Lean startup methodology: the role it plays in business growth

Lean startup methodology offers an approach for gauging the interest of the customers in a particular product and how a business establishment can refine the product to meet the expectations of the customers. 

 

 

In reality, most business organizations are always skeptical about introducing a new product into the market because they cannot predict how it will be received by the customers. Without mincing words, introducing a new product can be risky. 

Also, according to Harvard Business School, 75% of all startups usually fail globally. Lean startup methodology offers a paradigm shift from the failures that most business owners and entrepreneurs usually face in their bid to introduce a new product or service to the customers.

Lean startup methodology offers business organizations a method to leverage the desire of the customers rather than dictating what you will provide for the customers. It is the process of developing a product that aims to reduce product development cycles and deduce swiftly the viability of a proposed business model.

Besides, Lean startup methodology is anchored on driven experimentation, iterative product releases, and validated learning. Lean startup methodology is embraced by startup organizations to reduce their risks by building their product iteratively to meet the needs of the customers and helping them in guarding against failures on the part of the product.

As a tool, lean startup methodology is the propellant needed to drive the growth of a startup business and eliminate uncertainties. Sinnaps, online project management will assist entrepreneurs in implementing their business model by aiding them in analyzing the feedback of their market experimentation painstakingly. 

It is a planning tool that will help you in building on the feedback system that will enable you to develop a product that will be accepted by the customers.

 

Lean startup method

 

The lean startup method is anchored on the five principles which help startup business organizations in expenses and time management. The five principles are listed below;

• Anyone can become an entrepreneur: with the lean startup method, everyone can be successful in entrepreneurship by creating a new product or service without any clear path in view. There are loads of business opportunities that entrepreneurs can take advantage of in creating a successful business model.
• Enterprises require thorough management: this enables you to know the business requires strategic planning and management aimed at meeting the needs of the customers. Proper management is crucial to the success of any startup business to avert failure sooner or later.
• Validated learning: every startup organization desires to offer its product to customers and they can do so by adapting to the needs of the target market by learning what the customers want through experimentation to know what works best.
• Innovative accounting: this plays a crucial role in the success of a startup business. They are expected to keep records of tests and analysis to know what is effective. They measure progress on the amount learned about innovation rather than the amount of created work.
• Build – Measure – Learn: the build-measure-learn cycle is the lean startup feedback loop for turning uncertainties, assumptions, and risks into knowledge that will serve as a guide for enhancing the growth of a startup business.

It helps in creating the minimum viable product (MVP). This is established by passing the product through comprehensive tests and the feedback of the users to gather data on how the product is received by targeted users. If it is effective, what is learned from the feedback is improved upon in an iterative process.

 

Lean startup process

 

The lean startup process offers business managers a model for eliminating wasteful practices and improving value-enhancing activities during the early stage of an organization.

 The lean startup process is built on entertaining feedback from the customer during the product development phase to save business management from investing in design failures that do not appeal to the customers.

 The lean startup process is carried out with the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and a continuous development process. Lean start process helps in preventing business organizations from committing huge funds to product development. 

This is executed by releasing a minimum viable product that is yet to be finalized into the market to have the feedback of the customer to aid them in developing a final product that meets the unique needs of the customers. This enables them to measure the success of their product before deciding whether the product will be introduced into the market.

 

Lean startup approach

 

Lean startup approach is a method that builds new businesses based on the conviction that entrepreneurs should investigate, experiment, test, and carry out iteration in the process of developing their products.

 The lean startup approach is different from the age-long principles on how entrepreneurs should seek to launch a new business model. In the traditional approach, entrepreneurs usually develop a business plan spanning over a certain period and plan to raise the fund to bankroll the product development exercise.

Also, the traditional startup approach is centered on developing a product while keeping the product ideas unknown to everyone except the workers and the investors. However, the lean startup approach encourages entrepreneurs to kick-start their business by looking for a business model and testing their business ideas later. The feedback gotten from the potential customers is then used to fine-tune their ideas as they improve on it.

 

Lean project management

 

Lean project management is the application of a lean approach to project management. It helps in delivering more value and less waste in a project. Lean Six Sigma is a method that relies on collaborative teamwork to boost performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation.

No doubt, there are various startup methodologies available to entrepreneurs. Design thinking and lean startup are the startup methodologies that drive the innovation process of creating a business structure in a firm.

Design thinking Lean embraces the human-centered approach, it offers startup businesses with techniques to get at the heart of a business problem and proffer the right solutions. A definition lean startup is a method used by business organizations to introduce a new product to the customers to expand the horizon of their business activities.

In lean startup agile, business owners can combine the principles of both methodologies. Both lean startup and agile will yield an effective product development process that satisfies the expectations of the customers.

 

Gartner design thinking, lean startup, agile

 

Gartner design thinking, lean startup and agile are effective business development methodologies that have been leveraged by business establishments to enhance their growth.

 Design thinking is the creative strategies used during the process of identifying problems and designing solutions by designers, whereas lean startup methodology is used in turning these proposed solutions into business models built on assumptions that are quickly tested with real customers to separate truth from friction, learn and iterate to make the product suitable for the needs of the customers.

Agile on its own is always characterized by frequent and incremental delivery of product and reassessment and adaptation of plans. The use of Gartner design thinking, lean startup, and agile by organizations has helped them in reducing their business risks. Also, they have been able to drive their innovation process as each will complement what is lacking in another to ensure that they deliver quality products or services to their customers.