In chapter 4 of Ascend Your Startup, Yu discusses scaling up your initial market. This involves identifying any issues or product/market fit disconnect as it is a position often overlooked by startups. Marketing only gets you so far so it is also imperative that you can keep delivering your product to all of those who want it by being attentive to distribution channel strategy and scaling with your customer base.
Determining what distribution channel will be the best pathway to your customers is the next decision on your journey. Now that you know the competitive landscape, you have a brand, and brought a product to market, it is time to make sure you can deliver in a way that perfectly match market demand. Being unable to consistently deliver your product early on can turn away your customer base without a second chance. Examples of distribution channels could be cold call reps, direct sales, independent software vendors, original equipment, resellers, system integrators, and online marketplaces.
The next decision that is needed will be the pricing strategy. The mistake that many early startups make is practically selling things at costs or operating at a loss to capture a customer base. Your pricing model should be built in a way that encourages upsells after you have done the proper research into your target customer base and what they would be willing to pay for your product.
The final decision discussed in this chapter is how will you help your customer's customer scale and grow. When your customers begin to rely on your solution in order to scale their own business, it is imperative you grow with them in order to meet their demands. Your product should also make your customer good, thus driving both of your growth.
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