5 Leadership Strategies Employed by Progressive Fintech Startups

  With the current harsh economic climate pervading our world, providing the right leadership is very pivotal to any institution’s survival and growth. In this, startups are not left behind when it comes to providing strong leadership. Studies have shown that there will be a long-term growth rate of 2% through 2024, thus, FinTechs and other financial institutions are tipped to face a favourable outlook.

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However, the current inflation and high-interest rates can demoralize startups and their leadership and employees. Therefore, this article provides 5 key insights progressive FinTech startups are adopting to maintain a steady flow and consistent drive in the present storm.

• Remain Customer-centric In All Operations

During these stormy times, leading FinTech startups across the globe are engaging in “Customer First” business operations. Customers are the heart of every strategy, decision and operation. Startup banks need to provide personalized support to customers and members during this distressing period. They must ensure that personalized banking remains a culture as studies have shown that leading startups have designed their operations around the customers. According to a study by Fannie Mae, customers prefer to perform early tasks, such as the mortgage process or completing an application, online. Seventy per cent of respondents are inclined toward sending documents digitally. Nonetheless, as customers get intensified into their mortgage path, they prefer speaking to a loan officer or getting undertakings done in person. Thus, progressive FinTechs understand this and embody the customer centre of their business by embracing mortgage technology that promotes a true omnichannel environment.

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• Keep Empowering Employees

This period is a tough one for startups and needs all the hands they can muster. Therefore, leading FinTechs are presently focused on employee development. According to several studies,  retaining employee enthusiasm and motivation is the biggest leadership challenge FinTech leaders face. Studies in the past indicated how startups in the last few years have stretched resources thin, while the waning activity now creates concerns over job security. However, leading startups are taking proactive approaches such as focusing on career journeys and development initiatives over single opportunities in empowering employees while wading off work disengagement. For example, some processors might want to become loan originators or they might want to become underwriting assistants or underwriters. Therefore, creating development pathways within the workplace can keep employees’ flames aglow. By readying your workforce to progress throughout the company and follow r path toward career satisfaction, progressive leaders are developing a home-grown pool of talent and preparing leaders of the future.

• Revamp Communication Strategies

Technology has changed how we communicate both within a business and across society. Calculate over centre cent of Nigerian youths watching YouTube videos in 2021, a per centre cent increase over the previous year to over 40 million ng actively on Facebook, you will understand that there is a need to revamp your communication strategies. Leading FinTech startups across the continent and beyond use diverse communication preferences to better connect with both employees and customers or members. For example, developing audio training materials make it easier for staff to complete employee development initiatives, while how-to podcasts create engagement opportunities with both employees and customers or members.

• Enable Internal Cooperation and Commitment to Overall Goals

While customers might be at the heart of any company’s operation, the internal structure is certainly the life-wire of any business, including FinTechs. There are numerous cases where a harsh economic climate tends to break or has broken the internal structures of FinTechs and other financial institutions. For example, the sales team and the operations team may be at war with each other over delayed assignments from either party or just a simple miscommunication. Internal disharmony can affect the whole process.

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On the other hand, progressive-minded founders understand how to unify teams behind organizational goals, often using advancements in technology to facilitate teamwork and harmony by making it easier to share information.

• Utilize Technology To Drive Down Costs

Recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association reveals that lender profitability followed a continuous decline throughout 2021. Further studies indicate that startups will continually face decline due to the present economic realities and might even dovetail into 2023. For refined FinTech leaders, yet, weakening latitudes offer a stimulus to trim costs through technology adoption. Recent advancements, such as cloud-based services and APIs, make it easy for FinTechs to develop end-to-end digital workflows or to streamline operations with bolt-on capabilities. Hence, it is advisable to take advantage of technology this creates sustainable and repeatable processes capable of decreasing costs.

Final Words

Sustaining a digital banking platform in a very harsh economic climate, which is experienced globally, can be challenging for startup leaders. However, there are strategies FinTechs in Nigeria and across must adopt if they desire to stay afloat. This article shared five strategies, which include: designing operations around customers, empowering your workforce, enhancing communication outlets, ensuring internal cooperation among team members and employing technology to drive down costs. Featured Image Source: Vanguard News

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This article was first published on 15th November 2022

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