Fintech is the digital revolution that’s transforming our spending habits. It is indeed fascinating to see how entrepreneurs are ideating and building easy-to-use and digital-first customer experiences to make financial transactions and finance easier than before. Many startups in the fintech space have made a fortune within no time. For all the wannabe entrepreneurs out there, here are some foundational and important tips to incorporate into your business plan before launching your startup.
Effective pitch to attract investors
Let’s face it! Any startup in its initial stages requires a lot of capital until they hit their first big turnover. Almost all startups are backed by investors’ support and funding. Often when the sales turnover and company growth rate speak volumes, it is common that investors come forward to boost your future expansion. But how can an investor trust you when your idea is at a nascent stage? In such cases, your vision and strategy to hit the first goal is the key to selling yourself. A dynamic business plan with clearly defined goals and objectives is a sure shot to give investors a perspective about your action plan and expansion strategies. Prepare a crispy yet detailed pitch that gives your potential investors confidence to give generous funding, thereby supporting you in kickstarting your business.
Flexible concept
When it comes to venturing into fintech space, being a jack of all trades and master of more than two aspects always helps! Something that works today might not be a foolproof idea in the next 5 years. Present-day businesses are mostly running on offering a fundamental yet unique service that competitors failed to do so. Moment concepts (based on market performance) are becoming the favorite business ideas of entrepreneurs. But considering the rapid tech innovations and changing consumers’ preferences, the relevancy of the concept, in the long run, is still a dilemma. A few decades ago if someone pitched the idea of e-wallets and online payments, appreciation of the idea would come by as a surprise and suspicion. But times have changed. With digitalization and alternate currencies, the future of banking is also under speculation. Even if your idea can be a huge success in one of the markets, it is obvious that there are many players who offer similar services or something close to your idea. Observe and analyze their performance with respect to consumer behavior and hone your concept consumer-centric.
Following regulations
Every country has its own regulatory policies wherein there are some restrictions to be followed especially when it is about dealing with money or related services. Not complying with any of the regulations will cost a fortune both in terms of money and reputation. Especially startups cannot afford a bad reputation in the initial stages. Before launching your startup, consult a professional lawyer or advisor to modify your plan as per the country’s regulations so as to avoid any legal charges in the future.
Defined goals
Every organization has a mission and vision statement that acts as a driving force to lead the business to greater heights. Though your business plans need to be flexible, the goals you set should be the metrics that are immune to all the changes and transformations that your startup goes through. Your initial goal could be to reach a million user base. This goal is independent of your business approach and in fact, the goal you set influences the way you go about reaching your targets. A safe company structure, expanding target markets, hitting a turnover, diversifying clientele, planning on adding attractive features, market capturing, researching on advanced fintech spaces, and allied factors can be shaped effectively with clearly defined goals.
Strategy
We hear a lot about framing foolproof strategies for scaling the business to greater heights. But what kind of strategies help you in the fintech space? More than the strategies, it is the implementation that requires more effort and human resources. As more and more customers start using your service or product, you need more employees or support staff to get the work going on time. Even covering basics like these are a part of the strategy. Looking at the current trends and booming demand for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, make sure that your strategies are met for both static and dynamic changes.
Market research
Every entrepreneur knows the importance of customer acquisition. Fintech startups are in the race to provide customized and easy-to-use services or SaaS as the demand for digitalization is ever-growing and is accurately predicted to see no downfall in the coming decades. Where there is demand, competition also gets fierce. There might be a hundred startups offering the same deal but finance or stock market savvy are smart enough to avail services of companies that offer the best service at affordable prices. To understand where you stand in this race, along with SWOT analysis, you need much deeper competitor’s predictive models, price advantages, and other strategies that define the fate of fintech companies. Startups have this edge of venturing a fresh perspective by learning and unlearning looking at the competitive landscape and competitor’s performance. Clear and Deep market research gives the needed insights that keep your fintech startup immune to market fluctuations.
Security and tested software
Although people convince you that security is just one of the aspects of building a successful fintech company, it is one of the make or break of your initial growth days. Fintech space is evolving faster than imagined and to be a relevant player in this industry, along with a solid foundational plan data protection, privacy and security are extremely important. Trust and loyalty of customers or users is the ultimate driving force for a business to grow leaps and bounds. Hiring a good IT team or outsourcing the IT-related to managed IT services minimizes the risk of a data breach, server hacking, and protects the sensitive information of your users. Fintech startups cannot afford the burnt of failed cybersecurity, poor uptime, and malfunctioning software. If you are a budding organization, consider investing some good money in dedicated security and IT team so as to avoid and manage errors or bugs in the future.
Wrapping up
Technology is ever-changing and the opportunities for entrepreneurs always have their way of leading to success. Fintech is the rising star and will surely revolutionize the way you understand and spend money in the near future. Incorporate the needed discipline and strategy in your startup and scale your idea into a profitable venture.
