12 Mistakes made by startups

Entrepreneurship is a lot of people's dream, and indeed more and more people have set foot on this road to find a dream. But in terms of success in entrepreneurship, the proportion of truly successful entrepreneurs is low. Many enterprises in the first 5 years of entrepreneurship, fell on the entrepreneurial road. Why is this happening? Recently, BusinessInsider's blogger Alysonshontell wrote about the earliest of startups and the 12 common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make most easily. Here, we also share. If you are an entrepreneur, see if there is a case for a condemnation.

1, too early or just right on the media exposure

If you're looking for media start-ups, first you need to ask yourself, "Why?" Why do you need the media? Are you really ready to see the press? What can an article help you achieve?

If you want the media to make you look cool in front of employees and friends, you probably shouldn't be looking for media. If you're just looking for a client, the growth is short-lived.

Sometimes the media is good, and if you're looking for financial support, the media can attract investors. But if you're not sure of your business model or product (and maybe you can't do any of that in the first year), do you really want your name to be there and fail after a year? It's more embarrassing to believe this than the name never appeared.

2, too early to raise too much money

It's a terrible thing to start a business on your own. No one wants to see their savings dwindling. But if you rely on external investors to take all the risks, it will be the founder's inattention to the cost. This will also allow them to withdraw in the future, there is little gain.

If you start your own business, you will try to prove it, without the pressure of the board or the constant bombing of investors. Once you are self-employed, you will get better terms from your investors. If you don't have outsiders to control your business, you can quit when you want, and don't worry that someone in your business's privileged class will fire you.

If you don't have at least 50,000 dollars in your savings and you're not in a life that you can risk, you shouldn't start a business.

3. Try to start a lonely business

Entrepreneurship is stressful, and no one is good at everything. To avoid burnout, you need a co-founder, or consultant, to share the burden of work and rely on each other. Let others help you, you will be more productive, in addition, there are more money can be used for business.

It takes a lot of time to start a business, so being stuck in your job is perfectly normal. But you need to interact with other people, participate in productive meetings, and get your business moving forward. No one can start a business on their own.

4, there are too many co-founder

It seems like a good idea to start a business with four good friends. But that means you have only 25% of the company before you've raised a round. In addition, it is difficult to get 4 people to dictate, and if everyone has no equal rights, it is also frustrating. Many founders of startups will slowly be reduced to just one major founder. Facebook, Quora, Foursquare.

Start your own business, or you can work together with people. Otherwise, it would be a troublesome and costly disintegration.

5, go out too much

In startups, there are lots of social events and gatherings that lead to too much social activity and no time to work.

Seek balance. If you are a ripe face in the entrepreneurial community, you should spend more time in front of your desk. Otherwise it will send bad information to your investors and employees.

6. Try to push a useless business

You resign because you have a good idea and you are sure it will work. What would you do if it didn't work?

First, don't resign until you have a chance to validate your ideas and have a reasonable and effective opportunity. But even so, you can't predict the future of entrepreneurship.

You can't predict exactly how people will use your product, or the consumer hates a new trait you like. Move fast, break, chop, do not hold on to the thoughts you are fascinated with. Pull away from a core of ideas that can be effective, develop it into a fully developed business, or simply pivot. Today, some of the big companies are from the wreckage of a start-up enterprise.

7, inadequate communication, ignoring criticism

When you have an entrepreneurial roadmap in your head, it's very difficult to communicate with others correctly. It takes work to keep communication lines open and to force yourself to listen to critical comments and learn how to manage people. But if you can't learn how to communicate, you can screw up your relationship with your clients and your employees.

8, greedy.

Being a smart entrepreneur means when to leave your desk.

Many of the landscape's start-ups received 1 billion of dollars in mergers and acquisitions and decided to turn away. This is usually admirable, but it is a foolish decision.

Foursquare was able to sell 1.5 billion dollars when he received 5 million dollars in financing. Qwiki, a video start-up, once received a 1 billion-dollar takeover request, now sells Yahoo to 50 million dollars. Google used to give the path a lot of money, but its founder refused and embarked on a bumpy road.

Especially for the first time entrepreneurs, when there is such a chance, seize the opportunity to change life. Save all your next start-up.

It's better to sell a smaller amount of money than millions of dollars. A 2-3-million-dollar exit plan takes less time to achieve than a 2 billion-dollar exit, and requires very little external capital consumption.

9. A white Lie

Because startups are private companies, they can lie to media reporters and investors who don't do due diligence. If you desperately want to raise money or keep your startup alive, you may be tempted to say white lies, such as how quickly your business grows or how much money you earn.

If your startup business fails, the truth will be revealed in the end. Lies can only delay death, so that you cannot make things that are trustworthy.

10, impatient

Investors say 10 million users are a new user, which also allows startups to quickly upgrade their climb. But if you only focus on growth, your product will suffer.

The growth rate of different start-up enterprises is different. Set growth goals based on a similar entrepreneurial track, and manage your expectations accordingly.

If you're running a media company and you're making money, you have to wait until it's big enough to hire a direct sales team. This may take years. If you're running a business based on a trading business, you need to know what it costs to keep it going.

11. Underestimate how hard it really is to start a business

We read most of the success stories, but the founders don't always win the lottery.

America's 500-strong davemcclure has recently said how difficult it is to start a business:

There's a lot of work, but there's not much in return. There are days when you sit in the corner and cry. You can't do other things, you don't have social life, because you don't have much to do with family and friends, you don't want to talk to them. Your world is the core of your business rotation, all is to survive, not in front of employees look like idiots.

There are many world problems that have not been solved, such as the level of war, starvation or things like this, but when your whole universe is going to show everyone else that you are successful and stick together. When you're falling apart and trying to be on the payroll, it's a different mindset to keep everything good on the surface, which can become a more deceptive form of stress.

12, not big enough dream

Some people are very practical, some people are dreamers. The best entrepreneurial team hires these two people to keep their feet on the ground while at the same time working hard to make a big achievement.

If you think too small, you will limit yourself and your ability. When you are conservative and start creating important things, you can create people and what you want to achieve.