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Tag: Profitable Businesses

  • I Stopped Doing These 3 Things Myself — and It Made My Business More Profitable | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In the early days of any business, most founders wear too many hats. You’re the product lead, marketer, customer service rep and ops manager — sometimes all in the same afternoon.

    I’ve been there. When I was launching my first AI startup, I was writing code, answering support tickets, hacking on SEO and trying to figure out Google Ads at night. Every time I jumped from one thing to another, I paid a tax: ramp-up time, mental fatigue, missed details.

    Eventually, I drew a line: if a function had a steep learning curve, wasn’t core to the product or customer experience, and could burn cash fast if I got it wrong, it had to go.

    Here are the first three things I outsourced — what worked, what didn’t and how I make the decision now.

    Related: How to Turn Big Business Moments Into Lasting Brand Momentum

    1. Google Ads had to go first

    I took a real swing at it. I set up campaigns, followed Google’s recommendations and even tried Performance Max. One day it would “work,” the next day I’d spend $90 to make a $24 sale.

    Whether you’re running a SaaS tool, an ecommerce store, or a local service business, paid ads can become a black hole. The learning curve is steep, the platform is opaque by design and Google is always nudging you to spend more so the algorithm can “learn.”

    I hired a specialist. Instantly, I stopped burning time trying to reverse engineer bidding strategies and keyword intent. I could focus on the roadmap, customers and the parts of marketing I actually understood. Worth every dollar.

    My advice: Try it briefly so you understand the vocabulary and the levers. Then get out. Your money will disappear faster than your learning compounds.

    2. Social media was next — and it blew up (in a bad way)

    I outsourced content and channel management to someone who promised to “crush it.” I gave full access to my accounts. It devolved into drama, threats and low-quality work. I shut it down.

    The lesson? Never give full control of a distribution channel to someone you don’t know, and never confuse enthusiasm with competence. Social media can be valuable for any business building in public — but only if it’s handled by someone you trust and can hold accountable.

    Next time: I’ll only outsource to someone vetted by people I trust, with scoped access, clear deliverables and a kill switch.

    3. PR was the third — and it worked

    I’d watched competitors outrank me and land strong stories. I tried the DIY route (like HARO), but the ROI wasn’t there. So I brought in someone who could own the process — strategy, pitching, follow-through — and translate my product into narratives reporters actually want.

    That freed me to focus on what I do best while the media engine ran in parallel. For businesses in crowded markets or emerging categories, this kind of PR support can be game-changing.

    How I decide what to outsource now

    I use a simple filter:

    • Is this core to the product or user experience? If yes, I keep it.
    • Is the learning curve steep enough that I’ll waste weeks for marginal improvement? If yes, I outsource.
    • Could a mistake here be disproportionately expensive? (Ads and legal are great examples.) Outsource.
    • Do I understand it well enough to evaluate the work? If not, I’ll do a quick self-guided crash course, then bring someone in.
    • Can I structure a small, low-risk test? If yes, I do that before any retainer.

    Handling the handoff while staying lean

    I started with literal paper notes, then the Mac Notes app. Today, I still keep it simple: Trello boards when needed, email for most communication, and regular short check-ins. The point is clarity, not tooling.

    One clear metric, one owner, one cadence.

    Access-wise: role-based logins, password manager and instant revocation baked into the plan. That social media experience burned this into my process.

    Related: How to Actually Get Returns in Your Marketing Efforts

    About that “it’s faster if I do it myself” line…

    It isn’t. It just feels faster because you don’t have to explain anything. In reality, you’re trading days of deep work for weeks of shallow thrash.

    Do enough to understand it. Then move it off your plate — so you can focus on what only you can do.

    You can’t do it all — not for long and not well. Start by outsourcing the work that burns cash when done poorly, has a steep learning curve, or pulls you furthest from the product or customer. Keep control of your infrastructure, build small, reversible contracts and measure everything.

    The cost of trying to be superhuman is higher than the cost of a good specialist.

    In the early days of any business, most founders wear too many hats. You’re the product lead, marketer, customer service rep and ops manager — sometimes all in the same afternoon.

    I’ve been there. When I was launching my first AI startup, I was writing code, answering support tickets, hacking on SEO and trying to figure out Google Ads at night. Every time I jumped from one thing to another, I paid a tax: ramp-up time, mental fatigue, missed details.

    Eventually, I drew a line: if a function had a steep learning curve, wasn’t core to the product or customer experience, and could burn cash fast if I got it wrong, it had to go.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Jeremy Gustine

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  • My Startup Couldn’t Raise VC Funding, So We Became Profitable. Here’s How We Did It — And How You Can Too. | Entrepreneur

    My Startup Couldn’t Raise VC Funding, So We Became Profitable. Here’s How We Did It — And How You Can Too. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s no secret that the startup world is hardcore. Half of startups fail before year five, and only one in ten survive in the long run. Recent economic trends aren’t too encouraging either. Last year saw a 38% drop in global startup investment and a 30% decrease in the U.S., specifically. Moreover, of the available funds, a significant amount was gobbled up by trendy artificial intelligence startups. So, if you’re not in AI, the picture may appear even more grim.

    Today’s founders have to come to terms with the fact that the VC funding round they’ve been working toward might not materialize. Though this has always been the case, the bar is now so high that a plan B is essential — how will your business survive if it doesn’t receive funding?

    Alternative startup funding is one increasingly popular option, e.g., taking out a loan with a traditional credit institution. But this isn’t for everyone and definitely not for pre-revenue startups because the bank needs to see how you will repay the loan. Plus, collateral — or the lack thereof — may disqualify any software or other startups up front, as, unlike VCs, banks don’t operate on faith.

    So, if nobody’s giving you funds and you don’t have the runway to hold out until the ecosystem picks up again, there’s only one way your startup can grow — become profitable.

    Related: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Building a Successful Business

    Why profitability needs to be top-of-mind even if you’re doing well

    I have been actively fundraising for my on-demand Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) startup since its inception three years ago. First, we raised $1.9 million in pre-seed capital for building out our business core, which we did — securing the necessary partnerships, putting together a base of operations, developing our software and growing the team.

    With a solid foundation and proven business model, it was time to scale, and we sought VC partners to help us ramp up our operations. What I expected to be three to six months of active fundraising turned into a year that bled into the next and, to this day, is ongoing.

    Despite demonstrably positive business results and a slew of warm contacts and cold pitches, investor response was tepid. Interest came with conditions and homework — “Let’s reconnect when you achieve these figures.” But when we did, the goalposts shifted. Fundraising started to feel like a goose chase, and the increasingly turbulent economic environment didn’t do us any favors either.

    Right now, competition is intense and startups that investors would swarm just a few years ago might not get a second look today. With that in mind, founders should avoid placing all their eggs in one basket and hedge their bets by approaching growth in a profit-oriented direction.

    Because if you don’t, you have two equally unappealing options: going bust or getting chained to an opportunist investor who will pay pennies on the dollar.

    Three things a founder must do to be profitable

    Four months ago, my startup reached profitability for the first time. It came after more than a year of active work and planning, and here’s what it took.

    1. Change your mindset

    The main job of a startup founder is to raise funds — this is something that gets drilled in at incubators, accelerators and other mentorship programs. Accordingly, a founder’s focus often lies in beautifying their startup for investors, i.e. finding ways to boost KPIs even if it’s unsustainable, focusing on design over functionality, and spending big in marketing to demonstrate growth.

    When pursuing profitability, this must be unlearned. Growth cannot be cosmetic, and for many, that demands a change in mindset. Goals and priorities must be redefined. Forget maximizing sign-ups; focus on paying customers; forget vanity metrics; focus on conversions; forget your personal wants; focus on business needs.

    Note that this doesn’t mean you should stop fundraising, but you probably will have to revise your pitch deck.

    Related: How to Fund Your Business With Venture Capital

    2. Optimize your business

    A changed mindset is not enough—you need to get in the trenches and optimize, optimize, optimize. For a regular business, your runway is limited, and if you don’t bring your balance sheet into the green, then it’s game over.

    Here’s one specific area to pay attention to: startups often hyperfocus on client acquisition and neglect user retention. They’ll pay through their nose to get a signup but invest little in ensuring clients stick around, leading to a profitability-killer combo of high CPA (cost per acquisition) and a high churn rate.

    As my co-founder always tells our clients: “All you need is 100 loyal customers for a successful full-time business.” We adopted the same mentality, going for quality over quantity.

    Tackling this was a cornerstone of our journey to profitability. We went to great lengths to understand specifically when and where our clients churn and put all our effort into answering their pain points to ensure people keep using our services. This way, you’ll get more bang for every buck you’ve invested in acquisition.

    3. Expand your offering

    Unless you’ve been striving for profitability since day one, chances are it’s going to take you a very long time to reach it. In fact, it may be impossible to reorient your business quickly enough. For this reason, it’s wise to look into additional revenue streams that can support your business while it turns over a new leaf. This can be anything from additional services to new products. For example, my CPG startup allows anyone to start a side hustle or full-blown business selling on-demand supplements, cosmetics, and packaged foods. However, to start selling, our customers need to set up an online store where they can direct their customers.

    While our customers found our platform easy to use, they struggled to set up a store – so we began offering assistance with this as a separate service. Essentially, we leveraged our existing expertise to offer ecommerce development services, which was critical in extending our runway.

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    Martins Lasmanis

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  • Want to Keep Your Customers? Keep It Simple — Here’s Why. | Entrepreneur

    Want to Keep Your Customers? Keep It Simple — Here’s Why. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s a common issue among businesses of all sizes, startups and franchises. It plagues the customer experience, strains sales teams, and overcomplicates or creates unnecessary billing. What may have started with simplicity in mind after staying on the core of your messaging has turned into expanded service offerings, sometimes without clear reasoning or need. An overcomplication of products or services, typically by adding too many, depleting servicing of the core offerings, and other complications arise, removing the ease of access and simplicity the core customer base has enjoyed. All can lead to a drop in sales, dissatisfaction, and, if prolonged, continued loss of market share.

    Related: Why Simplicity Matters in Product Development

    Why do businesses stray from simplifying their services?

    Too many startups and businesses get stuck in this ongoing trap of trying to match competitors or thinking that more products or services increase sales. Competing franchises commonly do this with benefits and even product or service naming. The constant pull to innovate, offer and announce something new, and be more top of mind to intended audiences can pull businesses into continuous change and unique offerings that distract from the excellent, existing services already offered. Additionally, efforts towards brand realignment or placing the entire brand into new messaging that aligns differently from the core audience regarding values, market segment, or need can cause significant disruption or even PR nightmares.

    What can be done to maintain a balanced service offering and customer experience?

    There will always be a need to innovate, better serve an existing customer base, and maintain market share in an ever-increasingly volatile market. Constant change will remain consistent. However, that does not mean that every brand’s reaction to change is a change of its own. Depending on the market segment, consistency may be the best, most profitable strategy to stand out in the loud noise of change from competitors.

    In business, and frankly, in life, there is sometimes nothing easier than reacting to change with more change. Change occurs for no reason, an impulse to change for the sake of change (without strategy), or change because someone (likely a competitor) is changing or revamping their offerings to the market. Just because someone else is embarking on change for the sake of change does not mean your business should also change. Best steps first — map or remap your customer experience strategy.

    Start with breaking down barriers for your current customer base. If a startup, a vital part of any customer experience strategy right after mapping how customers find you is how easy it is for those potential customers to purchase first, purchase well (best fit for their needs), and purchase again. Start to build key messaging around how your startup fills a need better than what is currently available and how your services are more accessible to utilize than anyone else. Part of that key messaging should include a commitment to consistency and reliability with systems that continuously offer simplistic processes. As a startup, you are taking market share from others for a reason. When growth happens, remember what first propelled that growth.

    For an existing business through the startup phase, the magic happens when simplicity can be maintained. New employees must be hired through launch and scale, and additional layers and systems are established. It is so easy to build layers that have added complications. With each layer, a founder or CEO must understand that it represents another wall between the customer base and revenue. While it is true that only some employees are customer-facing and even revenue-generating, their importance in keeping the business streamlined, simplistic, and consistent matters as much as hitting sales goals or keeping accounting up to date.

    Related: Here’s Why You Should Embrace Simplicity as a Strategy (and 3 Ways to Do It)

    Use simplicity as a sales strategy

    Stop trying to be everything to everybody. It is a phrase used often and commonly overlooked. If your startup or existing business is winning with clear key messaging, has a core audience that remains loyal and advocates for your brand, and scale looks like your brand continues to be a market leader for the solutions offered, do not let up on that core. Use it as a selling point in the sales strategy your brand incorporates. Too often, sales techniques and selling points sound more like an encyclopedia than bullet points of solutions. Or worse, service offerings are just repackaged solutions already offered that only add complexity and do not differentiate your brand from competitors.

    A simplified sales strategy — including the sales funnel, offerings, and ease of customer access and journey through the sales process and service after the sale — is rare. Think about the last time you needed assistance from a massive Fortune 500 call center or online support. If the customer journey experience your brand has developed is a better experience over rivals, use it in sales! Most have been dissatisfied with service from others in the past, and it is overlooked by many in sales as a selling point.

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    Adam Horlock

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