It’s hard enough to put up a startup. There are no guarantees of success. Tech.co says about 50 percent of all new businesses fail within the first five years. And half of those that do probably won’t make it in the next 5 years. That’s a massive amount of failure. And one you’ll need to accept if you want to build your own startup from the ground. With so many new businesses that won’t see the light of day, you’ll want to make sure yours won’t be one of them. So take a look at the following startup mistakes and learn how to avoid them:
Not enough market research
You’d be surprised at how many startups fail to consider if there’s a market for their product in the first place. So if you’re planning to launch a product in a foreign market, make sure you’ve got solid market research to back you up. There’s nothing worse than spending time and money and energy on a product that’s never going to fly because, turns out, there’s no significant market for it.
You want perfection
You want to make sure all the bugs are out before you launch your product. That’s all well and good. But don’t focus too much on perfecting your product that you lose sight of your deadlines. Doing that launch is better than spending years in product development. You can still keep working on the product after the launch. That’s one way to deal with any issues you might still have. Spend too long in product development and you might just end up with nothing to show for it.
You don’t help out
In a corporate setting, responsibilities and tasks are much more defined. If you’re a manager, you manage. If you’re a rank and file employee, you follow orders. But that’s not the best way to get the job done when you’re in a startup. Everything’s fluid and much more organic. One of the reasons for that is because startups typically start out small. So even when you’re CEO, you still have to do a lot of things that don’t necessarily fall under your responsibilities. But because there’s no one else to do them, then you’ll need to jump in and help out. So don’t focus too much on the title. Focus on what kind of work you can do instead, says Forbes.
Relying on free tools
Keeping costs low is a priority for every business. No one understands this more than those who work in a startup setting. This could mean the difference between shutting down your doors or staying afloat in the next few months. That’s why plenty of startups rely on free tools. But these can hardly provide you with all the features you need. By investing in reliable and powerful systems, though, your startup has a better chance at survival. That’s where systems like the huddle room from BlueJeans comes in. With it, you can reach out to anywhere in the world in seconds. You won’t have to go through loops just to set up a video call or conference every single time. You can use it to reach out to customers or hire potential qualified talents. And when you’re ready to expand your operations, you can start running remote teams from anywhere. All these can result in massive cost-savings for you and your business. Those cost-savings will more than make up for any of the bills you had to incur when you bought your much-needed video conferencing device.
You’ve got zero cash
A lot of startups don’t die out because of a bad idea. They die out because they run out of funds. That’s why it’s important to make sure you save up on costs. With the help of your trusty video conferencing software, though, you can easily identify potential clients all over the world and make video pitches. It could help you get in touch with the right group of investors and before you know it, your money problems are solved. So don’t discount the power of connection. You’ll never know when you need a good video conferencing system to see you through a meeting and possible introduction to one or two contacts in the future who could change your future—and that of your business—completely.
You’ve grown too fast
Many people think of growth as success. But if your startup is growing too fast, too soon, then you might not be able to keep up. That’s going to mean more costs and unless your business model is sustainable, you might end up closing your doors. So keep an eye on the pace of your growth. Take charge of the pace. If you do, you can keep your company from collapsing from rapid, unsustainable growth and keep it going instead.