Sufficient revenue need to sustain a startup

Sufficient revenue need to sustain a startup

Speakers in a dialogue meeting concerned that without sufficient revenue in the growth stage, a startup will find it difficult to become profitable in the long run. This ever-popular argument of growth vs profitability in startups was the highlight of the Startup Conference session on Day 2 of BASIS SoftExpo 2023. Moderated by Shahriar Rahman, Editor, Toggle, The Daily Star, the lively debate session featured two teams, each representing growth and profitability and their respective importance in the development of startups. The growth team consisted of Sadia Hoque, Founder of ShareTrip, and Waseem Alim, CEO and Founder of Chaldal. The opposing team, defending profitability, was Fahim Mashroor, Founder of Bdjobs.com, and Biplob Ghosh Rahul, Founder & CEO of eCourier Ltd. The two teams talked about their respective factor - growth or profitability - what comes first in a startup and which factor deserves the most attention for any growing startup founder. Speakers said, Growth and profitability: two important factors for startups that vary based on the company stage of development. In the early stages, a startup will often prioritise growth over profitability to acquire new customers and advertise its product in a competitive market. As a startup gains traction and gains a foothold in the market, it will often choose to focus on profitability to cement itself as a top contender - investing more in marketing and product development. However, without sufficient revenue in the growth stage, a startup will find it difficult to become profitable in the long run. Consequently, without profits to drive business growth, even a fully-grown company will suffer and be doomed to fail. "Both locally and internationally, there have not been any startups that have been able to raise funds by not showing their existing growth," stated Sadia. "Investors will never define a startup based on profitability alone." According to her, it is important to see the extent of a startup vision in terms of growth - how much of the market and how many customers are being acquired.