What part of your “startup product” can save you a fortune?

According to Google about 100 million of new startups are established annually. It makes around 270k new startups per day! Just for a comparison - about 360k babies are born each day. I don't know how precise these numbers are, but what I’m sure of is that there is quite a big competition amongst startup companies and only a select few can succeed.

I personally do not consider myself an expert in founding startups but I talk to their founders a lot. What I find interesting is many of them told me it is very rare to invent something completely new - or - to be more precise - to invent something brand new for a specific market's needs. I wonder what their inventions are if it is so difficult.

Don't become the Homer Simpson of business. You can do better.

Speaking of - Do you remember the episode of the Simpsons - The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace where Homer desperately tries to invent something new and he is actually successful, but his “products” are not only unsuitable for the market but also simply poorly made? The same thing sometimes happens to any new business.

You see the gap in the market, you get an idea for an amazing invention that will make people's lives easier and you decide to bring it to life. But as much as the idea is brilliant (as opposed to Homer's inventions that no one needs) you simply can’t afford to underestimate the design. The effect of this happening might be disastrous for your brand.

Think of it this way: Up until now, people didn't even know they needed your product and were perfectly happy with that. But you did a great job with your marketing and now everybody wants it! Imagine how disappointing it must be for people to realise that your invention doesn't really work as they expected.

What kind of long-term effect will it have for your business in general? If you don’t want to become the Homer of business in people’s eyes, I suggest you make a revision of every product you have and try to come up with improvements you can do on them. Maybe before you start inventing brand new products, you should take a good look at what you already have in store and what can be done to improve it? Maybe your previous invention was brilliant as well, but all it needs is a bit of work on the execution?

Don't get me wrong - I don't want to discourage you from inventing new products.

I’m just saying it’s good to take care of every product you have.

How to improve your hidden treasure and save a fortune?

There are a lot of areas you can implement improvements in. I am not an expert in all of them, but I can help you with one which is the closest to my heart. It is also the least obvious one at first glance. Yes, it is your IT stack. How to do it?

As we all know, money talks. That's why first of all you should at first analyse your costs.

The majority of startups are more or less dependent on software. A lot of SW tools are used internally (SW for communication & collaboration, CRM, Helpdesk, Billing, etc.) and of course the product(s) of a startup itself is usually a software solutions (e.g. Instagram) or a package of solutions containing software elements (e.g. Uber).

Let's say you have a product and application similar to Airbnb. Wouldn't it be amazing if you were able to build it for half the cost by maintaining the same quality of the product? If you know how to design your IT infrastructure well, you can take the savings and invest them in your product, your employees or customers.

Btw - I am pretty sure that guys and girls at Airbnb know exactly what they're doing - it's really just an example.

The IT stack isn’t cheap. This is why it’s always a good idea to analyse thoroughly what you spend your money on. But it’s not only about money (or at least not in the first place).

What else can you achieve with the right IT setup?

The right IT setup can help you to:

• Be faster than your competition

  Just having the infrastructure in the state that it allows your developers to ship new features to your customers without any blockers is an undeniable advantage

• Be more attractive as an employer

  You have a stable IT infrastructure and don't require a lot of maintenance and you use modern IT & infrastructure technologies? It sounds like any developer's dream workplace :)

• Have better products than your competition

  Your app is super fast and works 24/7? If the idea behind the product truly makes sense, your customers will love it.

• And much more.

The IT & Infrastructure technology you are using could really be your differentiator - even if it's a bit hidden.

Don't forget about it and give it at least as much care as you would to the more visible parts of your product.

It can really save you a fortune and nerves.

If you need help with the check of your infrastructure don't hesitate to get in touch with me or anyone from the Revolgy team at ask@revolgy.com.

We are here to help!