Make haste slowly – top tip for scaling fintech start-ups

One of the biggest mistakes start-ups usually make is wasting resources on achieving quick-wins instead of focusing on high-value, long-term business opportunities.

Recently, I listened to one of Roger Edwards’s finance marketing podcasts with his guest interviewee, the entrepreneur Daniel Abrahams from the Tel Aviv-based fintech start-up, CurrencyTransfer. Daniel talked about his experience of launching a fintech start-up in the UK and moving the business to Tel Aviv, going into much detail about the lessons learned along the way and their go-to-market strategy and early-stage marketing.

One particular lesson that Daniel shared, which really resonates with my personal idea about the role of marketing in a business’s early days of going into markets, was the importance of a well-defined customer segment. Just like many start-ups in the beginning, Daniel and his partner fell into the trap of overlooking customer segmentation and profiling, and going after everyone interested in the product, regardless of their size, demographic, suitability, etc. After all, in those early days when you have just started a new company, invested all your savings and have a family or household to support, the least you would do is turn down a potential client, right? Well, it depends on your business’s long-term goals and vision…

Are you planning to build the next PayPal, or you are simply looking to provide some sustainable income for you and your team? Quick-wins promise short-term success, but the big, hard-earned acquisitions are the ones that will really help you scale up your business.

Quick-wins don’t make you a market leader, just a follower. – Dave Thomson, Head of Product at Skyscanner

Emperor Augustus once said “Festina lente” or make haste slowly, which is very relevant here. This might strike as common sense, but you would be surprised how often people forget about the simple rules in life when it comes to business and tackling complex situations. 

So, before you go out and start spending your limited cash on all sorts of acquisition channels and tools, look at your target customer segment and identify your ideal customer profile. And, most importantly, once you have come up with the ideal prospect profile, stick to it!

Have you identified your ideal customer profile yet? If you need help with customer segmentation and your marketing strategy, drop me a line at ani.petrova@apmarketingsolutions.co for a free initial consultation.

Who are CurrencyTransfer.com? CurrencyTransfer is an online marketplace platform for international payments that provides businesses with confidence, transparency and the lowest fees when making payments abroad. The company was founded in London in 2014 by Daniel Abrahams and Stevan Litibac. 

The pair have previously set up consumer-facing currency marketplaces MyTravelMoney and MyCurrencyTransfer.

#fintech #startup #marketing #customersegmentation