Financial Technology: All You Need To Know About Opening A Financial Technology Startup

Featured article by Luke Johnson, IT technician and freelance writer

What exactly is financial technology?

There may be many definitions of financial technology but just about everyone agrees that it is the next great frontier as far as how we do business. Entirely based on software, financial technology businesses provide services that current financial systems and corporations cannot. It has been describes as innovation in financial services where technology is applied across all the services.

A lot of investment has gone into financial technology in the past year. It has even been seen as a threat to traditional financial services that would cause quite a disruption. This is because financial technology businesses are considered a challenge to regulate, not to mention the data security challenges that a business built entirely on software can face. Nonetheless, investors are betting big on this new venture in finance.

You want to get in? Know your A, B, C…

Like most sensible business people, if you hear a good opportunity, you want to invest in it. If you have been looking to start a business, then financial technology sounds like a really good plan right now.

However, like with any business, you have to know the basics of your business unless you want to end up in a debt review session with a debt counselor. Granted, there are a lot of things you learn on the job, especially when you are dealing with technology. The fact still remains that a good grasp on the basics will ensure that you can easily adapt to any changes and you can build on the basics to improve the functionality of your business.

Here’s what you need to know…

If you want to have a fair shot at success, you must think about these four basic things:

1. Who is your target customer?

Like any business, you have to identify who you are doing all this for. Learn everything you can about them; where they live, where they work, where they hangout, even what they drive. Understanding your target demographic will help you shape you product and marketing strategy in such a way that they are visible and attractive to this demographic.

2. What does your customer want?

The first rule of any new business venture is to find a gap in the market and fill it. Within your target demographic, there could be a gap in how their financial services are being handled. Your job is to figure out what that is and then create a product or service that closes that gap.

3. Who is your competition?

Sports coaches study plays from competing teams before playing against them; you should too. Learning who the competition is and how they work is the best way to make sure that your service is truly unique and even learn how to improve on it.

4. What are your boundaries?

Learning to say ‘No’ is a critical life skill and a necessary one for business. You have to know what exactly you want for your business to know what you don’t want. This applies to policies, people and procedures that are taking you away from the end goal.

 Luke Johnson is an IT technician and freelance writer. His hobbies include hiking and swimming. To know more about debt relief, visit our site.