Behind all of the glamor of LinkedIn posts you may see about rapidly expanding MRR or ARR and how an individual has scaled their startup from 1 user to 100,000 users in 3 months, rapid growth in the startup space can often be seen as a double-edged sword. Yeah, it’s a sign of success and market acceptance, but it’s also something that eventually leads to sudden issues. These issues sometimes even lead to the fall of what was once a great startup, or a unicorn. The reason behind it all? Many startup founders miss the fact that they have to build sustainable systems. Today, we’ll walk through five reasons why systems can be the hidden gem for your startup’s success…
You’ve figured out what it is you want to solve to make the world a better place, and you probably have an idea how to do so. However, without effective management, all of your hopes and dreams will fall short as you have no direction. Without systems in place, managing a team can get chaotic. With systems in line you’ll be able to streamline workflows, get clear communication, and create company-wide accountability. When the team expands, you won’t be worried about micromanaging every new aspect. Instead, you can manage every one and delegate tasks effectively.
Without a doubt in the startup space, data-driven decisions are what get you the most bang for your buck. Without systems to collect and analyze your available data, decisions tend to get made based on previous experiences, incomplete information, or just on intuition (gut feelings). Implementing systems to gather the data, quality check it, and then expand on it will allow you to make more strategic decisions which tend to lead to better outcomes.
Think of your startup or business as a house. In order to build a strong and durable home, you first have to have a strong foundation – or you set a strong foundation. This is the same exact case for startups or businesses that want to scale. It could be standardized customer service systems or even automated processes for inventory, whatever it is, if there is a system in place it makes sure operations run smoothing in that place. This stability is key long-term as it allows you to focus on growth without having to firefight every single operational issue.
Systems help oil the motor of all of your processes. With them, you’ll notice seamless integration and support between all of these processes. As a quick example, an efficient sales system can provide valuable insights to your marketing team, who can then tailor their strategies to better target prospects. What we’re getting at here is that with a system in place, improvement in one area also improves another.
Ask any startup founder and they will say the number one issue they have is acquiring customers, getting attention, or getting a better MRR. In summary, the biggest issue is scaling. They miss out on scaling operations to meet the increased demand. Without systems, scaling will be impossible and just birth a ton of inefficiencies, eros, and customer dissatisfaction. With systems, you’ll have the frameworks in place to scale and replicate successful processes across all teams which means you won’t sacrifice quality and performance for this growth.
Regardless of where you search, there’s a shared misconception that only larger corporations need these systems. However, the reality is that startups are shaped from implementing systems early on. Systems provide clarity, efficiency, and scalability, all of which are the best for long-term success. By focusing on building systems, you can control your startup’s growth and avoid the pitfalls that cause a ton of startups to fall after sharing such great success.
With everyone launching a new startup, growth is inevitably the goal and also the biggest challenge. When you prioritize your development of systems, you can build the best foundation to sustain growth, when you get it. Outside of sustaining growth, these systems will also simplify management, support decision-making, integrate processes, and enable smooth sailing. Don’t wait until your startup is already struggling with the pains of growth—start building your systems now and ensure that your business can thrive in the long run.