5 Deadly Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Startup

Make sure you don’t repeat them.

A few things happen just once in life.

• First job,
• First kiss,
• Marriage (supposedly)

These all bring a lot of joy and let us enjoy the different colors of life. But, they all come with a pinch of fear — What if everything doesn’t go as expected? What if things take an ugly turn?

That’s natural. We all feel the same way. We get nervous when it comes to the things that matter most.

The same holds true for your dream startup. You don’t start it every month or year. It’s very rare. Risk and sacrifice a lot of things to give it a shot. Sometimes, your whole life depends on it and you can’t accept anything less than success at any cost.

In such a case, you do what you think is best. You research the market thoroughly, make a solid strategy, learn what has worked out for others in the past, and do everything you need to do.

Basically, you don’t want to leave a stone unturned when it comes to preparation. But ironically, you leave many of them — thinking you don’t actually need to.

What I am hinting at is a not-to-do list.

To understand something better and completely, take a 360-degree look at it. Leaving even a small part unseen can cost you your lifelong dreams. When you know what to avoid, it automatically puts you ahead of many amateurs in the same race as you.

In this small guide, I’ll give you a quick insight into what might break your start-up so that you can fill up the loopholes your business strategy may currently have.

Let’s dive into it.

Launching the product at the wrong time

There is a right time for everything. Similarly, the timing of a product’s launch matters too. The perfect time to launch a product is as soon as it is ready. But, there are bad timings too and they must be avoided.

Launching your product at the wrong moment can be deadly for your business, and you can’t afford to take any wrong step during that phase.

But what exactly counts as bad timing to launch a product?

Well, it solely depends on the product and industry. However,

• If you deal in a seasonal product, there is no way you can launch it in the off-season.
• Study the buying behavior of your target audience and your competitors’ sales graph in the past few years. Is there any month when the sales go down every year?
• Recessions.

Growing a business is a crazy experience. Sometimes, put in a lot of effort for minimal returns. And sometimes, all you have to do is just avoid bad timing to launch your product for significant results.

Thinking that you can do it all alone

Confidence is sexy. But frankly, trusting too much in yourself while running a business is called overconfidence.

No matter how capable you think you are, you will still need a good team of deserving employees. If you are tight on budget, raise funds and have patience. Once you have enough money to go ahead, hire a team to work for you.

Having a trustworthy team by your side from the very beginning is not an option, but a crucial step towards building your empire.

Apart from that, your hiring decisions should never be made based on the cost. When you hire an employee, you are not hiring just a person, but another mind with a different vision and capabilities that could add to your overall proficiency.

A big loophole in your research and strategy

If your business strategy doesn’t include the research on your rivals, it’s of no use. You are simply going to be crushed to pieces as soon as you enter the market.

Months before you start, take a deep dive into how your topmost competitors are getting it done. How they tackle the challenges and what is their strategy to attract the consumers.

This move helps in the following ways:

• You get to know what works, and what doesn't to help you grow faster.
• You learn what mistakes to avoid beforehand.
• You get to know the strengths as well as the weak points of your competitors to make a counter-strategy against them.

Remember, a successful businessman is one who doesn’t believe in minding his own business.

Selling on low margins

Many startups think that selling on low margins is the easiest way to draw customers’ attention. That’s true to an extent.

But by doing that, they forget what they are losing. Selling on a low margin may get you more sales, but that could mean an unnecessary increase in your overall operational cost. And you don’t want to take a load of extra production and manpower at this sensitive point of your business journey.

However, without compromising on your margin, is there is any other way to be noticed?

Definitely. Rather than lowering the selling price of your product, aim to justify that price by improving the quality of your product and service. That will pay off in a long run.

If you want to read more about it, I have written a post explaining a powerful formula to stand out in a highly crowded market and outrun your competitors. If you are interested, you can read it here.

Being afraid to fail

The right time to overthink the consequences of your decision is before you take it. But once you have taken that decision, stick with it like that was the only option left.

If you are planning to step into the business world, this formula alone is your whole Bible.

Research, analyze, prepare before you get into the market. This is when you have got all the time in the world to overthink the what-ifs. But, as you get started, bury all the self-doubts and worries and shift your focus to your only job — building your fucking empire.

Take calculated risks. Because that shows how much you believe in yourself. And the amount of belief you have in yourself depicts how far you can go.

Take away

Growing a business from scratch is hard. Knowing what to do at every step is crucial for your growth. But sometimes, knowing what not to do may save you from falling flat on your face.

Research a lot before taking off. Don’t leave a single dent unfixed on your preparation and you will be unstoppable.

Best of luck.