Starting a business is not an easy task. Many entrepreneurs believe that an incredible business idea is the key to success in business, but some startups with amazing business concepts can also fail. It is not just an idea or well-thought decision that takes it to success, it is about the whole process, do’s and don’ts, and patience, which pays off.
Here are 10 common mistakes which every startup business should avoid committing.
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Taking Unplanned Steps
Moving forward is the necessity for a business, and every milestone can be achieved with step-by-step efforts. While stepping ahead in a business, the most essential task is to pre-plan. It includes a basic research as required by the business and setting a business plan, financial plan, and marketing plan. Planning provides a framework, a sense of direction and helps cope up with future business problems.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
– Benjamin Franklin, American polymath
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Blindly Following an Advice
In a business, it is most important to get an advice or listen to people’s opinions based on their experiences. It is good to get an advice, but better to think it before following blindly. Everyone’s journey is not meant to be the same because, if a business has become successful using ‘X’ formula, it does not mean that it is going to work in the same way for every business.
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Underestimating the Competition
Many pieces of advice would say not to stress over competition or worrying about the competition is pointless. It is true, but a business shall also not ignore its substitutes.
It is beneficial to avoid having weakness and turning competitor’s weakness into self-business’ strengths to gain competitive advantage.
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Focusing Less on Marketing
A few times, marketing is considered as the waste of money, which results in having it at low priority in the list of many entrepreneurs. Marketing or sales as a part of it, is a prime way to generate revenue, so it is advisable for a startup to have a budget for marketing activities. At the same time, it is also recommendable to invest only on the required marketing elements, instead of spending on unfruitful options.
Initially, in every business, marketing is must gain new customers, as acquiring new customers is the half work done. Focusing only target customers can be a good way of investing wisely in marketing.
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Choosing Wrong People to Work with
‘Wrong people’ are difficult to predict. In the haste of moving further, young entrepreneurs easily tend to choose a wrong person to work with. In business, making a wrong decision in terms of choosing people to work with is the biggest committable mistake.
Here, such persons can be anybody, business partners, employees, investors, and sometimes customers too. False choice of business partner can take a business through many leaps. Unsuitable hiring is a pure waste of time, money and various efforts. In a few cases, bad customers are the reasons for losses for the business.
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Remaining Unchanged with Technology
Many destroyed businesses are examples of not changing with the technology. Customers always seek trending products and most of them like to stay updated with technology. As customer is the king of market, market entities are always expected to adapt new technologies.
Technology provides new opportunities for a business and helps do operations more efficiently. New technology may be difficult to learn, but to resist changing with technology can stop the business growth and ruin it. These days, the social media appearance of a business is momentous.
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Managing Everything on Own
This is the most common business mistake that anybody can commit. Just because a person thinks that he/she can do it, doesn’t mean that the person is good at it.
Outsourcing of required things may help reduce workload and result in better ways.
Allotting a specific task to an employee with unique expertise in it, can always be a more beneficial option. Doing everything individually with an expectation of better results may sound perfect, but it can be more time consuming, less creative, and less fruitful.
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Undervaluing Own Products or Service
Usually, lack of confidence in a product or a service leads to its undervaluation. Undervalued products or services may not generate the profitable amount of revenues, which in turn, causes a loss in business. Increasing the value of the once undervalued product is a tough task; therefore, exploring the market and thoroughly estimating the value of product or service is requisite.
Another cause of undervaluation can be gaining a competitive advantage, but selling more numbers and earning no profits is of waste. Sometimes, customers may consider low priced products or services as of low quality, and it is harmful for product image.
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Unworthy Investments
Another threat to business is from spending more than earning. Many business owners are into overspending on unnecessary things. At the initial stage of business, some entrepreneurs tend to go for fancy things and bigger office space. The success of a business is unpredictable, so initially, avoiding unworthy investments can help to save money for something worthy. It is needed to be a bit conservative in spending in initial times until the business has a consistent track record of profits.
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Lack of Infrastructure
One of the factors affecting business process is its infrastructure. The smoothness in the process of a business can be maintained by availing essential facilities and required services. An infrastructure is a long-term investment, so it is advisable to invest in it as per business requirements.
Mistakes can be made by anybody, but working on them in proper ways and remembering not to repeat them again would aid. Learning from others’ experiences is useful, but sometimes not implementing a marvelous idea just because it didn’t work for someone else is folly. Excess and lack of anything is a bad story, so doing everything in a pertinent way and proportion with planning is of wisdom.
By Gopal Khandelwal (Content Writer)
