The Problem with Startups: A Guide to Go-To-Market Strategies

Startups are a gamble. The old saying goes that only one in ten businesses make it past the five-year mark, and that’s a generous estimate. But what if there was a way to tilt those odds in your favor? A way to increase your chances of success?

There is. It’s called a go-to-market strategy, and it’s essential for any startup looking to make it big. Early founders may find success difficult without a solid plan for getting their product or service in front of customers.

So, what exactly is a go-to-market strategy? In short, it’s a business plan for how you reach your target market and sell your product or service. It sounds simple enough but crafting an effective go-to-market strategy is anything but easy.

There are many moving parts to consider, and if even one of them isn’t executed correctly, it can sink your entire business. We’ve put together this guide to help you navigate the go-to-market process and improve your chances of success on the other side.

Why a Solid Go-to-Market Strategy is Crucial for Startups

A solid go-to-market strategy is the difference between a successful startup and one that fails. It may seem like a no-brainer, but far too many startups try to go it alone with hardly any plan.

The problem is that the startup environment has never been more competitive. There are more startups than ever before, and they’re all competing for a finite amount of attention from consumers.

Consider this: 97% of startups fail. Of those that fail, 42% do so because of market-related issues. In other words, they didn’t have a plan for how to reach their target market or sell their product or service.

Without a go-to-market strategy, you’re just another company trying to sell a product or service that nobody knows exists. But with a well-crafted go-to-market plan, you can rise above the noise and position your startup for long-term success.

1. Helps You Define Your Target Market

One of the most important aspects of any business’s success is its target market. This is the group of people who are most likely to buy your product or use your service.

Defining your target market is essential because it helps you focus your resources on the people most likely to convert. It’s far more efficient (and practical) to sell to a defined group of people than to try to sell to everyone under the sun.

2. Helps You Develop the Right Product

Another benefit of having a go-to-market strategy is that it helps you develop the right product.

Your target market will have specific needs and wants, and it’s your job to create a product that meets those needs. If you don’t conduct the proper market research or understand your target market, developing a product they’ll actually want to buy is impossible.

3. Gives You a Roadmap for Success

A go-to-market strategy doesn’t just help you define your target market and develop the right product – it provides a roadmap for success.

Your go-to-market strategy should outline exactly how you plan to reach your target market and sell your product. It should include specific milestones and goals to measure your progress along the way.

4. Increases Your Chances of Securing Funding

Finally, a solid go-to-market strategy can increase your chances of securing funding from investors.

Investors want to see that you have a clear plan for how you will reach your target market and make money. If you can’t articulate your go-to-market strategy, it won’t be easy to convince an investor to give you their money.

Here’s how to create a go-to-market strategy:

A robust go-to-market strategy includes:

• A detailed understanding of your target market
• A plan for how you’re going to reach them
• A strategy for selling your product or service
• A clear understanding of your competition
• A plan for how you’re going to differentiate yourself
• Metrics to track your progress

By developing a go-to-market strategy, you’ll increase your chances of success and avoid common pitfalls that often lead to failure.

The Go-to-Market Process: How to Craft an Effective Strategy

Now that we’ve talked about the importance of a go-to-market strategy let’s dive into the process of how to craft an effective one.

1. Define Your Target Market

The first step in any go-to-market strategy is to define your target market. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many startups fail to do this properly.

Your target market is the group of people who are most likely to buy your product or service. To properly define your target market, you need to consider several factors, including:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Income
• Education level
• Interests and hobbies
• Buying habits

it isn’t only about the demographics, but also about more transversal psychographic levers and specific insights.

Once you understand your target market, you can safely move on to the next step in the process.

2. Develop Your Communication Strategy

Now that you know your target market, it’s time to develop your messaging. This is the part of your go-to-market strategy where you define what you will say to your target market.

Your messaging should be focused and clear. It should answer the question: why should someone buy from you?

To craft a compelling message, start by thinking about the benefits of your product or service. What does it do for your customers? How does it make their lives better? Once you understand the benefits, you can start to develop your messaging around them.

3. Choose Your Channels

The next step is to choose the channels you will use to reach your target market. There are a variety of channels you can use, including:

• Paid advertising
• Social media
• Public relations
• Content marketing
• Email marketing
• Events and tradeshows

Which channels you use will depend on your budget, your target market, and your overall messaging strategy.

4. Deep Dive into the Competition

Now that you know whom you’re targeting and how you will reach them, it’s time to take a deep dive into your competition.

You need to understand who your competitors are, what they’re selling, and how they’re selling it. This will help you to develop a unique selling proposition (USP) that will help you to stand out in the marketplace.

Creating a competitive analysis matrix is an excellent way to understand your competition. This simple table compares your product or service to your competitor’s offering.

5. Define What Makes Your Product Different (Differentiation)

The next step in the process is to define what makes your product or service different. This is your unique selling proposition (USP).

Your USP should set you apart from your competition and resonate with your target market. It should be something that solves a problem for your customers or meets a need that they have. Historically, successful USPs have been focused on one or more of the following:

• Price
• Quality
• Selection
• Service
• Convenience

Remember that your USP may change over time as you learn more about your customers and your competition.

An example of a USP could be: “We are the only security company that offers a money-back satisfaction guarantee.” or “We are the only grocery store that delivers directly to your doorstep.”

6. Establish Metrics to Track Progress (Traceability)

An essential step in developing your go-to-market strategy is establishing metrics to track your progress. These metrics will help you gauge whether your strategy is working and make necessary adjustments along the way.

Some metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you may want to track include:

• Sales
• Number of new customers
• Customer retention rate
• Website Traffic
• Social media engagement
• Email open rate

By establishing these metrics, you’ll be able to track your progress and ensure that your go-to-market strategy is on track.

7. Test and Iterate

After you’ve launched your product or service, it’s essential to test and iterate on your go-to-market strategy. This will help you fine-tune your approach and achieve the desired results.

To do this, start by tracking your metrics (see step 6). Then, make adjustments to your strategy based on the results you’re seeing. This could involve changing your messaging, channels, or target market.

Testing and iteration are ongoing processes that should continue even after you’ve achieved success. By continually testing and iterating, you can ensure that your go-to-market strategy is always on the right track.

The Bottom Line

A go-to-market strategy is critical to launching a new product or service. By taking the time to develop your strategy correctly, you can increase your chances of success and ensure that your launch is successful.

The Importance of Validating Your Idea Before Building

As a startup, it is crucial to validate your idea before building a product or company around it. This means getting feedback from potential customers and partners to see if there is actually a market for your idea. It can also help you determine if there is a need for your product and how best to go about building it.

Validating your idea is essential for saving time and money and helps ensure that you build something people want. It also allows you to make changes to your idea based on feedback, making your product even more successful.

Furthermore, validation can help you attract investors and partners. By showing that there is a market for your product, you are more likely to get the funding you need to bring your idea to life.

There are many ways to validate your idea, but some of the most common include:

• Customer interviews: Customer interviews are one-on-one conversations with potential customers. This allows you to ask questions about their needs and how your product could meet them.
• Surveys: Surveys are another way to gather feedback from potential customers. You can distribute surveys online or in person. This method is great for getting feedback from a large group of people.
• Focus groups: Focus groups are similar to surveys but involve discussions with a group of potential customers. This allows you to get more in-depth feedback about your idea.

All of these methods allow you to get feedback from potential customers to see if they would actually use your product. They essentially help you validate your idea further. By taking the time to do this, you can save yourself a lot of time and money in the long run.

Why Startups Fail and How to Avoid it

A large number of startups fail each year, but there are many ways to avoid becoming one of them.

There are several common pitfalls that startups can fall into. One of the most common is failing to execute their plan correctly. This can be due to a lack of planning or execution. Another common pitfall is not clearly understanding their target market and what needs and wants they fill. This can lead to products or services that are not well-positioned in the market, leading to a lack of success. 

Other common mistakes include:

• Not having a clear target market, never reached Product Market Fit.
• Not having a strong enough team in place.
• Not having enough capital.
• Not marketing their product or service effectively.

How can startups avoid these common pitfalls?

If startups thoroughly research, plan and execute their ideas while keeping their target market in mind, they increase the chance for success. Having a solid team in place is vital, as is having enough capital to sustain them through the early stages. And finally, effective marketing is essential to get the word out about their product or service. If startups can avoid these common pitfalls, they have a much greater chance of success.

What are you doing to set yourself up for success if you’re a startup? Are you focusing on your target market? Do you have a strong team in place? Have you raised enough capital? What about your marketing efforts – are they effective? Keep these things in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to avoiding the common drawbacks that lead to failure.

The Difference Between First Time and Second Time Founders

When it comes to founding a startup, there are two types of people: first-time founders and second-time founders. First-time founders are those who have never found a company before. They may have worked in a startup previously, but they’ve never been responsible for everything that goes into starting and running a company. Second-time founders are those who have already founded a company and failed. Inversely second-time founders may have sold or exited their first startup successfully. These individuals have first-hand experience with the challenges and tribulations of starting a company.

First-time founders often make the mistake of trying to do too much themselves. They want to build the product, find customers, and manage the team. This is impossible to do well and leads to much frustration. Second-time founders know they can’t do everything themselves, instead focusing on building a great team. They also know how to delegate tasks, which leaves them more time to focus on the essential things.

First-time founders are often optimistic about their chances of success. They believe that if they work hard enough, they can make their startup work. Second-time founders are more realistic about the odds of success. They know that most startups fail, so they focus on minimizing risk and maximizing chances of success.

That being said, first-time founders can bypass some of the pitfalls of second-time founders’ experience by building a network of experienced advisors, mentors, and investors.

How No-Code Tools Can Help with Validating an MVP Quickly

No-code tools allow you to build MVPs quickly and easily with little investment. Using no-code tools, you can focus on the product idea and getting user feedback rather than on the coding itself. This can help you validate your product idea and reduce the time and effort needed actually to build the product.

No-code tools also allow you to get feedback from users more quickly, which can help you remove features that are not necessary for the solution. Additionally, no-code tools make it easy to launch newer versions of your product, incorporating the feedback you receive from users. This helps you stay in touch with your customers and assess the product idea.

Hiring experts once you have a concept evaluation can help reduce development time and get your product to market faster. Using no-code tools allows you to start this process sooner without worrying about hiring a developer.

The Importance of Experimentation in Product Validation

Regarding product validation, startups must experiment as much as possible. This experimentation will help them determine what works and what doesn’t in their product and ultimately help them validate it. There are a few key reasons why experimentation is so crucial in validation:

1. It Helps You Test Your Assumptions

One of the most significant benefits of experimentation is that it helps you test your assumptions. When starting a new business or working on a new product, you’ll likely have many assumptions about how that product will work or what the market looks like. Experimentation allows you to test those assumptions and see if they hold up. If they don’t, then you can adjust your plans accordingly.

2. It Gives You Feedback on Your Product

Experimentation can also give you feedback on your product. When you’re testing different aspects of your product, you’ll see which ones resonate with customers and which don’t. This feedback can help you make changes to your product and improve its chances of success.

3. It Helps You Gauge Interest in Your Product

Another benefit of experimentation is that it can help gauge your product’s interest. When you put your product out there for people to try, you’ll get a sense of whether or not there is actually interest in it. If there is, then you know that there is potential for your product, and you can continue developing it. If there isn’t, you learn to move on to something else.

Why it is Important to Stop Building and Validate MVP

It is essential to stop building and validating MVP because you will create a poor product if you have a lousy MVP. MVP is not about getting the product out as fast as possible. It’s about getting the product out with the least amount of effort and learning as much as possible from your customers.

Too often, startups rush to get their product out without properly validating their idea. They build an MVP without talking to their target market which creates the wrong product. This wastes time and money and can kill a startup.

Business owners should construct an MVP based on validated learnings from their target market. It would be best if you talked to your target market to determine their wants and needs, then build a prototype that meets those needs. Testing your prototype with your target market will also provide guidance if they want what you’re making.

If you don’t do this, you’re likely to build a product that no one wants or needs. This is why it’s crucial to stop building and validate the MVP.

M Accelerator Focuses on the Go-To-Market Strategy

M Accelerator startup programs focus on the go-to-market strategy and execution. Especially in our Startup Accelerator program for pre-seed and seed stage companies. Our coaches tailor each session to validate, build and make scalable one of the essential pieces of a company: sales. Many startups mistakenly believe they can ‘build it, and they will come.’ However, even the best products or services will languish without a focused and well-executed go-to-market strategy.

At MAccelerator, we work with startups to help them identify their target markets and to create a plan for reaching these markets cost-effectively. We also help them develop the necessary skills and tools to sell their products or services. This includes training in areas such as lead generation, qualification, closing techniques, and account management.

The goal is to help startups create a sales process that is repeatable and scalable. This way, they can continue to grow their business even after they leave our accelerator program.