Business

Keeping Startups Moving Forwards: Tips From The Top

Published

3 years ago

August 16, 2023

Joseph Laforte's take on Simple Straight Forward ways to Fund a Startup

The world of startups can be very challenging, particularly in the initial stages. A deep understanding of the startup landscape, both locally and globally, is crucial to carve out your niche. Familiarise yourself with emerging trends, industry disruptors, and understand your competitors.

Keep a pulse on economic conditions and regulatory changes that could impact your business. Researching successful startups for inspiration and the lessons learned is just the start. All these can help you identify opportunities for innovation, differentiate your business from the competition, and pave the way towards a successful startup journey, but it takes a little more to succeed.

The Key Elements for Startup Success

In the bustling startup ecosystem, the secret to thriving lies in three fundamental elements: Innovation, Determination, and Execution.

Innovation: is the spark that sets your startup apart from the crowd. Your product or service should offer a unique solution or significantly improve an existing one. Remember, innovation isn’t always about reinventing the wheel; sometimes, it’s about making it roll more efficiently.

Determination: is the fuel that keeps the startup engine running. Launching a startup is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. You’ll encounter challenges, setbacks, and potentially drastic changes in plans. Your determination, grit, and resilience will keep you moving forward despite the hurdles.

Execution: is the vehicle that transforms your ideas into reality. Without effective execution, even the most innovative ideas and strongest determination may not lead to success. Create a robust plan, be agile, manage resources effectively, and monitor progress meticulously. Your startup’s success is largely determined by how well you execute your ideas.

Leveraging Software For Efficiency

In the digital age, a strong IT infrastructure is the backbone of every successful startup. It enables seamless operations, enhances productivity, supports scalability, and offers a competitive edge.

Modern IT infrastructure goes beyond just hardware. The real game-changer is the software. The right software tools can automate repetitive tasks, streamline processes, and facilitate decision-making through data analytics. From managing customer relationships to tracking finances, software tools are instrumental in maintaining various aspects of IT infrastructure.

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Software plays a significant role in enhancing security measures. Cybersecurity has become a pressing concern, and robust software can help safeguard your business against data breaches and cyber threats.

Selecting the right software tools isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Your choices should align with your business goals, operational needs, and budget. Remember, IT infrastructure is an investment that can significantly drive your startup’s success and growth.

Ensuring Your Startup’s Financial Health

The financial health of a startup is a key determinant of its survival and growth. It is crucial to understand that mastering financial management goes beyond merely keeping the business afloat. It’s about strategic planning, efficient usage, and timely course corrections when necessary.

Budgeting is essential. It provides a clear overview of income and expenditure, helping startups identify areas where they can reduce costs and increase efficiency. Maintaining a cash reserve for unforeseen circumstances can help mitigate risks associated with financial downturns. Keep track of all your financial activities. Regular financial forecasting, bookkeeping, and auditing help maintain transparency and ensure legal compliance.

Explore diverse funding options. Apart from bootstrapping and venture capital, consider crowdfunding, government grants, and angel investment. Remember, mastering financial management isn’t an overnight process. It requires careful planning, constant monitoring, and the willingness to adapt to changing circumstances.

Your Startup’s Greatest Asset

Behind every successful startup is a dedicated, talented, and cohesive team. Assembling this team can be one of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of your startup journey. Begin by identifying the key skills and roles needed to drive your startup forward. Remember, your initial team will shape your startup’s culture and trajectory. It’s important to seek not just qualifications, but also individuals who share your passion, values, and vision.

Developing a supportive, growth-oriented environment is crucial. This can help attract top talent and also retain them. Provide opportunities for professional development, encourage innovation, and ensure a balanced workload.

Effective communication is another crucial aspect. Ensure your team is aligned on goals, expectations, and processes. Foster an environment where ideas, feedback, and concerns can be openly shared. Building the perfect team isn’t about finding ‘perfect’ individuals, but about bringing together a diverse group of individuals who can collectively drive your startup towards its goals.

The Essential Ingredient For Startup Growth

In the competitive startup landscape, a well-planned marketing strategy can be a game-changer. It is not just about promoting your product or service, but about effectively communicating your brand’s unique selling propositions and value to the right audience. Start by identifying your target market. Understanding their needs, behaviours, and preferences can guide your marketing decisions and make your campaigns more effective.

Focus on building a strong brand. This includes your brand name, logo, tagline, and everything that visually represents your startup. A consistent and compelling brand image can help build trust, recognition, and loyalty among customers.

Consider leveraging digital marketing channels, from social media and content marketing to email marketing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Each channel has its strengths and can be used to reach different segments of your audience.

Measure the success of your marketing efforts. Regularly reviewing and analysing data can help you identify what’s working, and what isn’t, and guide future strategies. Remember, effective marketing is a dynamic, iterative process.

Lessons From Successful Entrepreneurs

Your startup’s first year can be a rollercoaster of victories, challenges, and learning experiences. It’s a crucial period that often sets the tone for the future. Here’s what successful entrepreneurs recommend to survive and thrive in this phase.

Embrace uncertainty and be adaptable. The startup landscape is dynamic, and it’s crucial to be flexible to changing situations. Pivot when necessary, but do so based on insights and not just instinct.

Focus on building relationships. Connect with customers, investors, mentors, and fellow entrepreneurs. Networking can open doors to new opportunities, provide valuable advice, and build a support system during challenging times.

Don’t neglect self-care, either. Founding a startup can be stressful. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance and taking care of your mental and physical health is as important as any business task. Every startup’s journey is unique. Learn from others, but chart your own course. Your first year is just the beginning of your exciting entrepreneurial adventure.

Business

Ipsos Helps Brands Understand How They Get Customer Experience Wrong & Why It’s Costing Them Millions

Published

3 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Matthew Wiles

For brands looking to succeed in the modern business ecosystem, the customer experience (CX) is not something companies can afford to ignore. CX is a direct driver of revenue, loyalty, and growth for organizations.

Ipsos, one of the world’s leading market research firms, helps brands understand that failing to focus on the customer experience can lead to lost sales, which in turn can translate to not only millions in lost revenue but also lost trust and credibility in the market.

How brands still get CX wrong

“The customer decision and desire to do business with brands directly affect the bottom line,” says Brad Christian, Chief Commercial Officer at Ipsos – Experience Practice.

Customer experience may sound like a simple concept, but many brands still get it wrong. CX goes beyond surveys and feedback. Leaders who fail to connect feedback in a meaningful way to goals such as retention, repeat visits or purchases, advocacy, and operational performance fail to deliver on their service promises. The emotional and functional disconnect can spell trouble for brands. The most polished advertising campaigns cannot make up for a frustrating customer interaction or a promise that a business cannot fulfill.

According to Ipsos’s internal research, many customers today see service as too automated and impersonal. More than half report that their experience is worse than promised.

These findings don’t just result in disappointed buyers. They result in lost customers, negative feedback, and a long-term impact on the business as a whole.

“Brands have to manage the entire customer experience across each and every touchpoint,” explains Christian.

Poor CX can be expensive

Executives can often underestimate how expensive a history of poor CX can be. Global losses can reach into the billions while leaders wonder what went wrong. In an age of rapid social media communication, a single negative interaction can spell disaster for a company, leading to reduced customer spending or the entire loss of its most loyal customers.

Those losses are not just reflected in lost revenue, however. Customer acquisition and marketing dollars can also be lost as companies continue to spend money trying to retain their customer base, often skipping right over the experience part of retention.

Poor customer experience can be a deep operating problem that creates a domino effect, decimating businesses from the inside out. These poor experiences can impact not only present and future customer acquisition but also business leaders and employees.

CX matters more in today’s business landscape

The customer experience has always mattered, but it may matter more to brands trying to make it in a modern, ultra-competitive, digitally-driven business landscape. Good experiences encourage repeat purchases, boost loyalty, and increase the likelihood that customers will go online and recommend a brand to others.

“Customer experience isn’t an isolated function,” says Christian. “It’s ‌part of a larger system that ensures that brands measure and manage customer experience data and then act on that data to drive action where customer experience gaps exist.”

Brands also have to seek to understand today’s customers, who expect experiences that are seamless, authentic, and relevant. As more and more companies hop on the automation train, they will want to reassure their customers that the human element that many people consider important still exists.

At Ipsos, six drivers of strong customer relationships form the bedrock of the company’s CX platform, something that they refer to as the “Forces of CX”: certainty, fair treatment, control, status, belonging, and enjoyment.

Customers want to feel that if they have an issue with a brand, it will be handled and that their concerns will be understood. They don’t want the customer experience to feel like a battleground; they want it to feel fair and human.

“Customer experience isn’t just a nicer experience,” says Christian. “It ties directly to specific financial outcomes, whether that be increased sales, greater market share, or stronger brand loyalty.”

How Ipsos helps businesses deliver customer experiences that matter

Ipsos turns customer feedback into reliable, actionable, decision-ready information. The company goes beyond simple satisfaction metrics and implements voice-of-the-customer programs, journey analytics, relationship feedback, and quality research.

“Brands don’t just need data,” Christian says. “They need measurements as to how they are delivering on their brand promise and predictive modeling to tie financial performance measures to those measures to help them determine where to invest to maximize the customer experience and understand what financial impact those investments might deliver for the business.”

Ipsos measures the interactions that matter ‌most and shows brands how each interaction can affect retention, share of spend, and efficiency. For brands that are trying to reduce the guesswork behind CX, Ipsos helps them move beyond cosmetic fixes to achieve real, meaningful change.

Customer expectations can shift on a dime, influenced by society, social media, and even changing trends. Ipsos helps brands meet those rapidly changing customer expectations with hard evidence and comprehensive metrics.

Today’s brands need to understand how to get the customer experience right. Ipsos has the insights needed to drive home the deep importance of CX in today’s marketplace.