Startup Mistakes That Will Finish You Off

Startup Mistakes That Will Finish You Off

Mar 27, 2017

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At some point in every entrepreneur’s career, there will come the time when they need to secure funding. However, getting the funding you need is no easy feat. The startup game is a risky business to get into, and a lot of that is because entrepreneurs are competing with a lot of competition for a limited amount of investment. As such, it is your responsibility to demonstrate why your idea is a great idea to invest in; it is up to you to convince them to open their wallet.

But in order to do this successfully, you are going to need to understand what the common mistakes are so that you can avoid these mistakes when you’re finally ready to secure some cash.

You Have To Understand Your Financial Position

This is the single biggest area of mistakes suffered by new entrepreneurs. So eager to prove themselves – and show off their great idea – they make huge mistakes regarding their financial position. Sometimes they haven’t done basic things, such as they haven’t secured loans to improve credit, personal credit, the credit that investors will scrutinize.  Other times they will make completely unrealistic valuations of their company in order to grab attention. But anything that demonstrates you have misunderstood your financial situation is going to backfire massively. The reason for this is it shows a lack of understanding, a lack of maturity, a lack of leadership and a lack of ability. So always know your finances and always be truthful about them.

Surround Yourself With A Great Team

No successful business leader or entrepreneur has ever found success purely on their own. Apple, Google, Microsoft; every single one of these was started by a team, and that is a valuable lesson to learn. As such, it is imperative that you surround yourself with a group of people that will bring value to your company. An investor is much more likely to invest in a team of people than one person, and that is because the risk is massively reduced. They can be more confident in a startup that has a financial controller, a sales director, a design specialist and a user-experience manager than they can be in a single person that has an idea.

Know Your Place In The Market

It is such a simple thing to understand, and yet one of the big bear snares that catch so many newbies out. If you are starting a business – whether it offers a product or service – you have to know exactly where it is going to fit in the marketplace. Anyone that is investing in a startup is going to want to know about your go-to-market strategy, and that starts with knowing where you are going to launch and the demographic that is going to need you. This strategy is important to an investor because it is the very thing that gives you a competitive advantage over the other companies that operate in this sector, this niche, this industry. So know who you are, where you fit and how you are going to grow, and know all the little details too.

 


Get The Location Right For A Business

Get The Location Right For A Business

Mar 8, 2017

The location of a business is obviously an important part of allowing a business to grow and develop to its full capacity and potential. When a good location is chosen, this can mean a business can really benefit from extra footfall of customers, more people talking about the business whether they have seen it as they passed by or whether they have used the business, and more chance of better profit being made because of the location which was chosen. A poorly chosen location will mean that a business will not be able to reach its full potential, and will potentially make minimal profit, leaving a business owner struggling to make ends meet.

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The location of a business should be seriously thought about, as it can genuinely make or break a business. For example, if a business sells a range of products including clothes, footwear or sportswear, it could be a good idea for the location of that business to be somewhere where customers can easily access it, such as a high street or a busy suburban area. If this type of business is situated in somewhere like a small countryside village, there is a good chance that the business will not make as much profit as it could if it was located in a city. Wherever a business is located, it is important to research commercial property insurance and other important procedures such as how much rent will have to be paid on the space and what other additions the company will need in order for it to meet government requirements and to fit within all aspects of the law.

When thinking of the location in which to place a company, a business owner will also need to think about how that location will be able to supply the company’s image, brand and characteristics. If a business is located in a sleepy rural village, where the majority of the residents are older people, a business owner will need to ensure that it appeals and is marketed to the people who live in the locality, rather than designing the business to appeal to an audience which is non existent within the locality.

A business owner should also put some thought into how other businesses in the area will affect profit and reputation. If there is a similar business already situated in the location where a business owner is thinking of setting up a company, research will need to be done in as to whether the similar business offers the same products or services, and how a new business can offer something completely different. If there are lots of businesses in the area which also offer similar services, then a business owner will need to put some serious thought in as to whether to continue to set up a business in that location or whether it will be more beneficial and profitable to set up a business elsewhere, where there are no other similar businesses. Take the time to place a business somewhere beneficial.


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