InApril2023weconductedasurveytoestablishtimetakenbystartupstocomeupwith sustainableandprofitablebusinessmodelsThiswasinformedbythedefinitionofstartupas statedby(SteveBlankandBobDorfintheirbookthestartupownersmanualwhichdefines startupsas"temporaryorganizationsinsearchofascalable,repeatable,profitablebusiness models"
Thesurveywasconductedin10Africancountries:KenyaGhanaNigeriaZambiaTanzania ZimbabweSouthAfricaAlgeriaUgandaandNamibiawith80startupfoundersasrespondents Thefindingsindicatedthat85%ofstartupsareindeedstillsearchingforprofitablebusiness modelsironicallyittooklessthan12monthsofthe45%oftherespondentstocomeupwith sustainableandprofitablebusinessmodelsand36.3%respondentstook2-4years.whileonly 113%didnothaveasustainablebusinessmodelyet74%oftherespondentswereregistered betweenyear2019-2023andspreadoutfrom10+businesssectorshowever42.5%were predominantlyinagrifoodsectorfollowedbyIT&energy/environment
Wewerekeentoknowiftheygototherrelatedproductsthey'reworkingonandhowmanythe findingsindicated
15%oftherespondentshad1
313%had2
325%had3
21.3%hadover5otherrelatedproducts
Muchastheywerebothsearchinganddoing"someexecution"moststartupscouldn'tfigure outtheobscurelinethatbringsaboutmetamorphosisfromastartuptoacorporateandthisis wherethedangerzoneisbecauseininnovationweusedifferentmetricsinsearchingfor probablesolutionsthroughrunningseveralexperimentsandtotallydifferentmetricsin executionofproductsthatalreadyhavetraction.Thisconfusionisvalidasnoneunderstoodat whatpointtheyshouldfocusoncoreproductsandofferdesirableinvestmenttoachieveasolid outcomeunlikeestablishedcorporates.Thepurposehereisnottocreateawarenessofthe dualrolesplayedbystartupsbuttohelpstartupsdeveloptransitoryskillsneededforexecution andestimatedtimelinesthatwouldaidentrepreneursmovefromacaterpillartoabutterflyora tadpoletoafrogandstillretaintheirexploratoryrolesasestablishedbusinesses