Regaining momentum for start-ups

Running out of steam on the development journey is normal, but how the founder reacts and brings the start-up back to the growth trajectory is what makes the difference.

Running out of steam on the development journey is normal, but how the founder reacts and brings the start-up back to the growth trajectory is what makes the difference.

With the ever-changing market, it is quite normal for startups to get off track and lose momentum.

More specifically, startups begin to see a loss of momentum through a number of indicators, such as the number of new customers and revenue growth slowing down; the rate of customers leaving the platform and not using the product or service increases; startups continuously receive investment rejections from investors, making it difficult for capital calls to take place as expected by startups; the morale of members decreases, etc.

When a start-up falls into this situation, Ms. Hoang Thi Kim Dung, Country Director of Genesia Venture Investment Fund in Vietnam, believes that the first important thing that the founder needs to do is to deeply reconnect with his or her vision and development goals. After that, the founder needs to quickly review, analyze, and find the important causes leading to that loss of momentum.

Next, the startup needs to plan improvements to adjust and regain momentum. If the plan is implemented after 3-6 months and the growth “flywheel” still does not return, the startup needs to consider more drastic measures to create positive growth momentum. For example, the startup can develop new features on the current product, or if the product is no longer viable, the startup should consider shifting to a more suitable product/service.

As a startup investor with a long journey of observing and accompanying many startups in different fields, Ms. Dung believes that startups running out of steam, not achieving growth targets in 1-2 months, or losing momentum in a short period of time, is not a serious problem. However, what is really important is how startup founders react to losing momentum.

“It can be said that what makes the big difference between startups that can regain momentum and startups that cannot regain momentum lies in the founders' straightforwardness in finding problems, quickly building improvement plans, and decisively implementing those necessary adjustments. This process requires founders to communicate transparently with their teams and investors, so that everyone can join hands to support before it's too late,” emphasized the representative of Genesia Venture fund.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/lay-lai-da-phat-trien-cho-start-up-d249085.html