Your Startup will follow the S-curve Phenomenon! Here is what you must know about it

Every other article is about the newest model to understand entrepreneurship or some personality trait that entrepreneurs have. But quite rarely will they be of any actual relevance. In the midst of all these, it’s very easy to lose sight of the truly important concepts.

One of the crucial phenomena that leadership teams should be aware of is the S-curve.

So, is it the solution to my entrepreneurial problems?

Yes! and No! As it is a phenomenon, it’s not something you do, rather something that naturally happens.

If you can’t control it, and it happens ‘naturally’ then how is it important?

Because this is something bound to happen, being aware of it gives you crucial insight into the future. Decision-making becomes more accurate with this information.

This is what an S-curve looks like:

Such a simple figure, but we fail to understand it.

The Liner growth of the human life

We fail to understand it because we are used to a fairly-linear growth chart. For example, A child’s growth, children first grow quite quickly before settling on a constant linear growth path, and we expect the same from our startups too.

Note 1: We expect growth to be Linear because of our intuition

Explanation of the S- curve 

In the initial phases of our startups, we often feel that things are not moving, and the slow progress becomes frustrating. But then things start to pick up until the inflexion point, after which the startups face the growth spurt.

In this phase, actions happen. Hiring new people to accommodate the demand, upgrading to bigger spaces, raising money and making investments. Now, the startups start feeling undefeated at this stage. As if the trajectory will remain the same forever, and nothing will change.

Note 2: When things are going good we mistakenly believe it will remain unchanged. Time has other plans.

 Even though we want it from the bottom of our hearts for things to remain the same. And, some businesses take more time than others, but, slowly the pace decreases, orders start to decrease, the growth rate decreases, and everyone starts to panic. 

“Why is this happening?” – An employee

“We’ve done nothing wrong!” – An another employee

“We’re doing the same thing we’ve always done! Why isn’t it working?” – An another another employee.

Statement of the another-another employee is exactly the problem. Dear friends, we are now reaching the top of the S-curve where again things are starting to slow down.

Why does this happen?

– That’s just the way things in innovation go.

– Peoples and teams reach a flat point in productivity.

– Markets and customer segments get saturated.

– Technologies progress.

Note 3: Remaining unchanged in the problem in itself.

Execution of insights from S-curve 

What can we derive from the S-curve phenomenon?

– Now that we know the popularity of our product is destined to wane. You can start thinking about your next product before it’s too late. In the steep phase, when everything is doing great, coming up with a new product idea is indeed hard, but it’s something you must do.

– Try to map out realistically where you are on the S-curve. Then adapt your strategies and executions accordingly.

Note 4: Knowing at what stage your business will empower you to make a better decision.

To summarize, understanding that a startup’s growth trajectory is non-linear S-shaped will grant your business the ability to anticipate the innovative market, create new products and lead the startup or innovation team to success.