Long Term Strategy For Startups
This article is written by Milambo Kabeleka, a Contributor Author at Startup Turkey.
Efe Cakarel is a Turkish entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of MUBI, an online film service. Previously, Cakarel worked with Goldman Sachs in London and New York, where he worked on IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity investments. Cakarel obtained his bachelor of science in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT in 1998, and his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 20050. Cakarel was a contributor to The Huffington Post. He also has two patents involving the monetization of web applications.
The goal of a business is to make money for as long as they can, meaning, it will have to remain relevant on the market for as long as possible. With a change in consumer behavior comes a change in the profits. A number of shifts in the economy that can affect how consumers make their decisions every day, it is important for entrepreneurs to think of a long term strategy that can make sure the business remains running even with social and economic shifts.
To be the best entrepreneur, you need to prepare for the worst, and one sure way of doing this is having a long term plan for your business. The key to creating a good and practical long-term plan is researching the market, putting into consideration the following variables:
The young population: Studying the current population of the target market and the growth of the young population shows how many customers you will have in the future. This will give you an idea of your future production costs and potential revenue.
How social media savvy the young population is. The internet has had a huge impact the technology industry, and so studying its projected impact in the future will be worth your while. As people become more social media savvy, business models are changing to suit this fast and convenient way of doing business. Almost everyone uses sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram today. The use of these platforms gives a clear indication of how social media savvy people are becoming and why businesses are leveraging off this opportunity to reach their customers.
Demographic changes: Investigating any changes in the demographics can help you identify new opportunities in your business.
Other things to be mindful of while making a long-term include;
Development of the e-commerce ecosystems: e-commerce holds the biggest opportunity in value creation globally. Online is where most if not all of the products are currently being sold. The e-commerce industry has shown tremendous growth over the years and has had a huge impact on the way business is conducted. Any improvements in this industry are worth noting.
People’s propensity to spend money online; the more people are inclined to spend money online, the more the business will have to include e-commerce in its model. In this busy high paced life, buying things online has become more convenient for people. Paying attention to the online shopping patterns and how they change over time can help you know how to strategically place the products online, to maximize on profits.
Existing level of competition: studying the existing completion and their growth can help the entrepreneur know how to improve its products and how to deliver them.
Creating a long term strategy for a business as an entrepreneur is a good way to make sure you stay on track even as other factors in the market change. Setting projections and milestones can also serve as a checklist to help your team remain focused on the goal which is growth and relevance on the market.