5 Common Startup Pitfalls you Need to Avoid

Developing, launching, and managing a startup is like an extreme sport. It is incredibly risky, but it can lead to satisfying results when you do it right. However, If you are not careful, you might fall into the common startup pitfalls and traps. If you want to build a startup, here are common pitfalls you need to avoid.??

Common Startup Pitfalls

1. Seeking Too Many Investors before Building Fundamentals

When building a startup, sometimes you are too focused on gaining funding from venture capital, angel investors, or crowdfunding. However, there are some downfalls to doing this. Seeking and managing relationships with investors took a lot of time and energy. In the process of seeking investors, you might sacrifice other essential foundations such as product development, market creation, and marketing strategy.

Overly focusing on acquiring a lot of investors is never a good idea for your new startup. Too many investors mean sacrificing a huge portion of the equity in your startup. This means your startup will have less portion of the generated profit. This also means that you will significantly reduce your decision-making power to the shareholders. Not all investors are sophisticated and experienced in managing a startup, giving up too much power to them will increase the risk of bad decision-making for your startup.?

2. No Documented Workflows

The next common pitfall in running a startup is the absence of a documented process. Nowadays, employees come and go at a rapid rate. Your team will quickly transition to new people. In order to make your business sustainable, you need to establish a routine and blueprint of how to get things done. Figuring out everything will take a longer time, especially for new employees with a lack of experience. The main purpose of the documented process is to maintain, manage, and transfer knowledge more quicker. The documented process will help to make the process quicker and will accelerate the growth of your startup.

3. Doing everything by Yourself

Startup founders tend to handle everything single-handedly. You can not be an expert in all fields. Doing this will only lead you to be overwhelmed with the number of workloads. Consider delegating job desks and hiring specialized employees to handle specific tasks. There are also other avenues to find an answer to your problem such as networking opportunities and hiring freelancers.?

4. Scale Up Too Fast

Another common startup pitfall is scaling up too fast. Attempting to scale up too quickly can be a boomerang for your startup. You need time to develop before launching more products and put a lot of consideration before hiring more employees. Success is not achieved in a short time. Scaling up recklessly will only burn more money. You need to prioritize quality over quantity.

5. Jumping in Without Guidance of Mentors

Being a startup founder is not an easy task. It is not enough to come up with innovative ideas, you need to execute them as well. Many startups fail because they make the wrong decision in the early development or even in the mid-way. Thus, you need a lot of guidance from experienced mentors in making decisions for your business. This guidance can come anywhere, from an industry leader, consultant, or startup incubator/accelerator.?

Do You want to Expand Your Network? We have the Perfect Place for You!

Gear up is one of our partners that provides a community for entrepreneurs. Beyond that, you can get the chance to be mentored by industry-leading experts. Join Gear Up to accelerate your startup journey.