Are you a novice entrepreneur? Are you about to start up your own business? If yes, do you have any idea how badly you are going to fail? Astonished! Well, this was not meant to de-motivate you. This is just to warn you about the failures followed by the most common mistakes of the young startups.
Most of the young startups fail these days just because of ditching the most practiced norms and tradition while others fail just because they are meant to fail. Whatever the case maybe, you must not stop trying. Here are a few guidelines about how to avoid the most common mistakes and keep yourself safe with success in your own hands.
Have a look!
1) Simplicity
Simplicity is the basic ornament of a startup business. What most of the beginners do is that they go after creativity and increase complexities for themselves. Startup is not the time to show off your artistic nature and your innovations. Start simple and follow the norms and be crystal clear so that people can acknowledge you. Once you get a good name, you can bring in all your ideas and business rules. Never let go of simplicity when you are starting up!
2) Reality Check
Being a beginner, it is always good to compare yourself with the big sharks in the market. It helps in growing and keeps you motivating. However, you just cannot keep your hopes as high as them. You need to be realistic and keep in mind your real position and statistics. It is always good to have a clear vision and mission but you must be brave enough to accept the facts and figures.
3) Launching Delays
In this fast moving world, there are so many products being launched each day and you just can’t delay launching yours. The biggest mistake most of the companies make is that they delay the launch of their product. The more you delay it, the more people tend to lose their interest. It doesn’t matter if your product looks ugly initially, what matters is that it works perfectly. If you keep on delaying your launch just because your product doesn’t look beautiful, then you surely are making a big mistake!
4) Focus
Focusing on what you and your users actually want should be the prime objective. Initially, you can’t just bring up many ideas and start implementing them. At startup, you need to be simple and small. You need to stay focused on the real goal and keep all the innovations for later use. Don’t lose your focus!
5) Hire Intelligently
When you are starting up, you need to be careful while hiring people. You must intelligently choose people who are ready to wear as many hats as they will be offered. Being a beginner, you can’t have all the staff but you need to fill the most important and basic posts so that you can concentrate on the more critical issues. Being a starter, you should keep on testing and hiring people in order to lessen your burden.
6) Right Partners
As young entrepreneurs, you need to have the right business partners with you. Initially everything goes perfectly but once you go along with each other, you start getting into their flaws and weakness. That is when the real damage begins. You must learn and try to accept each other’s differences and continue working as good partners.
7) Over-protective
Stop being over protective about your idea! It is not a big thing if you have one! These ideas do not make business so no one is going to steal it from you. Protecting the idea is where the young entrepreneurs go wrong. They try every means to keep it hidden from the world, yet they want it to be known worldwide. First of all, hang on! No one can use your idea like you did. There are so many out there who would have already thought of it and probably you aren’t the only one working on it. So don’t create a fuss and keep it simple!
8) Rapid Success
Success comes with time. You can’t startup with thinking that you will get famous as soon as you launch your product. Or you will get successful if you do this or do that. Trust me, this won’t happen at all! You will have to give sometime and think seriously about why people should like your product and then start working on that.
9) Over thinking
Stop over thinking! This is another mistake that most of the young entrepreneurs do. Once you think of something, just go for it. Don’t think too much. Decide on what you actually want and work on what you have finally decided.
10) Feedback
Getting feedback for product development and user experience is a good practice but you can’t do it for every decision. Voting is not always a good approach. You should hire capable people and let them make wise decisions instead of asking for everyone’s opinion. Don’t always opt for feedbacks. People usually give feedbacks based on their experience so don’t give much ear to them.
11) Win over Everyone
One of the biggest mistakes the novice entrepreneurs do is that they run after everyone, trying to make them their fans. They keep on trying to win over everyone. That is where they go wrong. You need to stop wasting time on that and make your world with the ones who already believe in you.
12) Pay Attention to your Customers
Your customers are your real asset so pay attention to whatever they have to say. You might not be aware of the wonders they can do and what you end up learning from them. They are the main source of guidance and help for your business as they indirectly show you the way they want things to be. At times, you are so occupied with your own idea that you don’t pay much heed to what they have to say and that is where you cause your own lose!
13) Wise Decisions
Make all your decisions wisely. Don’t just jump to conclusions. Don’t make decisions or don’t hire people until you have tried and tested all the other options. Most of the companies break up due to poor decision making. Don’t do that!
14) Befriending Investors
It’s time now that you should stop running after investors. Instead of sending requests to VCs on linked in, try to be friends with the founders who have been funded and make them provide you with a reference. A stamp of approval always helps!
15) Healthy Relations
Build a healthy relationship with everyone around you. You can’t afford to forget your colleagues and acquaintances. Be consistent in keeping a contact with them. Keep your connections updated about you and your product. A healthy relationship with your surroundings always helps the young entrepreneurs!
Hope these tips help in enhancing your business and stop you from doing the most common mistakes.
Stay Blessed!
