As a part of the co-creation, you have refined your goals together with your partners. But now it is up to you to realize them. Turn your view inwards again and put your own value chain to the test. It is important to understand which requirements your problem-solving entails for your startup.
The watchdogs
Part of the requirements arise from your regulatory environment. For example, if you work in the FinTech, LegalTech or InsurTech industry, it is obvious that regulators will play a role. It is important to find out which regulatory aspects are relevant for you in your offer making process and how you have to handle them. What is certain is that for every idea this aspect must be clarified seriously, because there are always and everywhere regulations. In the early stages of the crowdfunding phenomenon, pioneering platforms for example, sought direct exchange with their respective legislators and even offered self-regulation to meet potential requirements.
»Our banking license gives us enormous competitive advantages through which we change banking fundamentally. Since then, we have been doing everything in-house, and our own compliance experts are therefore close to the supervisory issues. This allows us to expand our product portfolio in line with our ideas and the needs of our customers. «
Valentin Stalf, N26
Your value chain
Your startup is based on a collection of activities in which your product or service is designed, manufactured, distributed, delivered and supported. All these activities can be represented in a value chain. You need to think about the value chain for your startup, display it and find out what you need at which point of the value creation process, in order to then implement it.
More specifically, we are talking about resources that you need, to put your value chain into practice. You have already marked out the human resources in the previous fields of the navigator. If you now notice further gaps in the team and the network at this point, it is important to note these. Also, you should make a classification, which persons or contacts of your team and network at which point in the value chain are relevant or helpful to you.
Make or buy?
If you have identified the requirements for your startup along the value chain, you are faced with the question „Make or buy?“ Do you want to implement everything yourself, or does it make sense to outsource some tasks to external partners? This question describes the decision on the degree of in-house production. Which of my products would I like to produce myself? And which elements can I possibly outsource? Different strategies can lead to success. Even if it is not a startup, the example of the traditional brand Rolex is appropriate here: They indicate their so-called vertical integration with 100%. This means that every single part of the expensive wristwatches is manufactured in-house. The world-famous sporting goods manufacturer Nike, on the other hand, has a vertical integration of 0%. Yes, you read it correctly: Nike does not produce shoes – but sells and markets them!
But before you decide on a path, you should ask yourself where your strengths lie. What can you do best? This is what you need to focus on and outsource other aspects!
Learn more about the fourteenth module “Requirements” of the Startup Navigator in the handbook.
