Several years ago, a key challenge with launching a new tech startup venture was that there weren’t many precedents to follow.
How do you scale a company? How do you measure growth and costs in a more meaningful way? Does the company have real traction?
Of course, there were knowledgeable people in the tech ecosystem that knew these things – for example, venture capitalists and ex-founders that had been successful with previous ventures – but they were tough to gain access to, and many of their theories and best practices weren’t yet widespread. Fast forward to today, and the practices around new startups are much more established. While this can be a blessing and a curse to new founders, at least a more standardized set of metrics helps to give founders a sense of where their company stands.
Key Startup Metrics, According to VCs
The infographic from Funders and Founders lists 34 startup metrics for founders to know – but which one should be a focus for new ventures? Here’s what three bigtime VCs have said about the startup metrics that they consider to be most important at early stages:
“Month-over-Month Organic Growth”
– Aileen Lee, Cowboy Ventures According to Aileen Lee, who originally came up with the “unicorn” term, organic growth is a particularly useful metric. On the other hand, Bill Gurley of Benchmark says that monitoring conversions is a comprehensive metric that is a good proxy for several key business areas.
“Conversion Rate”
– Bill Gurley, Benchmark Paul Graham, of Y Combinator fame, says that the metric depends on the stage. If you have revenue, then revenue growth is the metric you want. If you’re not there yet, user growth is a good proxy.
“Revenue Growth or Active Users”
– Paul Graham, VC and co-founder of Y Combinator It should also be noted that the most relevant metric to you depends on your business model. For example, MRR (Monthly recurring revenue) and churn rates would be particularly important to SaaS (Software-as-a-service) startups, while MAUs (Monthly active users) and organic traffic may be more important measurements for online media companies. on Every year, millions of new businesses are started across the world—in 2021, nearly 5.4 million new business applications were filed in the U.S. alone. And since startups and new businesses play a significant role in shaping a country’s economic growth, encouraging entrepreneurship is vital. But what types of businesses around the world are people most interested in starting? These maps by ZenBusiness show the most popular types of businesses that entrepreneurs in nearly every country want to start, based on analyzing relevant internet search results.
Most Searched Businesses Around the World
To source the data, ZenBusiness analyzed searches from Ahrefs, specifically looking for the term “start a business” and its equivalents in local languages as of February 2022. They then found the relevant topic or keyword with the highest search volume, and organized the results into 11 different industries:
Beauty & Cosmetics Food & Drink Logistics & Infrastructure Personal Services Recycling Software Development Business & Financial Leisure & Tourism Marketing Real Estate Retail & E-Commerce
The data showed that the industries entrepreneurs are most attracted to vary greatly from country to country, depending on a variety of factors such as infrastructure, business climate, and culture. Here’s a breakdown of the most searched businesses around the world, broken down by region.
Africa
From cooking gas refills in South Africa to supplements in the Gambia, entrepreneurs across Africa seem to be interested in starting a wide range of businesses (at least according to their searches). But while the results varied across the region, the most-searched industry was personal services such as cleaning, interior design, and contracting. Cleaning was especially popular, ranking first in six different African countries. One African country worth highlighting is Morocco, where freight is the most-searched startup term across the country. This makes sense considering Morocco is home to several major ports, including the Port of Tanger Med, which is Africa’s largest port by cargo capacity.
Europe
In Europe, real estate is the most-searched industry, ranking number one in seven different countries across the continent. Over the last decade, the European Union’s real estate market has boomed—between 2010 and 2021, home prices in the EU increased by 42%. Retail is also a popular industry across Europe, with clothing-related searching taking the top spot in five different European countries.
Middle East & Central Asia
From soap production in Uzbekistan to dropshipping in Azerbaijan, the Middle East & Central Asia have the most diverse searches compared to any other region. One particularly interesting top search was in the United Arab Emirates, where imports and exports ranked first. The UAE’s economy is heavily reliant on trade, especially oil, which makes up 30% of the region’s GDP and 41% of public revenues.
Rest of Asia & Oceania
Asia and Oceania had an interesting mix of unique business searches. For instance, pig farming ranked number one in the Solomon Islands, and lawn moving took the top spot in New Zealand. But generally speaking, retail was one of the most-searched-for business types across this region, with clothing taking the top spot in countries like Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
North America
Across North America, retail takes the top spot for most searched business type. In fact, the top searches in nearly half of the region’s countries are related to the retail or e-commerce industry. The U.S. currently has the largest retail market in the world, although China is close on its heels. In 2021, America’s retail market was valued at over $6.5 trillion U.S. dollars.
South America
Food was the top searched industry across South America, ranking number one in half the countries across the region. In Brazil, sweets took the top spot, which might not be surprising considering the country is the top sugar cane producer worldwide. Clothing was also a popular business idea, taking the top spot in five South American countries. Which countries surprised you the most with their new business interest?
