Some Common Mistakes that Startups Make

Any great business today started from being a start-up before it finally reached its current Olympian height today. For some people, going into the labour market as an employee is not the best for them. So they start their businesses with the hope of scaling it up as time goes on. Starting your business is not bad, but a start-up needs to be vigilant so as not to make mistakes that will kick them out of the market. For start-up founders, they should read the books of men and women who have succeeded in business and men and women who have failed as well. Here are some mistakes start-ups make, which sometimes cause their downfall.

Most start-ups only focus on coming up with new product ideas, developing them and selling them to the market. They spend all their time and resources on this such that they fail to take note of the customers’ reaction. They continue to push new products to the market in the hope that they will sell and be finally able to stand shoulder to shoulder with their competitors. As such, they fail woefully. Most start-ups do not understand that product development is not the only factor that orchestrates success, rather other factors like the size of the market, marketing strategy, consumer satisfaction, etc. come into play.

One of the reasons why many startups, despite having a few customers initially end up not attracting new customers is because they do not have online reviews. Many people now read reviews before patronizing a company. The implication is that if your website does not have reviews, they would ignore you and check for other companies that sell the product they are interested in with reviews. If you do not have reviews for your business, you should apply for a review page as it would go a long way if you wish to attract new customers.

As much as new products are powerful to take over the market and tip it in your favour, they are only one in a charade of factors that will guarantee that. New products need to be backed by effective marketing and sales strategy if any success is to be achieved. No matter how excellent a new product is, it will not sell itself. Before your start-up launches, ensure you include in your business plan actionable sales and marketing strategies that can give you the results you want so that you will not be stuck on your new products.

Most start-ups only focus on copying their competition, even when developing their products: while it is advisable to reverse-engineer the systems of successful business ventures, it is utmost foolishness to lose your originality in the process as a business. What will determine how well your products succeed in the market is not how well you can imitate your competitors, but how well you can meet the needs of your target audience uniquely. While product development should be made to fit the needs of the market, it should not necessarily be what your competitors are offering exactly.

Most start-ups also tend to be rigid about their new products. Innovation is very good, but innovation that the market you want to sell to does not want is not needed. Blind innovation is one of the things that bring start-ups to the knees quickly. An “it’s-my-way or no way” attitude will not work in the business. Even if an idea is more precious to you than your life, the moment you find out it is not working, drop it and move on to other things.

Some companies have great products but they neglect their services. The implication is that even though people would normally have loved their products, the poor packaging or rude customer service personnel and salespersons chase them away. You should avoid this type of mistake if you wish your business to be successful. Your products should be able to meet the needs of your customers and every related service should also be great and encouraging.