6 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN BUILDING YOUR START-UP

By Paul Ellis, Managing Director, Wax Digital

 

You’re about to launch your business after months of painstaking preparation and planning – but you might be fearful of making a mistake. It’s fine to make the odd blunder, but you really shouldn’t make a habit of it, because in the long run it could end up costing your fledgeling business precious cash.

 

1 – Skipping the planning phase

It might be boring and tedious but taking the time to get your plans in order is a key part of making sure everything runs smoothly in your start-up. So, do your market research, create a marketing plan, a financial plan and any other plan you feel will be necessary to get your idea and your business up and running.

 

Failing to plan properly can result in issues once your start-up has launched. You might be unable to adequately plan for growth and that might limit the amount of money you’re able to make.

 

2 – Trying to do too much, too soon

It’s tempting to throw yourself completely into your business and to some extent, you should commit plenty of time when it first launches. However, it’s very easy for you to become overwhelmed, exhausted and tired. So, work hard of course, but make sure you take some time for yourself outside of work – after all, running a business is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

3 – Spending too little, or too much

You’ll need to ensure you walk the tightrope of investing just the right amount of money into your start-up. Too little, and you’ll severely limit what your business can achieve. Too much, and you risk bankrupting your business before it has even had chance to do anything meaningful.

 

Scrutinise your balance sheets and prospective purchases. Carefully evaluate any investments; is spending money going to help you grow your business? And ask yourself, is failing to embrace new techniques and technologies going to limit what your business can do?

 

The best thing we can recommend, having been a successful business for the last 20 years, is to design a budget that balances spending vs saving and stick to it – only that way will you be able to account for unexpected purchases.

 

4 – Undervaluing the importance of marketing

Many start-ups fall into the trap of failing to realise the importance of marketing very early on. Instead, they pour all their efforts into sales, without doing the fundamentals to get prospective customers to the point where they’re ready to buy.

 

The problem with that is that if people aren’t ready to be sold to, you’ll be talking about something your prospect isn’t ready to do yet. You need to warm up your prospect to the idea of purchasing from you.

 

We recommend creating a robust marketing plan that incorporates digital marketing at the forefront of what you do. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C business; the same rules apply. You’ll need to flesh out everything from SEO, content marketing, social media marketing and much more. Of course, this all depends on whether your business is suited to a digital marketing approach.

 

5 – Ignoring help

Starting a business from scratch is no simple task. It takes a tremendous amount of work, effort and dedication from those who take the plunge and back their idea. However, this determination to succeed and absolute belief in oneself can be your undoing.

 

Sometimes, people who run their own business are reluctant to let go of things or ask for help when they need to; for fear of things going wrong if they do so. It’s important to let other people in, if appropriate, so you ease the mental load of running your business. That way, instead of trying to run everything in your organisation and tiring yourself out, you can focus on what’s important and delegate to somebody else.

 

6 – Incorrectly valuing your products/services

It could be because of a lack of confidence, or perhaps overconfidence – but a common mistake that start-ups make is failing to set the right price for their goods/services.

 

To avoid this, you should conduct thorough market research to find out what your competitors are doing price-wise, as well as understanding what your prospective customers would be willing to pay for a brand-new offering. By doing your due diligence, you’ll be able to make sure that whatever you decide to sell will appeal to the widest possible target market, at the right price.

 

Finally, try to enjoy yourself!

One of the most important things to consider when starting your own business is that this is an exciting time. Embrace the challenge of setting up your own business and enjoy the challenges that it presents – it’s your opportunity to make your impression on the business world and to impress your prospective clients.

 

About Paul Ellis

Paul started his career fulfilling roles in HR, Sales and Advertising before co-founding Wax Digital in 2001. He’s been Managing Director since the firm was founded and has overseen considerable growth and expansion. Outside of work Paul is very passionate about music, having played in several bands in his early 20s. He enjoys playing football, tennis and walking with his wife and dog.

 

 

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