do it in four steps:
- Analyze the market. Any decision you make must be backed by minimal data, so it is advisable that before launching anything you probe the market, even if it is quickly, to test your chances of getting a specific niche.
- Throw an MVP. Don’t get obsessed with launching your product when it’s 100% ready and with a monumental development: as soon as you can, launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) so that your users or customers can start to value its usefulness and convenience.
- Measure fast. Once your MVP is in the market, you need to gauge its acceptance as quickly as possible. Only then will you be able to know if it makes sense to follow the path you have set for yourself… or make a slight swerve.
- Pivot quickly. Don’t get infatuated with your ideas: if you see that your MVP isn’t performing well and that the data isn’t backing you up, don’t dig in, change your model as quickly as possible. Only then will you be able to make changes until you reach what you finally want to launch.
If you are looking for funding for your startup, get to know Venture Capital, the startup investment program of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation.
