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- Potential startup entrepreneurs can oftentimes get swept up in the excitement of their ideas, products, and services and make some devastating, yet common, mistakes.
- Underestimating the amount of time and money needed to get your company going can lead to serious cash flow issues down the line.
- And failing to adjust to the market and respond to consumer needs can also ensure a startup’s failure.
- Here are some of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when trying to get their startups off the ground.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
You’ve got a great idea, you’re brimming with enthusiasm, and you’re pretty sure that the world is going to beat a path to your door to buy your new product or service.
But the road ahead will be filled with speed bumps and potholes, from outside competition to legal disputes within your own company.
To help you steer clear of at least some of them, we asked several successful entrepreneurs and experts for their take on the biggest mistakes that startup entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them.
Here are the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when trying to get their startups off the ground.
They underestimate how much time and money getting off the ground will take
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So you think you’ve squirreled enough money away to get you through the lean — read "poor" — startup days. Think again.
"I think we underestimate how long things will take and how much money we will need," said Francine Glick, founder of Water Journey. "I think it takes twice as long and costs three times as much as we assume it will."
Make sure you’ve got some extra financial padding. Hang on to that full-time job a bit longer while you work on your startup in your free time.
They take too long to launch
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty Images
"You can plan and research forever, but the key is to just get out there, and then there will be natural feedback and momentum to carry you forward," Thomas Donohoe, founder of Level Agency, told Business Insider. "You don’t have to have everything perfect and figured out in order to launch."
In fact, if you labor over your idea for too long, you may be wasting time creating something that’s not quite right for your customers. Get what you’re offering in front of them and let them help you create what they need most.
They fail to begin with the end in mind
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"Entrepreneurs often begin with excitement and optimism thinking they will do whatever it takes to succeed," said Michael Fellows, founder of Broadway Lab, a software development company. "Taking time to plan your vision, mission, values, and how your service will be differentiated from the rest will create focus and effectiveness."
Adopting a big picture approach from the outset will force you to ask tough questions sooner rather than later, and will give you a roadmap to refer to when things get rough.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Donna Fenn)