Entrepreneurs can easily make wrong decisions, especially in the early days of their business, mistakes that hold them back for long periods or even stop them from ever getting their business off the ground.
Moreover, these mistakes sometimes cost a huge amount of time, money, and energy.
But don’t worry, because in this article, I will share with you 5 things you should avoid when starting a business, and also walk you through what you can do instead of those things to accelerate your success.
1. Don’t be so obsessed with coming up with a unique idea
Many entrepreneurs, when they are just starting out or when they are gonna launch a new product or service, are obsessed with coming up with a unique idea.
They think that if they can somehow manage to bring in a new idea that no one else is doing out there, they can dominate the whole market without competing against any competitors, and the business will run itself.
But the truth is, it’s super hard and time-consuming these days to find a unique idea that really solves a burning problem of a large number of people.
Sure, you may find hundreds of unique ideas very easily that do not solve any real problem of people, or simply, the execution of those ideas is not scientifically possible.
Some entrepreneurs try very hard but finally fail to find an idea that is actually worth it. It can feel like there is nothing left for you to solve.
It is so frustrating that many entrepreneurs give up even before they get started, just because they are not able to find a unique idea for their business.
However, let’s imagine that you have somehow found a unique idea that solves a really big problem.
But the reality is, even if you manage to come up with a brand-new idea that solves your customers’ real problem and no one else is doing that in the world, you cannot patent your idea. Someone else will steal your idea and execute it better than you, and at the end of the day, he/she will win the game.
Most of the big companies didn’t start with unique ideas:
You may have a desire that people will know you as the next Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs. You will be called the master of innovation, genius, and whatnot. So, you need your original idea, right?
Sorry, but you probably don’t know that most of the greatest entrepreneurs weren’t the first mover in their industry. Most of them had no unique idea.
Facebook isn’t the first social media. Myspace is the first social media site. But today we rarely use Myspace.
Google is not the first search engine. There were a handful of search engines before Google, such as WebCrawler, Yahoo, MNS, Excite, AltaVista, Lykos, Dogpile, and so on. You may have heard some of these names for the first time.
Airbnb isn’t the first home rental service. There were Craigslist and Couchsurfing before Airbnb.
Apple and Microsoft had the idea of the graphical user interface from a company called Xerox and became the market leaders.
What you can do instead:
Yes, I agree that original ideas are good. But the point I am trying to make is that don’t be obsessed with coming up with a unique idea just for the sake of it or believing that you have to have one to be successful.
If you are having a really hard time finding a unique idea, leave it. Don’t waste your time and energy.
You can still dominate the market even if you are not the first mover in an industry. Think about how you can make current things in that industry better, cheaper, and faster than your competitors.
Don’t jump into any industry. Make sure you know the ins and outs well about that industry we are trying to enter, and more importantly, you have an interest and the required skill sets for that industry.
Finally and most importantly, whether your idea is unique or not, you’ll always have your competitors today or tomorrow. So, make sure you execute your idea way better than your competitors.
Be more customer-centric than your competitors and offer the most convenient solution for your customers. Think about how differently and more efficiently you can serve your potential customers. In this way, you can dominate the market even if you have a lot of competitors.
2. Don’t try to come up with a “perfect” business plan
Oh my God! It was me. I wanted to have a “perfect” business plan before I got started.
It is a terrible waste of time for the founders in the early days.
My team and I spent almost six months planning what we are gonna do exactly in the upcoming months, how we will exactly scale up, how many products we are gonna launch, how we are gonna market them, blah, blah, blah, and wrote it down on a few sheets of paper.
I thought to have everything 100 percent lined up before we launch, and it was holding us back from starting for a long time.
But after we launched, everything changed. Our business wasn’t going according to plan because our assumption was wrong. In fact, nobody can write a “perfect” business plan simply because no one can anticipate exactly what is gonna exactly happen in the market in the upcoming months or years.
In fact, many entrepreneurs wait too long trying to come up with the perfect plan and don’t take any action whatsoever. Eventually, they give up before they even get started.
But you should not make the same mistake.
What you can do instead:
I admit that a business plan is important. Not having a business plan is also very dangerous. But you should not waste your time and energy in an effort to make a “perfect” business plan, which will end up not working.
Instead, the best you can do is plan a little and just start it. As soon as you start, you can test the market, you will receive feedback from your potential customers, and then you have to adapt. You will then have enough time to convert the feedback into feedforward and come up with the product or service that your customers want as soon as possible. Don’t waste your time letting your competitors eat your lunch.
3. Don’t hustle to do everything yourself
I remember those early days of my first business when I was super excited and motivated about my business. I was so motivated that I always tried to do everything myself, thinking that no one could do better than I simply because they didn’t have that level of motivation as I did.
I was doing almost everything, including planning, meeting with people, trying to fix things, and making things happen.
But after a few weeks, I became overwhelmed. My motivation and excitement waned away. I really felt like I needed someone to relieve my workload.
The problem is, I was micromanaging. I wanted to do everything myself. I was so much into the business.
But you should not do that.
What you can do instead:
You make your own strategy to get things done. But it does not mean you have to do everything yourself. You create your own path, your own strategy, and your own vision, and then make other people work for you to materialize your vision.
Your job is to …
- … figure out your vision.
- … hire people who have the quality and talent to help you execute your vision.
- … motivate the people you hired, make them feel that they are also a part of the company so much so that they execute your vision as if it were also their vision.
- … allocate the resources that are required to help your team execute your vision.
4. Don’t make your product or service just by estimating your customers’ needs
Think about this. You spent months or even years, invested millions of dollars to develop a product or service, and expected to generate billions of dollars in sales. But when you market it, it turns out that nobody wants to buy your product or service. They don’t even understand why they need this.
This is not only a huge financial mistake but also a waste of plenty of precious time and energy.
In fact, the number 1 reason why most startups fail, which accounts for 42 percent, is because of this single mistake.
But you ought to avoid this.
What you can do instead:
Your customers know best what their problem is and what product or service they need to solve that problem.
So, the first thing you need to do is to test your potential customers with your product or service even before you make it.
Talk to some of them physically or on the phone. Don’t just try to estimate the needs of your customers based on data and statistics.
You can also create a landing page and talk there about your product or service. Then, throw some traffic and analyze their feedback. Try to collect money even if you don’t have your product or services made yet.
If people give you money for what you are offering, you can refund them right away and apologize to them. You may also deliver them some gifts (just kidding). There’s nothing wrong with it.
In this way, you can be 100 percent sure that what you are trying to make is exactly what your potential customers are looking for and you can make money from.
5. Don’t spend your money and time on the wrong things
Although this one may seem obvious, many entrepreneurs, especially in their early days, make this mistake. They put a huge amount of money and time into those things that have nothing to do with their success whatsoever.
You don’t need an office, you don’t need a car, don’t have to build a website, app, logo, or business card when you are just starting out. Stop trying to show the world how professional you are, rather than creating any value.
Big companies never did this:
Most valuable companies in the world, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, HP, Disney, etc., were started from a garage with very little investment. They didn’t have fancy offices or, headquarters at the beginning. But look at them today, they are dominating their industry.
Their number 1 target was solving their customers’ burning problem, and so should be yours.
What you can do instead:
Simply don’t care about anything else except solving your customers’ burning problem. Start talking to your potential customers, listen to their feedback, test the market, figure out the problem of your customers, and then try to come up with the right product that solves that problem.
It’s sometimes OK to invest some money in developing a prototype and then marketing it. See if your potential customers are willing to pay for it. Keep testing over and over again.
Put your effort into the right things. Focus on what matters the most. That will alone lead you to the pinnacle of success.