4 Mistakes Your Startup Should Avoid
Startups are a source of great strength for the business economy. Aligning innovative ideas with unique business plans are very important reasons why startups represent a big chunk of today’s booming investment culture. This is certainly something to be proud about, startups all over the world are now able to streamline unique services to the general public that never had the potential to exist a decade back. In essence, the startup culture has found a means of manufacturing public demand through specialised offerings that are ingeniously packaged to fit very well into an average consumer’s life. There is certainly a collection of people out there who could successfully make your startup successful. But there are also lessons to be learned about the pitfalls of making the wrong moves. Here are the important mistakes your startup should always strive to avoid.
Common startup mistakes to steer clear of
Look Before You Hire
Making a mistake with the candidates you hire, can lead to painful scenarios that are always better left avoided. Often, the problem with startups is that people are hired for convenience, without a thought given to their professional competency or attitude. Candidates are sought for the purpose of plugging out the holes in the company infrastructure. This strategy never works out for the long or the short term, meaning, it is critical for you to handpick the employees for your startup to succeed. The main reasons for this are that convenience hiring never focuses on team building or personal induction processes. Both of which are critical for the growth of any startup hoping to successfully reach a wide demographic of people.
Everything Can’t Be DIY
It is okay to think of yourself as a reasonably smart person. In the era of information technology, knowledge acquisition has become extremely easy. But this might also prompt you to imagine that running your very own startup can be done with the help of free guides and a candid chat with actual experts. This not so. Specialised jobs profiles, such as a Finance Accountant and Legal Counsel exist so that complex professional tasks can be effectively done. Hoping to match 3-5 years of education as well as working experience with the help of information found over the internet is not practical. Experts definitely need to be hired in order for your company to develop a solid legal as well as financial base to function on.
Aggressive Expansion Tactics
Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists are always on the lookout for the right idea to pitch money for. The default tendency here is to follow growth in a manner that might not be sustainable in the long term. Being prudent about the funds your company’s books contain will go a long way in guaranteeing growth in the long term. An expansion should come to the fore of your startup framework only after stability has been achieved in customer retention and standardized output production. Data analysis is another factor that becomes critical when considering expansion. These methods let you understand the shape that your business is in, and thus enables intelligent business decisions that can productively give focus to growth. Chasing large-scale production right off the bat can only have negative impacts on your startup.
Taking Ownership
Funding for startups traditionally come from private individuals who will have a very specific vision for the company they are investing in. Your friends and relatives will also have opinions and ideas about how you should go about conceiving your business plan. There will be multiple avenues for guidance to flow in. It is important to recognise that, while these pieces of advice can be helpful and could possibly constructively help your startup, being overly reliant on external guidance is a bad idea. This would reflect poorly on your leadership skills and change the business dynamics with your investors. Hence, it is very important to take ownership of the direction you imagined and intelligent considerations for the ideas that come your way. The startup belongs to you.
The startup culture of today is vibrant, lucrative and extremely successful for the hard working. But the road to success is torturous and adept in bad decisions. Recognising avoidable mistakes and laying emphasis on sustainable business practices will go a long way in lifting your startup into the leagues of the elite of today.
