Introduction
Everyone wants to start a business, but no one wants to fail. Well, here are the 3 most common startup mistakes, which people often learn the hard way, and how you can avoid them all together. Enjoy!
1. Not having a clear idea of what the company does or what it is selling
No matter how good your company is, it won’t be successful if you don’t have a clear idea of what it does. When you aren’t sure what your company does, it makes it extremely difficult for people to understand what your company is as well. They won’t be able to identify if your company can help them solve their products or not.
If you want to make sure your company is successful, it’s important to have a clear idea of what you do. This can be difficult, but it’s important. If you’re having trouble with this, check out my article on $100 startups you can start in a week. In that article, we go over how to create the foundation of a company affordably.
In essence, to avoid this problem, make sure you have a crystal clear idea of the problem you plan to solve with your company and make sure all your content agrees with your mission.
2. Focusing on the wrong metrics or not measuring what matters
Focusing on the right metrics can be the difference between continuing to progress and staying stagnant.
For example, when you first start your business you should be focused on getting your business in front of as many people as possible. Therefore, watching your revenue doesn’t make sense at that moment. Yes, it’s good to be making income early on, but that’s not the most important metric right now.
Running a business is not (completely) about money! It’s about giving your audience as much value as possible without asking for anything in return. That is how you build trust with your audience, which eventually does turn into a profit.
Kylie cosmetics did this perfectly. Although she is a celebrity she didn’t start her company immediately. Instead, she spent 2 years producing and developing makeup content and from those analytics gauged the best product to sell first: the infamous lip kits. Which might I add sold out within 15 minutes all because she took the time to build a relationship with her audience and she asked the question: “What would be the best product for this audience?” instead of “What product can I sell right now?” Say what you want about the Kardashians/ Jenners, but they are incredible business people anyone can learn from. If you want to learn more watch this video.
3. Not investing in the right resources
This one is incredibly detrimental to a small business as usually, you don’t have a lot of starting capital and therefore every dollar counts.
Finding the right resources is hard I will admit, but it is not impossible! For beginners, I recommend absorbing all the free content you can handle before starting your business. When I say free content I mean business advice from TikTok, youtube videos, downloadable business forms, books from your library, and anything that you can get your hands on for free that relates to your desired field.
For example, Katclemand.me has several free resources including how to schedule content for a year, create content buckets, cold email templates, a one-page business plan, how to start a consulting business, and so much more. Please take advantage of the resources at your fingertips before you go reaching for the stars.
I would hate for your business to go under because you spent too much money too fast and it becomes more of a liability than an asset. I’m serious about this one. This could single-handedly tank a business in one month. Ask me how I know. If you want to compare the difrences between free and paid marketing, here’s an article for that.
Conclusion
Understand what your company does and what it stands for so you can give others a clear idea of who you are. Focus on the metrics that make the most sense for your business today instead of what you wish your metrics would look like tomorrow. Invest in the right resources based on your starting capital and the business experience you have now and as that grows so will the amount you spend on your investments. No knowledge, no pay. Minimal knowledge, minimal pay, and so on. Thank you for reading!
