Growth is central to any startup. Startups are predominantly defined by the potential of its growth. Despite paramount importance of growth, almost every startup struggles with maintaining a consistent growth.
Sometimes, it is easy to identify reasons behind sluggish growth and other times it is difficult. A consistent slow growth, despite 100% effort, often has to do with product-market fit. Other times, it is more about focus and execution.
While achieving a consistent fast growth is hard, it is not impossible. There are companies that are doing it successfully. Chaldal, a local grocery ecommerce startup, is one of those companies that has achieved pretty amazing growth.
In 2013, the year Chaldal started, the startup was delivering 5 orders a day. After 3 years, it now delivers 600 orders a day and is growing fast. The company eyes for a 300-400% growth in every six months.
Recently, in an interview with Future Startup, we asked Chaldal CEO Waseem Alim about its growth strategy and he has some very effective ideas to drive growth.
Retention is the key
“I think of growth in two ways: acquisition and retention”, said Waseem, “for now, our focus is on retention.” We have found that this strategy is central to any solid growth plan.
There is a 5 stage growth hacking model called AARRR coined by Dave McClure of 500 Startups. The model suggests that you usually go through a 5 steps growth model, starting with the acquisition and ending with revenue while trying growth.
While acquisition is important for a fast growth, retention is what helps you sustain your growth. It means, in order to have a solid growth, you have to focus on retention.
Chaldal has a great retention rate. “Our retention rate is now around 60-70% ,” said Waseem, “which is a good number but we are working hard to push that number further.”
Experiment and find that works
Growth is a continuous process. Finding drivers of your growth is a matter of relentless pursuit. You have to try a lot of things in order to find something that fits you. “The strategy is that you keep pushing until it works,” said Waseem.
