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The studies show that even though 400.000 startups are established every year, 470.000 fail. Starting your own business and gaining a competitive advantage in today’s highly demanding market is not an easy task. Before diving into the world of small and big business companies startups must learn to handle a wide range of marketing challenges and secure their place in the business world. From working on limited resources to focusing your efforts on building brand visibility, there are many gaps you need to bridge to achieve your goals.One of the things that have a major impact on your future business success is decisions. While good decisions can make your business, bad ones can easily break it. Here are some of the most frequent mistakes startups make and how you can avoid them.
Relying completely on yourself
Although starting a new business is usually a one/man show, trying to do everything yourself is truly overwhelming and virtually impossible. There are so many things to handle in the initial stage of business development that relying completely on yourself would do more damage than good. Instead of pushing yourself to the limits of exhaustion, consider delegating some of the tasks to a few people and see how things go. Not only will they make the business more productive and efficient, but they will also give you enough space and room to clear your thoughts and focus on critical issues. Keep in mind that different people have a different mindset and that, even though you don’t agree with it, you may have to accept the way other people perform their tasks as long as it doesn’t have a bad effect on business.
Choosing the wrong employees
Considering the fact that most startups are operating on a shoestring budget, they may not invest much money and effort into finding the right team of people. Hiring the wrong kind of employees who do not live up to your company’s standards and who aren’t up to the task can be a costly error. When searching for the right people, make sure they are culture-fit and that they have the necessary skills and knowledge for the job. To improve the communication and leverage the efficiency of your team you can always invest in a project management tool for startups. It’s affordable, easy to use and it can take the team’s productivity to a whole new level.
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Choosing the wrong media channels
Social media has become an integral part of our lives and there is virtually no content that we cannot read on one of the media channels. Since social networking has had a huge impact on businesses as well, one of the first steps startup companies take is starting a media marketing campaign. While there is a number of media channels you can use to engage your customers, you need to decide what channels you want to speak through. Different audience prefers different media channels. You need to find your audience and identify the media that would help you draw their attention.
Targeting the wrong audience
How successful will your business be depends heavily on the number of customers you manage to attract. Since the competition is increasing on daily basis, finding the right audience and making your product stand out in the sea of other products is undoubtedly a challenging task. Many businesses think that if they choose a niche with a smaller audience, they will manage to sell the product and earn big money in the long run. However, the smaller the target audience is the bigger the chances are that your product will eventually have to face the failure. Finding your target audience and making sure they will be interested in the product you want to sell is the first step you need to take before launching a startup.
Avoiding legal contracts
One of the things startup business owners have to deal with is legal protection. Regardless of the type of business, you do and the people you work with, you must always sign contracts. Contracts have a critical value, especially for small and inexperienced startup companies who still haven’t learned the ropes of a legal system in the business. Startups need to secure shareholder and partnership agreements, employment agreements and intellectual property agreements in case some things go wrong.
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Not investing in a website
The technological advances have given us an easy access to any imaginable information we need. With just a few clicks we find necessary data and find all the details about the product we are planning to purchase. Having a website is a must in this digital age and not creating one, especially if you are a startup company, is a huge mistake. If your company does not have an online presence, consumers and potential buyers will not be able to find you and may consider you as irrelevant or even fake. To avoid this scenario, invest in building your website and make sure it is user-friendly and accessible to general public.
Not focusing on the right marketing idea
Marketing plays a significant role in any business development. When starting a new business, a lot of people would like to have their say and be a part of decision/making process. While it’s good to have more people brainstorming interesting ideas and looking for best possible marketing solution, it can sometimes have a detrimental effect on the business success. It’s difficult to answer to everybody-s needs and be original at the same time. Instead of spending your time trying to accumulate all the ideas and contemplating what would be the best option, listen to yourself and trust the people you hired to create your marketing assets.
