5 Mistakes Every Startup Founder Should Avoid


5 Mistakes Every Startup Founder Should Avoid

When you’re in the midst of starting a new company, there are a lot of missteps you can make. However, by noting common mistakes that entrepreneurs before you have already made, you can avoid major pitfalls that might otherwise plague you. It’s an era ripe for ingenuity and small business owners, especially with the advent of the Internet. Here are five mistakes to avoid as you launch your startup so you can get on the right track to success from the beginning.

  1. Lack of Brand Identity

One of the biggest problems when you’re establishing a new business is not understanding your identity. You need to have a core philosophy, and from there, branch out to develop a brand aesthetic. In an age where visual content matters just as much as the written word, using a service like Custom Logo Design by Designhill can be a boon to your business. You need a recognizable calling card that will put your identity at the fore of communication, social media, and any other mediums in which you do business. Using a smaller site like Designhill or other online services to design unique logos is a good option for a startup. Don’t invest the big bucks in an independent design firm that’s going to charge you an arm and a leg for something as simple as a decent logo. Trust your own eyes to determine what kind of visual you want. You can start by looking at the logos of established brands, since what worked for them worked very well. Move forward with establishing your brand identity, but don’t spend your startup capital doing so. If you want to re-brand later, once you’ve expanded, that’s something you can consider down the road.

  1. Succumbing to Blogger’s Block

If you’re not much of a writer, find someone who is or get an intern. Blogging is important and keeps your startup relevant. Even if you have writer’s block, or what Blogging Wizard refers to as “blogger’s block,” you should keep going since regular blog posts generate an audience who will come back for more when you make new posts. Blogging is part of the social media sphere, and it’s where you’ll offer the most content. Blog posts can range in length, but the point is offering quality content to your customers, potential clients, or even investors who might be considering backing your startup. Don’t stop blogging and offering new content to the Internet.

  1. Underestimating the Power of Social Media

If there’s one thing that’s more important than blogging in general, then it’s social media. According to Business 2 Community, there are over one billion social media users today. Think of that as one billion potential people who could see your business’s content. Although it may not be feasible to literally expect one billion new customers overnight because make a Facebook post that gets some attention, the essential point to take away from this statistic is that there’s a huge amount of people using social media.

As a startup, you need to not only pay attention to social media, but also understand its various uses. Making meaningless posts to your different social media accounts will not only be a waste of time, but can actually drive followers away and reduce traffic. It’s not particularly difficult to come up with content if you simplify it. Take a few links to recent industry articles or even a quote that will interest people. Once you get going and have time, then you can start to build up more specific content.

  1. Ignoring Customer Feedback

First and foremost, no matter how great your idea is for a business or product, you need to listen to the customers. Ideas in the abstract versus ideas put to work are very different things. This advice goes down in history as being some of the most useful for very successful people. Entrepreneur quotes the late CEO of SurveyMonkey, Dave Goldberg, as stating that brand success is when customer feedback indicates your product has changed how they do business permanently in some way. When you’re a startup, this should be kept in mind as a goal. Listen to the people with whom you’re doing business, whether it’s a small, specialized audience or on a bigger scale. Think about how you can revolutionize the way they complete certain tasks.

  1. Not Having Faith in Yourself

It might sound like a piece of copout advice, but it’s absolutely true. Pushing a startup is one of the hardest jobs you’ll ever have. It’s easy to get frustrated with the long hours, lack of immediate success, and stress it takes to reach your goals. However, what will put you ahead of the crowd is hard work, perseverance, and a willingness to accept flaws. Remind yourself once a day of why you believe in your company.

You’ll make mistakes regardless of how much good advice is out there for fledgling company founders, but taking a chance on a good idea can be worth it. You could end up the next CEO of a company that has a nexus of one billion users.