5 Typical Mistakes for Young Startups; How to Fix Them (before it's too late)

New startup companies make very similar mistakes. Chances are, if you're developing a startup, it will fail because of the mistakes. Sadly, it's hard to fix some of the mistakes made, making the company fail.

Let's identify the 5 most common mistakes that young startups make, and how to fix them before it's too late.

1. Delaying your launch.

By not launching your company's product(s) at the right time (because timing is everything in the industry), you're not going to make the sales/conversions. It's highly important to be simplistic for your first product, launch it, and then start working on your next product(s), where you can be more complex.

By keeping your product simple, and releasing it at the right time, when people are ready especially, you're going to make the sales/conversions. It takes simple planning, evaluating of the market, and quick development - to be able to release product at the right time and get your customers.

It's time for you to stop thinking pridefully, and just release the product already, even if it doesn't look the greatest. By being humble, you're telling people that you've got potential to do better. Especially if you state that you're going to be releasing more products or a better version of the product(s) already out. This is a key to building a fast growing business.


Last week, I identified ways to help customers not fear of buying your product(s). These are two out of three of those ways:

1. Create your own niche market. Make one product like another product, and sell them at similar prices and catered to what consumers know and love.
2. Make their buying process fun. Many companies, particularly well-known companies know how to do this. They may create awesome commercials, awesome video campaigns where they show how cool the product is, or create a bunch of gear/items to ride along with the product. Some examples would be the Angry Birds video game for mobile/PC devices. Soon after the popularity of the game hit, stores were flooded with gear/items for that game - which doubled or tripled its popularity overnight. People will see how serious you are, when you make the buying process fun.

As you can see, it's all about the market and making the buying process interesting. Hope that works out for you!

SEE ALSO: How to Kill a Great Idea (satire)

2. Being afraid to fail.

People are so afraid to fail, typically, and it shouldn't be this way. You think wasting time and money isn't worth it. But without failing, you can't succeed (or at least well enough).

People commonly, everyday, hate to fail. Admit it, you hate failing. It makes you feel low, humble, betrayed, seconded, or even trialed. It makes you feel completely challenged, doesn't it? What's more? It makes you feel like you won't reach success, sometimes. Many people who don't expect success reach it, but most people who try at success end up failing instead. Why? Let's explore.

Failing is a necessary, key challenge to get to success. Many people who've failed too many times change their mind about failing, and start creating stuff that they don't expect to have any success. They might just be targeting a specific audience, or trying their hand at the sport they're involved in.

See more about not being afraid to fail.

3. Believing too many startup myths.

Let's face it, entrepreneurship is not easy. It never really has been, and it probably will continue to be uneasy. Read more about the common myths of startups.


4. Having poor leadership skills.

Poor leadership skills are one of the biggest reasons startups fail, because if you're not correctly leading a team toward the goals you have set up for the business, then (just like your leadership skills) your business will be poor/failed.

It's highly important to become a much better leader, and attain leadership skills - so you can properly lead the company toward the goals set up for the company.


5. Not listening to customers.

If you're not listening to customers or trying to grab feedback, then you're making a poor decision from the get-go. Don't let yourself be caught in the trap of not collecting audience data to help improve your product(s).

It's time to face the criticism and encouragement for your product(s), so you know where to improve.


I could go on and on about some of the common mistakes, but I identified the most common. My dearest hope is that they're helpful. I'm open to comments or questions below.


Other articles worth reading:

• Five Steps to Realizing Innovation
• Making your business dream come to life