ACCELERATING GROWTH IN LEAN ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTRODUCTION

Varsha Koneru
Mar 5, 2017
2 min read

Start-ups are often faced with a unique challenge: How do we accelerate our growth given the resource constraints we face? There are a few "lucky" companies that have managed to raise early-stage funding, and even fewer that are cash flow positive very early on in their lifecycle. But for many of us, we are faced with the dilemma of spending more to make more; investing in marketing to grow customer acquisition within the constraints of a lean environment.

The reality is that growth rarely comes for free, and that a marketing budget is a critical component of successful and accelerated growth strategy. What differentiates companies that are successful in this endeavor from those that are not is how they optimize their growth strategy such that ever dollar spent provides meaningful data, and that data influences future marketing and product development decisions.

There is a famous quote by John Wanamaker: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." This is a problem that most companies face, regardless of size. Marketers often focus on the creative aspects of marketing-- let's design the perfect product logo, flood our different marketing channels-- if we do this, the customers will come.

Yes, this is simplifying complex marketing strategy, but it is to make a point. When was the last time you heard your marketers tell you that they will be able to quantify the value of ever dollar you spend on marketing? Throwing marketing darts in the air works for companies when the stakes are lower. You spend x dollars on a marketing and it brings in 1.05x in revenue. The campaign was a success. But what if only 10% of the dollars spent brought in 80% of the revenue? Except you have no way of determining this, so campaigns #2, #3, and #4 all follow the same approach.

Regardless of company size, or their lifecycle stage, this is a tremendous waste of resources. For smaller, younger, companies, this can have devastating impact simply because they operate in leaner environments. Every dollar is valuable.

This is why a comprehensive growth strategy that is tied into product development is critical for success. At Acies Consulting, we refer to this as "accelerated growth." Accelerated growth is achieved through rapid experimentation whereby the outputs of the experimentation have meaningful and measurable impact. Our accelerated growth approach allows companies to put their marketing dollars to work by using principles of lean start-up and user-centered design to provide feedback loops that inform all future decisions.

In the coming weeks, we will outline the different practices, tools, and techniques that companies can employ to effectively and efficiently accelerate their growth.

Acies Consulting LLC is a consulting firm based in Minneapolis, MN, focusing on helping companies accelerate growth through lean-start up and user-centered design principles. We can be reached at info@aciesconsulting.org or visit our website at www.aciesconsulting.org.