Did you know that 3 out of 4 startups won’t be successful?
It’s bleak to think about, but the reality is that decisions made during early startup stages can greatly affect if the company succeeds or fails.
Read on to learn about six common mistakes made during early startup stages so you know what not to do when it comes to the early stages of your company.
1. Lacking Focus
A lot of startups have a great amount of ambition and aim to accomplish big ideas and goals.
This is great for brainstorming sessions and boosting team morale, but it can also result in losing focus about the big picture.
Startups that lack focus and aim to accomplish too many things often spread themselves too thin and will eventually fizzle out.
2. Overthinking and Analyzing
It’s important for startups in their early stages to be decisive, overthinking and analyzing can also backfire and cause more harm than good.
Hyper-focusing on every fine detail can lead to “analysis paralysis” and make your company miss out on opportunities to grow.
Part of beginning a startup is understanding that there are risks involved, remaining open-minded, and being prepared to move along and adjust your marketing and brand strategy when necessary.
3. Wasting Time on Uninterested Investors
Wasting time on uninterested investors is a common mistake made during early startup stages during the fundraising process.
It’s a great thing to be excited about your startup and want to share that with others, but it’s important to accept when someone is just not interested and move on.
Trying to convince someone to invest in your startup who isn’t passionate about it like you are won’t do any good.
Focusing your energy on investors who are excited about your company and want to see it succeed will be much more beneficial in the long term.
4. Not Asking for Customer Feedback
Customer feedback, whether good or bad, is essential to the success of any business, including startups.
However, a lot of startups fail to ask for input from their audience during the early stages of the company.
This mistake means not only wasting time and money, but also missing out on the chance to start building connections with your customers.
5. Revealing Too Much Information Too Early
It’s important to let your audience know what the mission and goals of your startup are, but don’t make the mistake of revealing too much too soon.
Especially in its infancy, a startup cannot afford to make big claims it won’t be able to live up to.
Have a game plan ready for where you want your company to go, but keep some of the information to yourself until you’re sure your startup is able to take the steps to get there.
6. Becoming Too Concerned With What Your Competitors are Doing
It’s smart to assess who your competitors are and what their startups are doing, but becoming too preoccupied with them can distract you from your own company and goals.
If you constantly compare your startup to another one, you’ll feel frozen and constantly behind.
Learn how to block out the noise and focus on making your startup the best it can be.
The Early Startup Stages Matter
There are a lot of decisions to make when running a startup, and how you handle them in the early stages of your company matter and will affect its success moving forward.
Avoid these mistakes to help give your startup the strong beginning it needs.
What other common mistakes have you noticed in early startup stages? Let us know in a comment below!
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I am afraid that I would have wasted too much time on investors that do not care way before I realized they didn’t care. That is a great fear of mine when it comes to pitching for money.
You cannot be afraid to ask for investment money. If you are going to stand in a room with all the money, you need to show power and make sure you are ready to answer questions.
These mistakes are not that common. Today, a startup is usually being guided by the person that invested the most money. They are usually well versed in things like the businesses they are putting their money on.
I disagree. These are very common and even though it does depend on what KIND of business you are running, these apply to many of them.
It is very difficult to bring a startup to the industry and not have a mistake. The best part is the learning process, you just have to hope that by learning from your mistakes you are not losing too much money from them.
I run a lot of website properties and I overthink all the time. That creates a lot of problems and really makes my update process less efficient.
You make a valid point. They are going to make mistakes and they should know they can do that as long as they recover to keep the startup moving in the right direction at all times.
There is a lot to learn when it comes to starting your own business. Some businesses are started with the idea they are going to be sold before they become bigger and when you have that mind set, anything is possible.
With all of the startups that we see each year, one could make a killing consulting for them as they get their feet wet. Most of them would prefer not to make mistakes when possible.
This is very true!
This list is short. I am going to go out on a limb and say that there are a lot more mistakes being made, but maybe these are the main ones?
Just like with anything that you try to do, what you do in the beginning is going to make the rest easier, or more difficult for you. I like these tips and will keep them in mind!
It’s official, startups make mistakes and when they do, it can cost them a lot of money. The best part of those mistakes is that you can really learn from them. Take your time, get to know what you are doing and learn the best you can from them.
At some point you have to take into consideration what the competition is up to. How long do you wait around before you start to monitor what they are doing?
How do you know if an investor is not interested? I mean, I am sure when they are not getting out the checkbook that is obvious, but what if you are in a meeting and really working your ass off to get the money, but in the end there is nothing? How long to you try and milk it out before you just give up? What is the end sign?
Just the stat that you posted in the first sentence freaks me out enough that I would not attempt my own startup. I will just continue to work with others that are trying and that way, if they fail, I do not feel so bad.
That is why you will never have your own business. People cannot be scared of what it takes to start a business. get out there, do the work and don’t let others tell you how to run your life!
Getting the feedback of your customers, especially in the early stages is the best way that you can make improvements before they impact too many people at one time. Great tips!
I agree, that is the most valuable information you can get as a new business. Even if the only people that are talking to you are from your family, it make a big difference knowing what and how they see your business from outside of “the box”.
How does revealing too much too early really become a problem? In a world today where everything has to be viral to even get noticed, one would think that letting the cat out of the bag sooner than later is a good thing.
Sometimes you want to leave a little to be desired at the end of the day, right? If you take all of the good stuff and you show it right away, much like a movie trailer, then what do you have left to offer at the theater?