An idea is enough to start a business, but a plan is essential for sustaining it. Whether you’re too busy getting your startup running or too intimidated by the thought of writing a business plan, there’s no need to stress. Your target audience won’t expect a newly launched product to be 100 percent perfect, but they will expect to work with you to create the best version of what they need. Bad pricing. Many times, a lack of confidence is what causes startup owners to under-price. Many people believe failure is the opposite of success, when, in fact, it can be the key to success. Failure is only a problem when you don’t learn anything from it. Clearly evaluate where your product fits into the market and be completely certain you’re building a product people actually want. Every year, highly funded and over-valuated startups fail. How do you expect to gain customers when they don’t even know you exist?
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I’ve been in a lot of meetings where someone quotes that “90 percent of startups fail.”
That’s a myth, but even though the actual number is much lower, starting a business is undoubtedly hard and risky work. If you can learn from others to avoid some of the typical beginner mistakes, you can be one of the startups to succeed.
To build a startup with staying power, avoid these common blunders.
1. Inadequate planning.
An idea is enough to start a business, but a plan is essential for sustaining it. While some may find planning tedious, you will be operating in the dark if you don’t have a roadmap for your company.
A solid business plan could be the single most important step in laying the groundwork for future success. You need clear steps of how to proceed but only in such a way that gives you the flexibility to adapt to the ebb and flow of your industry.
Whether you’re too busy getting your startup running or too intimidated by the thought of writing a business plan, there’s no need to stress. A simple strategy that outlines finances, marketing and key business details will suffice. Then add some goals that will give you direction and keep you on track during day-to-day operations.
2. Half-hearted attempts.
Building a business requires both passion and patience — and the understanding that it will take a toll on the other areas of your life.
Guaranteed.
Be ready to make sacrifices, put in the necessary time and face challenges head-on to be successful. Be up front with friends and family so they understand what your time commitment will be. If they know this from the start, they’ll be more supportive of your vision. You’ll need this support in the stressful and frustrating life of an entrepreneur.
Also, no matter how much time and energy you put into your business, if you’re not truly interested in the problem you’re solving and the people you’re helping, you won’t get very far. You have to care deeply about what you’re creating and who you’re building it for, otherwise, you’ll find it almost impossible to sustain the necessary energy to make the best choices.
3. Waiting for perfection.
Waiting for perfection has killed more startups than jumping the gun and launching too early — which can also be detrimental. Of course, when you’ve got a killer idea, you naturally want to introduce it to the world in its best form. But at what point do you accept that perfectionism is stalling your progress?
Your business isn’t going to be perfect. You’ll need to work out the kinks, and you can really only do that once you’ve launched. You will get nowhere trying to perfect something before you encounter the real problems customers will have.
No one immediately launches perfect solutions, besides which early adopters are fairly tolerant, so you can do this incrementally. Your target audience won’t expect a newly launched product to be 100 percent perfect, but they will expect to work with you to create the best version of what they need.
4. Bad pricing.
Setting a price either overestimating or undervaluing your product or service is a common misstep for entrepreneurs. It’s important to understand tax consequences, variation in labor rates and what your actual costs will be so you can price correctly.
Many times, a lack of confidence is what causes startup owners to under-price. Pricing too low undermines the unique value of your company, and recovery from undervaluing your goods is a long and tedious task. To save yourself this uphill climb, explore the market thoroughly to identify the best price point for your product.
EventVue, a company remembered now mostly for the post-mortems after it failed, was hurt badly by under-pricing its enterprise software. By going after larger event organizers without a recurring fee or appropriate pricing, the company found itself with a lack of funds. They eventually realized their mistake and attempted to pivot to bring in more revenue, but it was too…
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