9 Steps to Failure of Your Startup in 2018
I have recently found a very interesting discussion on Quora.com. It sounds like: ‘What do startup founders typically get wrong when starting a business?’
And in my opinion, it is one of the hottest topics in the startup era. So, below I added my list of the most common mistakes made by young entrepreneurs.
1. Lack of a clear development plan.
2. Incorrect identification of the target audience or just ignoring this step.
3. Using wrongheaded strategy copying of all steps of the competitor.
4. Too large investments which in the future don’t pay off (This results from 1 and 2 points).
5. Choosing too complex a business model for implementation. It’s strange, but for some reason, many young businesses do not follow the proven rule «the simplicity of genius».
6. Saving money on promotion.
7. Choosing the wrong developers.
8. Choosing the wrong promotion specialists.
9. Involving too many employees for an easy task or charging a large number of tasks to one person.
Unfortunately, this list can be even longer in some cases.
A lot of beginning entrepreneurs fail because they are simply not ready to implement the conceived concept. But it is good that in 2018, there are many opportunities for growing and developing startups. Remember, do not make this harder than it has to be.
The next list contains simple but working solutions that lead to a really profitable business. It’s about the online marketplace business.
- Drawing on your knowledge, skills or hobbies, determine a niche for creating your future marketplace.
- Analyze in this area (the competitor analysis is very useful) and determine your target audience (make a detailed portrait for your sellers and buyers).
- Choose the most suitable platform based on your financial possibilities and type of the trading platform.
- On the basis of the chosen platform, determine the payment tool that is right for you.
- Use the right team collaboration tools to make your team more productive.
- Use all free methods at the first stage of promoting your marketplace (SMM, SEO, YouTube, blogging, guest posting, etc.).
- Do not leave without attention and paid methods of promotion (target ads, contextual ads, influencer marketing, YouTube, etc.). If you do not have experience in marketing, the best option is to hire professionals specializing in the promotion in this field.
- Read and study a lot about the marketplace business.