Build Demand
How do we win it, at a cost that works?
Question 04 of 08. Choose: where does the next growth come from? 3 to 5 years.
Channel economics, route to market, what a customer costs and how long they take to pay it back, and whether the sales motion matches the deal size. The frequent finding is that the channel is wrong rather than the effort insufficient.
In distribution-led businesses it is starker: more margin sits with the intermediary than the manufacturer, and no amount of sales effort changes that structure.
Same question, two businesses
Funded scale-up
Series A or B, equity, a clock
The central question
Usually the central question, and the one the next round depends on. Payback period and the point where paid acquisition stops scaling efficiently are the two numbers that matter.
Promoter-led business
Debt, retained earnings and cash flow
Channel, not headcount
The instinct is to add salespeople. The analysis usually points at channel structure, dealer margin, or coverage design.
The work behind this question
Facing this question now?
Most companies need two or three of the eight, in the right order. Tell us where you are and we will tell you which ones bind.