International Workshop “How to develop your startup through entrepreneurial skills” with Peruvian professionals and Canadian academics

Startup business is booming among young people today. Likewise, the development of entrepreneurship is very rapid lately. Technological support boosts start-up businesses and entrepreneurship to become one of the trending and promising career choices.

STEKOM University together with the CEO of Doctocliq in Peru and academics from the University of Ottawa in Canada held a training on startup business and entrepreneurship on August 28-29 2021. On the first day of this event, Mr. Paul Mendoza and Ms. Kathleen Kemp delivered an excellent presentation about startups. Meanwhile, on the second day, Edwin Zusrony, Ahmad Zaenuri and Zaenal Mustofa as professional lecturers from STEKOM University provided training on the world of entrepreneurship.

Paul Mendoza said that a good product market fit must be able to accommodate the needs of the consumer segment on a large scale. Most startups are not successful because their products do not meet consumer needs, added Paul.

Product market fit in short is a condition when the business is in the market and selects the right customer group according to the product offered. That way, they are satisfied and want others to try it too. Market fit products also require precise measurements to obtain added marketing results. Here are ways to measure product market fit:

How to Measure Product-Market Fit

1. Net promoter score (NPS)

Customer satisfaction is the main key to remember, therefore the net promoter score (NPS) is one of the most suitable methods to measure this concept. With NPS, we can immediately find out feedback from users or customers about a product. In addition, NPS also shows how high the interest of customers is to recommend or promote your product to the people closest to them. If the NPS value is low, you can look for ways to increase it according to the identified deficiencies.

2. Churn rate and retention rate

Churn rate and retention rate are two metrics that are also appropriate to measure whether your business has achieved product-market fit. The higher the churn rate, the lower customer satisfaction. Conversely, if the retention rate is high, customer satisfaction is also good. According to Adjust, the retention rate shows how many people continue to use your product over a period of time after the first use. These two metrics also help in knowing the trends that occur among customers as well as their feedback about your product.

3. Customer lifetime value (CLV)

This metric shows how much profit on average one customer gets as long as they use a product. This is also related to the previous point, which is about the retention rate. The longer someone uses your product, for example an app, the greater the benefits. If the customer lifetime value is high, chances are your company has reached product-market fit.

4. Bounce rate

Bounce rate is another measure that can also reflect whether the product has reached a position of compatibility between the product and the market of a business. If the bounce rate is still high, it means that users quickly leave the product without making any interaction. Ideally, the bounce rate should be below 60% to be considered good.

5. Understand leads and customers

To measure product-market fit, leads and customers are two things that need to be understood in depth. Product-market fit will not be achieved if we cannot convert leads into customers. The low interest of leads to make further purchases means that they are less satisfied with the product used. Well, if that's the case, we have to make improvements so that the product can meet the desired expectations.

The implementation of this workshop ensures the achievement of participants' skills with a number of protocols. This training participant gets a certificate worth 32JP conversion after completing the tasks given by the resource persons and collected through the platform that has been provided. That way, participants who will receive certificates will be guaranteed that they really have the standard competencies targeted in the workshop.

Examples of market fit product implementation:

1. Netflix

Netflix is an example of a company that has achieved product-market fit and maintained it year after year with success. Initially, Netflix was a DVD-lending venture to people who subscribed to its service. However, over time, it adapted and changed to provide cheaper and more practical services as we know it today. This means that Netflix adapts its products according to market needs and ensures that its customers are satisfied with what they get so that they continue to subscribe every month.

2. Google

Besides Netflix, Google is one company that has also maintained its success by applying the concept of product-market fit. Initially, Google as a company that offers search engine products competed with other similar businesses. However, they offer more value with the advertising service that is AdSense. It started when Google realized that businesses around the world needed places to place their ads and made sure they reached the right potential customers. That way, Google outperforms the competition and gets customers who continue to use this feature.