{"id":41051,"date":"2023-10-20T15:11:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/four-tips-for-bootstrapping-from-workfast-a-startup-that-hit-1-million-in-revenue-within-two-months-of-launching-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:11:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:11:25","slug":"four-tips-for-bootstrapping-from-workfast-a-startup-that-hit-1-million-in-revenue-within-two-months-of-launching-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/four-tips-for-bootstrapping-from-workfast-a-startup-that-hit-1-million-in-revenue-within-two-months-of-launching-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Four tips for bootstrapping from Workfast, a startup that hit $1 million in revenue within two months of launching – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Workfast<\/div>\n

Founders should take a work-in-progress approach to getting their venture off the ground, according to one Sydney entrepreneur whose startup hit $1 million in revenue within two months.<\/p>\n

Sydney-founded Workfast is an online platform enabling businesses to hire workers at short notice around Australia.<\/p>\n

Two months after launching in September 2016, it topped $1 million in revenue and within the next 18 months, Workfast co-founder and chief executive Tim Nieuwenhuis is aiming to hit\u00a0$30 million.<\/p>\n

With no external investment to date, Nieuwenhuis says he and the team have grown Workfast\u2019s client base to 8000 temp workers and 400 businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get three to 500 applications a day,\u201d he tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

While online recruitment platforms are not new, stemming back from veterans like Seek through to new players like Sidekicker<\/a>, Nieuwenhuis says Workfast addresses a real problem in the market.<\/p>\n

Most of the businesses using the platform come from the warehousing, mining, building and construction industries. The platform gives these businesses access to workers who\u00a0have not only been screened and interviewed, but are insured for public liability and workers’ compensation, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe created the platform to fill a need,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

While Workfast already has runs on the board,\u00a0Nieuwenhuis says it’s not an overnight success. The Workfast team spent around 18 months testing, tweaking, iterating and developing the product before releasing the full version.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven after launch, we had to pivot a little bit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the experience, Nieuwenhuis shares four tips for startups to grow without external funding.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t start with a complete product<\/h3>\n

When launching a new venture, Nieuwenhuis believes founders should take a work-in-progress approach to their product or service.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t release your product fully done,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreate a website, put a 1300 number there, do advertising and see how many people call.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t just create a landing page, create a website [and] take the time to make it look like a real business that\u2019s up and running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once this is done, track how many people call, what they want and when you start selling, track all costs, says\u00a0Nieuwenhuis.<\/p>\n

\u201cTest how many people call and see how much [each customer] costs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers are going to ask you over the phone what they want and you make the product to suit that.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Identify your target customers and figure out quickly how to reach them<\/h3>\n

In terms of raising brand awareness and driving sales as a new startup, Nieuwenhuis says it\u2019s important to figure out quickly who the target customers are, where they hang out, and when. Startups can then use this information to create an effective advertising strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdvertise everywhere and see what gets the best response,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacebook is great for exposure but usually doesn\u2019t convert into paying customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instagram and Snapchat are good for targeting younger customers, says Nieuwenhuis, while he believes selling on affiliate markets like Ebay and Amazon is an effective but cheaper alternative to advertising.<\/p>\n

\u201cFind out where your marketplace is and that goes for every single business,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a marketplace for your business.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Keep tracking and proving the business model<\/h3>\n

Nieuwenhuis says it\u2019s vital to calculate and track profit and losses with each transaction and product tweak.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure you know those figures to the absolute cent because when you talk to investors that\u2019s all they\u2019ll care about,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Even if a startup has no plans to raise capital, Nieuwenhuis\u00a0says thinking like an investor with high benchmarks on business and financial modelling can push founders to really consider the robustness, sustainability and viability of new ventures.<\/p>\n

These numbers will tell you if your business will work, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the gross revenue, net revenue and operational costs?\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t fall in love with\u00a0an idea<\/h3>\n

\u201cBe agnostic about what you want to do \u2013 don\u2019t be romantic,\u201d says Nieuwenhuis.<\/p>\n

While having an end vision is crucial, Nieuwenhuis believes founders should keep an open mind and pay close attention to what the market wants and will pay for.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave an idea of where you want to get but the path on how you get there may change everyday,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Nieuwenhuis says Workfast has gone through many iterations and he’s aware the future could see the business branch into many different verticals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings can change 100 different times,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll go broke if you\u2019re stubborn about [change].”<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Founders should take a work-in-progress approach to getting their venture off the ground, according to one Sydney entrepreneur whose startup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41051"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}