By Brian McKay
You might be surprised to know that over 99% of startups fail. It’s often down to errors that are made in the very beginning with the business. After all, if it’s your first business, it can be a challenge to know what you are doing at the start. Therefore, don’t make these common errors with your startup if you want to be successful.
Not hiring a professional for your website
One of the most important things a startup needs in the modern age is a website. It’s a fantastic way to draw business from around the world. And it’s one of the first things potential customers will look at before accepting business of you. However, so many people do a quick job with their website, and it ends up not looking professional. After all, if you don’t have the skills, you are not going to be able to fully utilize your site. With a bad website, it will be hard to stand out as a reputable business with clients. Therefore, look into hiring a professional web designer who can make your website stand out from the crowd. They can then implement SEO techniques to help you draw more clients to your business. In fact, you might want to also work with an IT support company who can deal with all technology for you.
Not keeping your personal and business life separate
When you first start your business, you will often have to work in your home. It means you might have business calls coming through your home phone line. And you might receive letters through the post. The big issue with both of these is you might not come over professional to clients if you end up losing post because of the kids. Or if someone other than you answers the phone. The best thing you can do is keep your personal and business life private if you want to be successful. Get a separate phone to deal with calls from clients. And you should consider looking into hiring an office so you can keep personal life separate. If you don’t have the funds for this, you might want to consider getting post delivered to a mail forwarding address. They will then send it to you wherever you are in the world. It can look professional to clients and will ensure you don’t misplace letters. You can check it out online on sites similar to http://www.yourvirtualofficelondon.co.uk.
Spending too much money at the beginning
It’s easy to spend too much money at the beginning when you start your business. After all, you need to make sure you have all the resources you need to make it a success. However, it’s so important to make sure you have a backup fund available if you come into trouble. For example, if you don’t get paid by a client, you might end up getting into debt if you don’t have the money to fund the materials you just used for their work. Therefore, limit your spending at the beginning so that you have the funds available.
Remember to make sure that you are marketing enough to attract customers. In fact, http://www.inc.com/ss/most-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-starting-up says you should have a marketing strategy in place straight away.
Brian McKay is a co-founder of zenruption. He has a B.A. in Political Science from Gonzaga University and an M.B.A. from Boise State University (yes that blue field). His goal in life is to look out for the regular guy and bring as much knowledge and change to this world as he can. His purpose in founding Zenruption was to do just that and help craft the world he wants his daughter to inherit. Please feel free to email him any feedback or article ideas at [email protected]. On twitter: @brianmckay71
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briguy71
