Chu Nay Nwe Htun’s Post

Business Development Class for the week; How can my StartUp survive 5 years and beyond? Starting strong is one thing, but lasting five years and beyond? That’s a whole new game. A startup should zero in on: 1. **Customer Focus**: Understand and anticipate customer needs and continually adapt to meet them. Loyal customers are the backbone of long-term success. 2. **Innovation**: Continuously innovate and improve products or services. Stay ahead of the competition by embracing change and being open to new ideas. 3. **Financial Management**: Keep a tight grip on finances. Monitor cash flow, manage debts wisely, and ensure there's enough runway to weather tough times. 4. **Scalability**: Plan for growth. Develop strategies to scale operations efficiently without sacrificing quality. 5. **Strong Team**: Build a skilled, motivated team with a shared vision. Leadership and a collaborative culture are key to navigating challenges. 6. **Market Adaptability**: Be ready to pivot if market conditions change. Flexibility can be the difference between thriving and failing. 7. **Legal and Regulatory Compliance**: Stay on top of legal requirements to avoid costly fines and disruptions. 8. **Marketing and Branding**: Create a strong brand presence and communicate your value proposition effectively. Consistent, strategic marketing builds brand loyalty and attracts new customers. Keeping these areas in check can help a startup not just survive but flourish over the long haul. Which of these do you think would be the most challenging? Osei K. Y Offeh(The Doer)

The uniqueness of our startup At our startup, we've followed a unique philosophy that sets us apart: People Over Profit. Here's how we're making waves in the business world: 1. Speed and Agility → We move fast, adapting quickly to changes → Our goal: make things smart and efficient 2. Prioritizing People → Employees are our most valuable asset → We invest in nurturing and training our team 3. Growth Through People → Our belief: well-supported employees drive business growth → We're building an empire by empowering our team 4. Continuous Exploration → Always seeking new opportunities → Innovation is at our core Our Business Mantra: "Explore, Adapt, Empower, Grow" Why this approach works: → Happy employees lead to happy customers → Invested team members go the extra mile → Continuous learning keeps us ahead of the curve → Focus on people builds a strong, loyal workforce Results we've seen: → Rapid business growth → High employee satisfaction and retention → Increased innovation and creativity → Stronger customer relationships Challenges we've overcome: → Balancing speed with quality → Investing in people while managing costs → Maintaining culture during rapid growth I'm excited to see how our people-first approach will continue to shape our success.  By putting our team at the heart of everything we do, we're not just building a business – we're creating a movement. Remember, your team is your greatest asset. Invest in them and they'll invest in your success. How does your company prioritize its people? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Do you want to uncover the ultimate secret to startup success? It's the reason some startups excel, and others fail. They prioritize EXECUTION over mere ideas. That’s right, successful startups focus intensely on: - Hiring individuals who act, not just think. - Recruiting talents who solve problems on the go. - Engaging employees driven by results, not just efforts. It takes meticulous planning, precise hiring, and relentless focus, and is how they've been excelling in the competitive business landscape. They don’t just collect thinkers. They don’t rely solely on innovative ideas. They act, they execute. That's probably not what you want to hear. You WANT a simpler solution. But here’s the truth: - Your hiring strategy might be flawed. - Your emphasis might be misplaced on creativity alone. - You need to focus more on execution. It’s a common trap. I push clients to rethink this every single day. The next time you consider why your startup isn’t thriving, STOP what you are doing. Look at it. LACK OF EXECUTION is the problem. Shift the focus. Lose the ineffective tactics. You won't see improvement until you prioritize execution. As for those who do? Their businesses grow, adapt, and outperform.

Managing Startup Expenses: Practical Tips Keeping startup expenses in check is vital for survival and growth. Here are some practical tips: 1. Track Every Expense Use expense tracking tools to capture all costs and identify where your money is going. 2. Prioritize Spending Focus on spending that directly supports your business growth and avoids unnecessary expenditures. 3. Negotiate with Vendors Negotiate better terms with suppliers and service providers to reduce costs. 4. Implement Cost Controls Set budget limits for different departments and require approval for significant expenses. 5. Regularly Review Expenses Conduct regular reviews to identify and eliminate inefficiencies and over-spending. Effective expense management helps ensure your startup remains financially healthy and focused on growth.

Working in a high-growth startup means constantly battling against people debt—the accumulated burden of underinvesting in people operations as the business scales. Most startups, in the race to grow, choose to prioritise talent acquisition over investing in their People Ops teams. While this may seem like a smart move at first, I’ve seen firsthand how this choice actually slows down hiring in the long run. Why? The talent team ends up carrying the burden of People Ops work without having the necessary expertise to do it well. Over time, the hard work that goes into hiring the best people becomes wasted as these new hires don’t feel supported in their roles. Confusion spreads, productivity dips, and the very people you worked so hard to bring on board begin to disengage. Startups often make the mistake of thinking they can scale successfully without a strategic People team. This leads to the dangerous accumulation of people debt — where culture and collaboration begin to suffer because there’s no strong operational framework in place to support them. Without investing in people systems, teams start to wonder who's accountable, communication falters, and everything from project timelines to innovation grinds to a halt, you lose great people. Investing in People Ops is a necessity if you want to keep your business moving forward.

“Do we hire someone internally or externally?” I had a founder ask me this the other day… Yes Growth Partners provides fractional finance support in various capacities, but I’ll be the first to say there is time to hire fractional support and there is a time when it might not be a good option for your startup. For anyone having this debate here is my honest founder-to-founder point of view: 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 (𝐅𝐓 𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐓): It’s best to bring in an internal resource when… → You have a lot of urgent, ad hoc or day-to-day tasks → You need to have someone that has specific knowledge of your business and/or industry → You need to hire someone for a role related to a core competency of your business 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 (𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬): It’s best to bring in a fractional team when… → You need to get work done that requires a specific set of skills (𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠) → You need a recurring function that has a pre-defined cadence (𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡-𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬) → You have a project that requires a significant resource for a short period of time (𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) Founders, would you agree? #Startups #StartupFinance #HumanResources

Best way to guarantee your startup will fail: - Never surround yourself with people ahead of you/ doing better than you in your industry - Think failure is exclusively because of a bad business idea, and not because of 101 factors such as market need, idea execution, investor appeal, ability to effectively manage capital etc. - Change your business strategy based solely on opinion, rather than research and qualified feedback - Give employees big titles without making them earn it through experience or proven potential Would you add something to this list?

So, you have decided to shut down your startup, here is how to go about it properly. Shutting down a startup requires careful consideration, especially regarding investor involvement. For startups without investors, the process involves assessing customer satisfaction and staff well-being, followed by clear communication with the team and customers. If investors are involved, prioritise discussions with primary investors and aim for transparency and honesty throughout the process. Explore options like mergers, acquisitions, or asset sales to mitigate losses. The key is to communicate effectively and responsibly to all stakeholders involved. Important Points: 1. Assessment and Preparation: - Evaluate customer satisfaction and staff morale. - Ensure a clear state of mind before making decisions. - Consider the impact on staff members and their future prospects. 2. Communication with Stakeholders: - Inform your immediate team, including co-founders and leadership. - Prepare staff for the impending changes. - Communicate with customers about the transition process. 3. Handling Investor Relations: - Prioritise discussions with primary investors. - Discuss potential solutions, such as mergers or asset sales. - Return investors' funds responsibly, even personal assets if necessary. 4. Exploring Transition Options: - Investigate opportunities for merging with other companies. - Seek acquisition possibilities to benefit all involved parties. - Close operations with transparency and integrity. 5. Emphasising Clear Communication: - I am Stressing again the importance of clear and honest communication throughout the process. - Take time to come to terms with the decision before communicating. - Maintain transparency with stakeholders to build trust.

I agree with this wholeheartedly Alan Knott-Craig. Staying grounded and focused on what actually benefits the business is essential. An example I’ve seen is founders who prioritise flashy perks, like lavish office spaces or executive assistants, rather than investing in core growth areas. These decisions end up as distractions rather than advantages. It can be helpful to remind yourself regularly of what truly matters to the success of the company - stripping back on ego-driven choices and doubling down on what delivers real value. #Mindset #StayHumble #EgoCheck #BusinessGrowth

I’ve met founders who want to have systems in place on Day 1. I don’t think this is practical… Look, I get it. If you’re a Type A person or generally like to be organized, systems make things easier. But in any given startup, I think beginning with systems limits your growth potential. Why? I was reading about this in the book Traction by Gino Wickman. Visionary-type businesses don’t “need” systems to start. You need to do and try different things in the beginning. The system you try to build on Day 1 may not put your business in the right direction. Ideas need time to play out before you go “all in.” Systems, by nature, limit flexibility and play out time. I know if we limited ourselves by full-out systematizing SavedBy Package Protection with only package protection, we probably wouldn’t have built out other key features. Of course, everything business comes with a grain of salt. You can’t onboard new employees and just say “yolo, figure it out y’all.” You can’t be so disorganized it affects the customer experience. But I think startups get lost in perfection way too early. We’re just now hitting a point of growth at SavedBy where we’re actively hiring to build systems and scale operations. We’ve been at this for 3 years. You don’t need a flawless system to start. Curious to know your thoughts on “figuring it out” vs. “having it figured out.” 👇