This article is titled ‘6 Mistakes You Must Learn From’, not ‘6 Mistakes You Must Avoid’.
Because the truth is building a startup is messy. Nothing goes as planned.
- You get tired
- You get frustrated
- You almost quit, but only ‘almost.’
You will make mistakes.
But like every other thing in life, what’s important is that you learn from them.
That said, let’s jump to the six mistakes I forbid you to make more than once.
#1 — Ignoring Market Research
Yeah, I get it — you’re super pumped about your idea and just want to dive right in.
That’s me every time I think of a new word for my bio.
But you need to pause. Take a moment to do market research because you are setting yourself up for a major failure without it.
We’ve all heard horror stories of founders who didn’t take the time to truly understand their competition, market dynamics, and customer needs and ended up with a product nobody wanted.
You don’t want to be another cautionary tale.
So, do yourself a favor and put in the legwork upfront to ensure your idea has real potential.
#2 — Scaling too quickly
When you hear ‘scaling,’ you often think positively, but that’s not always true.
Before you think about scaling, think:
- Are you in the right place to do so (financially, mentally, sales-wise)?
- Do you have the technology or resources to scale?
- Why do you want to scale your startup at all?
- Can your team handle it?
If you don’t have a solid foundation, prematurely expanding could lead to a massive headache.
One day, you’re celebrating your big break. The next, you’re drowning in chaos, unable to keep up with demand and rapidly losing money.
So, take it slow and steady, and make sure everything is running smoothly before you even think about taking things to the next level.
#3 — Neglecting Customer Feedback
Whether you like talking to people or not, whether you are the worst introvert or not, your customers will make or break your startup.
You must speak with them.
If you are not doing this already, that’s your only mistake. Start now.
Without taking the time to actively seek out and listen to your customer’s feedback, you’re setting yourself up for a one-way ticket to Failure Town.
Don’t be one of those founders who think they know everything, only to find out the hard way that they had misunderstood their customers’ needs entirely.
Make it a priority to regularly communicate with your customers and truly listen to what they have to say.
#4 — Lack of Focus and Prioritization
Pursuing too many ideas at once is like trying to rotate your arms in opposite directions simultaneously.
You will get confused. (I tried)
You need to set clear priorities and stay aligned with your core business goals to avoid ending up all over the place and wasting precious time and resources.
Insist on ‘focus’ in your
- team
- product
- and operations.
Focus on what matters most and tackle one thing at a time.
Just keep it simple.
#5 — Underestimating Financial Management
Raise your hand if you’re alright-ish with money (raises hand).
Well, here, ‘alright-ish’ won’t cut it.
If you’re starting a business, you must get your finances on track.
Too many founders who underestimated financial challenges ended up in a world of hurt with cash flow issues.
If you don’t know what cash flow is, I wrote this extremely short post explaining it.
Click here. 👈
Or watch this not-so-complicated video:
If you know what cash flow is, you must educate yourself on effective financial management, budgeting, and contingency planning.
Don’t brush money matters under the rug — face them head-on.
Either you do this or find yourself packing up way before you mean to.
#6 — Neglecting Personal Well-being
I know, I know — you’re a total badass who doesn’t need sleep or sanity.
But hold up because sacrificing your well-being for the sake of your startup is a recipe for burnout and misery.
If you’re doing it to speed things up, you are trapping yourself in a catch-22.
Nothing speeds up, and now you’ve burned yourself out for something that doesn’t happen. This is why many startup founders give up before success even trickles in.
It is better to take care of yourself, manage your stress, and make sure you’re maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Building a successful startup takes years. If you can’t sustain your efforts over a long time, you’ll fail before you can succeed.
Be kind to yourself. Your startup will thank you for it (and so will you).
May the gods of unicorns be with you,
Sidikat.
Let me know what mistakes you have made in the comments.
And if you haven’t already, sign up for my newsletter here.
Bye 👋
