SMSPortal – From Bootstrap to Big Business

Lessons for entrepreneurs hoping to grow their start-up into a Global Powerhouse

It may come as no surprise to hear the name SMSPortal used synonymously with Omni-channel cloud communications. A 75 million dollar bootstrapped start-up that grew organically over the past 18 years, now dominating the global messaging market, shared a few lessons to their success.

The A2P messaging market is a competitive landscape and competing for customers meant SMSPortal needed to get a few things right in their pursuit of global success.

Recognising its potential for scale, and applying a few hard leant lessons to their formula for success, the founders outlined a few cornerstone lessons that entrepreneurs should stick to when starting up.

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#1 No need for a unicorn, but be exceptional

It’s not necessarily about finding a unicorn idea – SMSPortal simply leveraged an existing opportunity and did it better than anybody else. The lure of being all things to all people is often a trap for new entrepreneurs. Avoid over diversifying, find a niche and focus on it.

#2 When starting out, the environment matters

People matter, and the age old proverb “Steel sharpens steel” rings true. Gravitate towards people with a similar mindset, attitude and vision – a like-minded environment keeps the focus. This is paramount when starting out as too often the environment is the downfall of many young entrepreneurs.

#3 Trust the process

Success is not luck, there is a process, trusting this helps reproduce that success, and prevents complacency. Keeping the process, direction and goals consistent is the most effective way to take the step from good to great.

#4 Teams are an extension of their leaders – hire right

The number one lesson of them all, scaling correctly requires the correct people. Hiring right was the reason SMSPortal was able to continue growing. Hiring the right people meant trust, ownership and responsibility could be spread across teams. Without this any start-up is headed for an inevitable growth ceiling.

SMSPortal continues to grow from its bootstrapped roots and the lessons learnt should provide a perfect platform for other young start-ups wanting to succeed.

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