5 fatal mistakes you do not want to make when building a company

When you’re taking the first steps towards launching your own startup, you need to be well aware of the fact that things won’t be easy. In fact, they’re going to be damn tough.

If you didn’t know by now, here’s an interesting statistic related to the success rate of the contemporary startups. 75% of them fail, while only a lucky 25% get to reach their goals and establish themselves in the marketplace.

Why do so many fail? Well, it’s usually a lack of something; an element such as the promotion strategy might be bad, or there’s something wrong with the company’s mindset. No matter what the problem is, it can drag the company down.

In order for your startup business to be successful, you must be a hell of an entrepreneur. You must take into consideration all the important aspects that come with your business. The startup phase is the most important phase in the whole process, and I’d advise you to treat it as such.

You must first have a successful business strategy. Then, you must have the resources and the knowledge to overcome all the problems and obstacles that’ll show up along the way.

Every startup will make mistakes (even the super successful ones have), but the difference between the ones which end up failing and the ones that are able to overcome the challenge is the ability to minimize the affect of the mistake and learn from it.

Today’s article is all about teaching you how to avoid a few fatal startup mistakes. By paying attention to these tips, you’ll improve your chances of making your business successful. Here are some of the fatal mistakes that you might be making while trying to grow your company:

1.     Changing Your Mind Too Often

Trust me, there are so many unknown variables when it comes to launching a startup. You might expect something, yes, but that thing might turn out the be exactly opposite to what you were thinking. When you’re launching a start-up, you must be very confident.

Second guessing yourself is never advised. You must make important decisions, and they can’t afford your second guessing. You’re setting things in motion, and you can never go back. There’s also a lot of risks involved with these decisions, and that’s why being confident is necessary.

One more important thing to note: your energy will be transmitted to those working with/for you. If you send negative vibe, they’ll lose faith and everything’s going to go bad.

2.     Not Having a Genuine Purpose

Every business organization must have a genuine purpose. Profits should not be the main objective. For example, Google’s purpose is to bring relevancy to the entire world through their search engine, to connect people with each other through their social networks, and to make the digital environment a better and more useful place.

What is your startup going to do? How’s it going to help the society, how’s it going to contribute to greater things, and most importantly, how’s it going to influence your customers lives?

Find a genuine purpose and follow it until it leads you to success. Value is first, the paycheck is second.

3.     Lack of Long-Term Goals

Steve Larsen, the co-founder of resumes writing service Resumes Planet commented: “Launching a startup without having some established long-term goals, is just like sailing in an ocean without a compass. It’s basically impossible to reach success if you do not know where you’re heading. Your startup business must have long-term goals, which then should be split into smaller chunks of objectives.”

In order to stay on track and not fail after just a few weeks or months, you should follow the plan. Brian Tracy once said: “One minute of planning saves ten minutes in execution”, and he was so right. If you plan your startup strategy well, you will have fewer difficulties with staying on track.

4.     Expecting Success to Come Easy

Being optimistic isn’t something to be afraid of; it isn’t a mistake. In fact, it can actually help you surpass challenges and setbacks. Being naive is something different, though. When you’re launching a startup, you’re stepping into a field occupied by the competition.

You’re the new guy, and make sure that they’re going to give you a hard time! Secondly, your customers might also become your biggest enemies. Not offering enough value, not being relevant enough, or not being professional enough will definitely sabotage your chances of success.

Try to stay focused and understand that you have to deal with a process…a journey. Success is accomplished after long efforts, so you have to stay consistent no matter what.

5.     Lack of a Professional Social Media Presence

Social media networks create the connection between businesses and customers. Neglecting social media is a huge mistake in today’s business world. When people look you up, they first do it on Google, and then on social media. Before even attempting to launch your startup you must already have a social media strategy in place.

Figure out which are the best social networks for your own business. For example, for business professionals and startups, LinkedIn is the best place to be. Create a professional presence, follow people within the niche, and create a brand awareness.

That was just an example. You can proceed the same way with Facebook, Twitter, or other social media networks that could benefit your business. Research the demographics. Find out where your ideal customers spend time and start there.

Conclusion

Developing a business is never easy; success comes only to those who truly work for it. If every startup was successful, this marketplace would be a chaos. You wouldn’t even be able to remark yourself and become a giant dog in the market.

Work hard on your startup, try avoiding as many mistakes as you can, and always be optimistic. Work consistently, and commit to what you’re doing. Most importantly, never give up if you fail. You can launch a new startup and one more after, and you can do so until you succeed.