FinTech Companies: Steps to Follow For Growth

We are all familiar with the statistics that state that most FinTech will fail within five years. Even with those odds many entrepreneurs are determined to face the challenge to run their own business. Whether we are driven by passion, determination, confidence to solve a particular problem in the market CEOs want to be successful. But passion and determination is not enough to make it in this environment and economy. FinTech start-up companies want to be successful and ultimately make money but many face challenges in order to be successful over the long term.

One of the hardest things for an entrepreneur to do is to be objective about their business. Many feel the business is an extension of them so if it is failing, the CEO is a failure. But remember, there are some specific steps that can be taken in order to provide an assessment of the FinTech company and what steps can be taken to address matters before they could become critical?

In working with FinTech companies, going back to the basics, can save money and avoid some common pitfalls. I have found a simple SWOT Analysis identifying the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of the business then based on this analysis compiling Key Performance Indicators (KPI) is a good start. So before we start, I know before doing this exercise some may think, this is crazy, I do not have a clear vision of my company weaknesses or I am afraid to identify them. If this is the case, collaborate with someone who knows your business and can provide honest feedback. So grab that blank sheet of paper and let’s begin.

Start listing all the strengths of your business. What positive feedback do you receive from your customers verbally or through social media? How does your company stand out when compared with others in the industry? What key successes have you experienced with your product? What is the feedback from your employees or associates about your business? Strength is something that is viewed as positive when it comes from yourself or through your survey. This is the first step and probably the easiest.

Next let’s list the weaknesses of your company? When looking at your competitive landscape, what are the company shortfalls? What negative feedback do you receive about your company or products? Think of some negative experiences and then extract some weaknesses or challenges about your company from that experience.

Compiling your list of strengths and weaknesses is only half the work. What are the opportunities for your business? If you had a clear view into the future, what are the trends of your industry? You may have do some research on this one. How is your company ready to meet these opportunities?

Let’s continue by listing the threats of your business. Here you can list the things, if they occur, that can threaten your business. Is it around regulatory requirements? What about the economy or your local environment? Has a significant economic downturn hit causing you to think about the viability of your business?

I suggest being liberal in listing the SWOTs. The longer the list the better because it indicates you are allowing yourself to brainstorm and not hamper the process. You can always eliminate some of the crazy ideas later. Once you see the SWOTs in front of you, it is time to draw some conclusions to begin to build your Key Performance Indicators. Here is where I like to continue the brainstorming. My goal is to identify what the analysis shows and what attention is needed.

Based on the SWOT analysis below are some questions to ask? How do my strengths measure up? What can I do to neutralize my weaknesses? What are the opportunities facing my company and what can I do to prepare for them? If I am not ready, what do I need to do to benefit from these opportunities. Is my company ready to handle the threats identified and how can risk be mitigated?

This is just the start of identifying what steps are needed to address your business. I remember working with a FinTech company a number of years ago that had a solid product could not partner with some of the larger banks. After going back to the drawing board to redesign their solution, acquire talent with strong big bank relationships they were able to build up a solid pipeline with some of the larger financial institutions. Building a solid strategic plan cannot be ignored but can add positively to the bottom line.

The Walker Group provides business development and advisory services to FinTech companies. Our varied market segments enables us to identify synergies and opportunities to stimulate growth as we partner with our clients to build their business. Through our one-on-one CEO Advisory Services we have helped companies to navigate through the key business problems, increase sales, build new revenue streams and gain new customers.