There are hundreds, if not thousands, of successful startup examples and so many motivating stories around them. It makes the path seem already trodden and explored, so you no longer can resist the urge to become an entrepreneur. Indeed, learning from the best cases will provide you with many insights into how the startup sector operates and inspire you to develop your own project, but there is the elephant in the room - statistics.
According to Medium, 90% of startups fail. Firstly, it is an impressive number, and secondly - neglecting the opportunity to learn from their mistakes will become the primary reason for your own failure. Following the steps of successful examples allows you only to deduce a general formula for your product or service, when analyzing common startup failures lets you determine the equation's variables.
Let's find out more about the most common reasons why startups fail to ensure that you will be prepared for everything from creating a conception to writing a sales pitch.
Lack of Market Demand
It applies to solving nonexistent or irrelevant problems. When you create a product or service, making sure it is exciting and high-quality is essential, but the only question that should bother you at this stage is whether your prospective consumers need it. The keyword is "need."
Your project has to solve the client's pain. You will need to test it thoroughly to find out (or not) confirmation of your hypothesis. For example, at FaxBurner, they researched how fax is used today and came up with elegant online solutions for users (those still exist!) based on the results they've got.
Ignorance Towards Feedback
Surprisingly, this reason also appears on a list. Why surprisingly? Because your product or service has to be client-oriented, and getting feedback can help you improve your project and adjust it to your client's needs in the most appealing way possible. But to make that happen, you need to analyze the opinions your clients share with you, and more importantly, respond by implementing changes based on them.
It is necessary to create a service that will provide your clients with ongoing support. Services like Ivyanswer manage to stay afloat for unlimited time only due to their urge to evolve and expand. They will only benefit from solving more customer and market problems.
Wrong Business Model
...or complete absence of one. A business model is an essential thing to have to attract more investors. Suppose your income comes from only one source, and you cannot find additional ways to make money. In that case, investors are unlikely to be interested in your project, meaning you will not be able to capitalize on your efforts and create a scalable business.
Indeed, some startups found their business model already in the working process. Still, it is crucial to understand that these projects are exceptions to the rule, and the rule says those who come unprepared always fail.
Lack of Flexibility
Practice shows that many startups seldom develop the way founders intended at the beginning. Sometimes the final product is very different from the original concept, and such startups are booming. It is imperative to be flexible when working on a young and raw project and be ready for any changes and innovations that will allow you to introduce the product to the market and audience in the best light. Do not become a hostage to your original concept, and let the project live!
Burnout
This one can be a complex problem itself and at the same time entail additional issues. As burning out usually has several triggers, you need to make sure all parts of the product development are balanced.
First mistake: the lack of specialists. Most often, startup founders are also developers, marketers, tech directors, and so on. Undoubtedly, it will exhaust all your resources, including your passion and flexibility, and will result in poor marketing, lack of focus, and failure to pivot when needed. People with whom you are working on a project are no less important than the idea of the startup itself - do not take on a lot, and let them do their job.
Second mistake: expectations disharmony. Setting up all the business processes is equally important to work with people who think in the same direction and share the same beliefs on the startup's future. Research shows that working with a balanced team allows you to achieve user growth and outgrow the startup phase quicker - it is primarily essential for tech startups.
Conclusion
These are only some of the most common reasons why startups fail. Hopefully, it will be an encouraging start for you to dive into other issues of your niche market, such as legal challenges, content marketing, seeking investors, and ways to avoid running out of cash in the long run.
Conducting a scrupulous analysis will teach you to honestly evaluate your performance, be patient towards changes in your project's strategy, not repeat the same mistakes (yours and other entrepreneurs' as well). Thus, you will be ready for anything that may occur during product development and growth.
This knowledge will make you a more experienced leader which means your chances to succeed will be much higher!
