As competition is becoming more and more vigorous, the sight of a startup business being
shut down after opening for less than a year is not that uncommon in today’s market scene.
From external reasonings like offering the wrong product to the wrong market. Getting outcompeted by other businesses, to internal causes such as losing focus or lack of passion. There are so many reasons behind the failure of startups, these are just a few
In this blog, Maverick Mentoring For Business will talk about the 3 most common reasons why startups fail, and give you some advice on how to avoid them.
Entrepreneur’s Arrogance
Most of the time, successful entrepreneurs are those who tend to be confident and passionate. Not saying it’s a bad thing, as nobody would ever be mad enough to start their own business without a firm belief in their capabilities. However, overconfidence might turn into arrogance, which will consequently lead to a loss of vision for the market. Arrogance is the main cause for problems like:
- Fail to identify market’s need
- Mistiming of a product’s launch
- No business model
- Require no help from network or business advisors
Solution: Keep your confidence in check all the time. Be humble and learn to accept feedback without becoming defensive.
Short sighted
When you’re operating a startup, it’s impossible to anticipate everything that will happen to your business in the future. However, if you fail to come up with a solid plan for your business, some of the problems from this that would cause the business’s failure are:
- Running out of cash
- Pricing or costs issues
- Fail to attract financing or investor interest
Solution: Come up with a solid financial plan for your startup from day 1. Manage your reserves well and make sure you don’t crash and burn every time you hit a speed bump.
Too Much Pride
Many entrepreneurs believe that they will gain immediate success with just the launch of their product. Because of this foolish thinking, they treat sales & marketing as if they were of secondary importance or even worthless to the business.
Fact: The history of business is full of excellent products that failed miserably due to weak marketing or poorly-planned sales efforts.
The consequences of an Entrepreneur with too much pride is:
- Poor marketing
- Ignoring customers
- Getting outcompeted
Solution: Get over yourself! Make sure to pay as much attention to hiring good marketers & salespeople as you do to hiring your engineers.
Want to know more about startups & entrepreneurship? Need help & support for your business’s strategies? Talk to us now!
