By Fernando Berrocal

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We all know that startup entrepreneurs love a good challenge.  Why even attempt to  launch a business if it’s not gratifying? While starting a brand-new business is an exciting adventure, doing so with your funding is quite another thing.  This is especially true when you're up against businesses with million-dollar budgets. No doubt about it; this is a really difficult task to take on.  However, it is not impossible.  

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You might be located in a highly monopolized, highly technological business sector–yet you may win by applying transparency throughout every aspect of your business operations. This goes from product creation to business pricing– even company culture.  By doing this, you will discover that there are significant benefits to having transparency as a primary tenet of your business (whether you're bootstrapping or not).

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This may occasionally include rejecting an order by stating that your product is not a great fit (yet). In the end, this openness will help your business develop a solid reputation and encourage word-of-mouth recommendations.  In addition, you will bring in better quality clients. These can substantially lower your advertising expenses.

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Lower Costs for Acquiring Customers

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Getting new customers can be a time-consuming and expensive undertaking for most kinds of organizations. And this case presents a much greater difficulty for bootstrapped startups with few resources available. As a result, it might be tempting to embrace a "sell at all costs" approach at the price of transparency with your consumer; however, there are several reasons to reconsider that strategy. 

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You will soon discover that being open and transparent with consumers about their special needs and your capabilities pays off far more in the long term than misleading them to get their business in the short term. A strong, mutually beneficial commercial connection will also emerge as a result of this practice between you and your customer.

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This may occasionally include declining a business order by stating that your service is not a good fit at all. In the end, this openness and sincerity will help your business develop a solid reputation in its industry and promote word-of-mouth referrals–in addition to bringing in better quality customers on the market. These can substantially lower your overall advertising costs.

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Greater Comprehension of Your Consumer Requirements

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Making transparency a part of your internal corporate culture has several additional rewards. The consumer eventually suffers as a result of the sometimes huge disconnect between staff who deal with customers and those who deal with internal issues. In most cases, salespeople and support teams don't have the right channels for communicating with the developers who are in charge of creating the required solutions about what they are learning in the field. To facilitate internal communication and provide the best possible solution for your clients, it is strategically advantageous to decide to maintain all development and support in-house and to do away with private business offices and business conference rooms.

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This similar approach may assist your startup team for various types of businesses to connect with clients and collaborate toward a common objective. The main advantage of working in a shared environment is being able to communicate with one another and quickly share important and relevant information.  This way, you are constantly providing a pleasant overall customer experience in every possible way.   Popular internal solutions like Slack can facilitate overall long distance communication. Making openness the cornerstone of your business will enable you and your customers to see a clear route to success on the long path.

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Increased Client Loyalty

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Your final customers are more likely to stay with you if you are open and honest with them about your product. Client retention is an important consideration for both bootstrapped startups and large organizations alike. This occurs since it might cost from 5 to 25 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer. You will find that billing transparency is a very successful strategy for keeping any current clients with the organization. 

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Customers frequently have no idea what they are paying for or what they will truly need in the upcoming future. For instance, this has caused numerous businesses to upsell their clients on unnecessary bundles in the telecom industry. However, the same issue continues in several other businesses as well, eventually leading to poor levels of client satisfaction and trust.

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It's critical to treat your customers fairly since they are the ones who determine your organization's success in many ways. This entails collaborating closely with them to better comprehend their business demands to avoid compromising their loyalty. Customers will continually reward you with ongoing loyalty that prohibits them from switching to a rival.  Simply give them the opportunity to be upfront with you (regarding feedback), and utilizing your knowledge to help them determine what is best for them.

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Any type of business must include transparency as a key aspect. Lower your costs to acquire customers, build a deep understanding of your customer requirements, and focus on increasing your client loyalty.  These tenets work together, under the shared principle of transparency, to improve any business strategy.

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Ready to bring your startup to the next level? Apply to MassLight’s next batch. MassLight supplies capital and a dedicated tech team. We take equity in return. Have questions? Refer to our FAQ page.