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competitive edge

our competitive edge comes from our meticulous approach, unrelenting integrity (we highly value honesty and transparency), and we give our clients tech support, training, and local competitor comparison so that their web design projects are completed with greater success, precision, and polish.

Build Then Market is your strategic partner for success!

We use advanced AI to deliver cutting-edge websites and apps—so you can move faster, smarter, and with confidence. Our innovative software streamlines business development, lead generation, and market entry, helping your team expand reach and convert strategy into action.

Whether you're launching a disruptive idea or scaling an established company, we provide expert consulting and platforms that reduce friction, accelerate growth, and enable you to lead. From defining go-to-market strategies to facilitating transactions in high-growth sectors, we help you build markets—not just chase them.

With Build Then Market, we partner with your business to define your strategy and build a thriving market for your groundbreaking solutions.

#MarketIntelligence #BusinessDevelopment #Innovation #Platform #Scaling #GrowthStrategy

Analysis of the Gaps in Your Market​

  1. The "Tech Audit" Lead Magnet: Almost none of the competitors listed above (1-25) offer a "Code/Tech Audit" for SMBs. They focus on "Free Quotes" or "SEO Audits." Your background in code audits is a massive differentiator.
  2. Agile for SMBs: While firms like Hudson Integrated mention "Agile," they rarely explain how it benefits a small business owner. Since you run a small agile tech firm, you can market "Agile" as "Lower Risk / Faster Shipping" for founders.
  3. Low-Code/No-Code Empowerment: Most of these firms want to keep the client on a retainer for small changes. Your "Heart Led" mission to empower through education suggests you should market "Sites you can actually manage yourself." This builds immense trust compared to the "Retainer-lock" model of SmartSites or Peppermonkey.

The web design industry is currently in the later stages of the growth stage in the product life cycle curve. The market is headed towards the saturation stages and will reach it within the next five years. Knowing this, BUILD then MARKET will target customers who primarily fall into the late majority and laggard categories on the Rogers Adoption of Innovation curve. The target audience is composed of business owners and individuals who are late to get their website or any other software technology set up to meet industry expectations. The software should sell itself as the decision makers would be aware of the offerings they lack to remain competitive in their industry. Based on this curve, our main target consumer base makes up roughly 50% of small business owners who either want or need an upgrade right now. Our secondary customer base will be comprised of early adopters who feel it is necessary that they start branding themselves online. These people include entrepreneurs who either want to brand their image and reputation as well as those who want to build their first online store. Many will even fall into the category of those who want an e-commerce website up in order to secure a second form of income. The early adopters can also include high-end doctor, lawyer, and financial personnel who want to market their services online through their own independent website with our analytical dashboard.

We believe that our website would be most appealing to aspiring entrepreneurs and starting small business owners that include shops and stores (non-franchise), local restaurants, movie theaters, bars and clubs, small deli establishments, people who want their first online store presence, bloggers, artists, recreational parks, and entertainment places. Our website would also target educational markets such as schools and libraries as well as teachers who want to brand their own image or create coursework templates online. Our focus would mainly be on first-time business owners and first-time website administrators. Ideally, we would like to venture into the mid-sized market as well, but fierce competition and little reputation would prevent us from doing so early on. However, we can easily reach out to small-business owners anywhere domestically in the United States and around the world. Geographically speaking, BUILD then MARKET will set its sights on potential customers in the Tri-State area and in the Northeast, but being a virtual company location will not be an issue. We also believe in establishing user personas, meaning that we will set up websites based on specific client demands and market based customization. For instance, a restaurant owner’s website will consist of many different pages and tabs, including menus, contact information, and delivery options. Many of our customers will probably appeal to niche markets or alternate substitutes for existing products. We will use our expertise to help them figure out how to capture a particular market, such as novelty or less popular avenues. Our edge lies in the combined services and advanced analytical tools we can offer a broad range of clients. We also plan to invest at least 50% of our retained earnings back into the business to keep it growing.

USPs​

  • in every web development project, we do a meticulous competitor comparison so that our clients can make their web design with greater precision.

types of leverage​

Naval Ravikant, a prominent entrepreneur and investor, has outlined four types of leverage that can be applied to create wealth and scale businesses effectively: labor, capital, code, and media. These concepts are particularly relevant to tech startups, where leverage is critical for rapid growth and impact. Below, I explain how each type of leverage can be applied to a tech startup, based on Naval’s ideas and their practical implications.

1. Labor Leverage​

Definition: Using other people’s time and skills to amplify your output. This involves hiring or collaborating with employees, contractors, or partners to perform tasks that scale your business.

Application to a Tech Startup:

  • Hiring Talent: A startup can hire engineers, designers, or marketers to build and promote the product. For example, a founder with a vision for a SaaS platform can leverage a team of developers to code the product faster than they could alone.
  • Outsourcing: Use freelancers or agencies for non-core tasks (e.g., graphic design, customer support) to focus on high-value activities like product development or strategy.
  • Challenges: Managing people is complex and requires strong leadership. Poor hires or misaligned incentives can reduce effectiveness. In a tech startup, cultural fit and technical expertise are critical to avoid wasted resources.
  • Example: A startup like Airbnb leverages a team of engineers to maintain its platform and customer service reps to handle user inquiries, allowing the founders to focus on strategic growth.

2. Capital Leverage​

Definition: Using financial resources to amplify your business’s reach and capabilities. This involves raising or investing money to scale operations, acquire assets, or accelerate growth.

Application to a Tech Startup:

  • Raising Funds: Secure venture capital, angel investment, or crowdfunding to invest in product development, marketing, or hiring. For instance, a startup might raise $1M to build a scalable cloud infrastructure.
  • Reinvesting Revenue: Use profits to fund growth initiatives, such as expanding server capacity or entering new markets.
  • Paid Marketing: Allocate capital to advertising (e.g., Google Ads, social media campaigns) to acquire users quickly and test product-market fit.
  • Challenges: Capital leverage requires discipline to avoid wasteful spending. Startups must balance growth with sustainable unit economics to avoid burning through cash.
  • Example: Companies like Uber used massive capital infusions to subsidize rides and expand globally, capturing market share before competitors.

3. Code Leverage​

Definition: Using software and technology to create scalable systems that operate with minimal human intervention. Code allows you to automate processes and reach millions of users.

Application to a Tech Startup:

  • Building Scalable Products: Develop software that serves users 24/7 without proportional increases in cost. For example, a startup like Dropbox created a cloud storage solution that scales to millions of users with minimal marginal cost per user.
  • Automation: Use code to automate repetitive tasks, such as billing, user onboarding, or data analysis. Tools like Zapier or custom APIs can streamline operations.
  • Open-Source or APIs: Leverage existing codebases (e.g., open-source libraries) or third-party APIs (e.g., Stripe for payments) to build faster and cheaper.
  • Challenges: Requires technical expertise and ongoing maintenance to ensure reliability and security. Poorly written code can lead to technical debt.
  • Example: Instagram scaled to millions of users with a small team by leveraging code to handle photo uploads, feeds, and notifications automatically.

4. Media Leverage​

Definition: Creating content (text, audio, video) that can be distributed at near-zero marginal cost to reach a large audience and build influence or brand.

Application to a Tech Startup:

  • Content Marketing: Produce blogs, videos, or podcasts to attract users and establish thought leadership. For example, a fintech startup might create YouTube tutorials on personal finance to drive brand awareness.
  • Social Media: Share engaging content on platforms like X or TikTok to build a community and attract customers. Viral content can lead to exponential user growth.
  • User-Generated Content: Encourage users to create content (e.g., reviews, testimonials) that promotes the startup organically, as seen with platforms like Yelp.
  • Challenges: Creating high-quality, consistent content requires time and creativity. Measuring ROI on media efforts can also be difficult.
  • Example: Notion grew its user base through media leverage by creating templates and tutorials shared across social platforms, driving organic adoption.

Key Considerations for Tech Startups​

  • Synergy of Leverage Types: The most successful tech startups combine multiple forms of leverage. For example, a startup like Slack used code (scalable software), capital (VC funding), labor (a talented team), and media (content marketing and word-of-mouth) to grow rapidly.
  • Permissionless Leverage: Naval emphasizes that code and media are “permissionless” (you don’t need anyone’s approval to use them), making them especially powerful for early-stage startups with limited resources.
  • Long-Term Focus: Leverage compounds over time. A startup that invests in reusable code or evergreen content (e.g., a viral explainer video) can see outsized returns as the business scales.

Sources and Context​

Naval Ravikant discussed these concepts in his famous “How to Get Rich” Twitter thread (now on X) and podcast interviews, emphasizing that wealth creation in the modern era relies on leveraging tools and systems. For tech startups, these principles are particularly actionable due to the industry’s focus on scalability and automation. While I didn’t pull specific posts from X or recent web data (as per your preference for no external sources unless necessary), the explanations above align with Naval’s publicly shared ideas and their practical application in the tech startup ecosystem.