Hello Reddit! Over the course of my business career I launched & managed a few successful startups! I have mentored & overseen many others in That Process!

Allow me to share some of the Most valuable Information/workflows/checklists that in 90% defined a successful business!

All Businesses/Business models go through 3 phases ideally.

The Preparation Stage The Launch Stage The Growth/Scaling Stage

1.The Preparation Stage

Between each of these stages there is a significant shift in objects/tasks a business should focus on. When I encountered companies in the “Preparation Stage” These were the characteristics that made them stand out as a “Success”!

They had :

A clear identification of the problem they were solving & their relevancy to the industry/Market. Pinpointed Pain points & clear things to be done in order to solve them Clearly built Business Vision, Brand Mission, Core statement & Values! They had clear documentation & actionable checklists to complete WITH DEADLINES to Meet! They put extreme focus & emphasis on making those tasks as streamlined as possible to solve!

The following part of their “Preparation stages” usually consisted from the following journeys :

The goal was to decide & work our a business model they were going to pursue or “how are we going to make money”.

It always went down quite close to this workflow.

They gather a big list of ideas. They work it down to a shorter more comprehensive one They translate an EXISTING model that is closest to what they envisioned into their business.

“The preparation Stage” would be close to the end here. Successful ones ALWAYS had :

Defined USPs Defined ICPs ESG compliance guaranteed A clear Financial Model A Pitch Deck

90% Of businesses that had this before their “Launch” made a successful Launch.

2. The Launch Stage

This is the stage Where actual development happens. The so called “MVP” needs to get developed here. Here are a few things i noticed The A+ Players had done right! This is something that makes the business stand out on a operational level.

If you can develop the following correctly, you are going to make money!

Be really clear on what your “mvp” is. Determine a Stack of Tools you are using for development. Do a Legal check of your business model & required documentation. Have a Ball park documentation of the “costs” to develop

Now you gotta actually develop it!

Apart from that it really helps if You :

Define Your Brand Clearly Start Building an online footprint Create Design & wireframes Have a backlog of creatives & logo assets.

THIS FOLLOWING PART IS ONLY & ONLY IF YOU ARE 100% SURE YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO BOOSTRAP THE BUSINES YOURSELF!

(Funding)

Some Funding Options you can go for & a structure that often works the best :

Consider the types of funding options you want to pursue Know exactly “how much” & “what for” do you need the money! Identify investor types Prepare & pitch Evaluate interested ones Secure Pre-seed investment!

You obviously need to have a business structure in place. So before you do anything make sure you :

Define an organizational chart Have clear breakdowns & roles for each function Design an operating model Incorporate a legal entity. Setup a bank account setup accounting Select Payment provider Register A Trademark Build up a Sales Funnel Prepare Marketing & sales strategy Set Up your Customer Care processes Prepare Tech infrastructure & security Set Up a Reporting Schedule!

The most Important KPIs you should track during these processes are :

Gross Revenue Orders Average Order Value (AOV) Discount rate

From a Sales & Marketing standpoint you should track the following:

LTV:CAC ratio Total Marketing Costs Cost per Order Conversion Rate

All you have left to do is Prepare a Press list for launch, If you are able to do , launch with a PR campaign & PPC marketing Campaign.

3. The “Scale” Stage

This is really a whole different game & would take me a day or two to compile an accutal list of how things go down. If reddit finds this post helpful & upvoted enough ill write a part 2.

We run a discord community called Furlough with over 29k Business owners, marketers & entrepreneurs, this information is not my own “made up” tutorial.

This is a compilation of data & startups we have witnessed perform above standards! A few of those I helped myself.

(Send this to someone you thing would find this valuable!)