10 Startup Mistakes You Can't Afford To Make Again

The good news is that everyone expects entrepreneurs to make mistakes, since founders explore uncharted territory. In fact, investors recognize that founders usually learn more from mistakes than from success, so a well-explained startup failure can improve their odds of funding the next time around. However, investors do expect you know the common pitfalls -- and not repeat them.
As an active angel investor and startup advisor, I’ve seen many of the same stumbling blocks repeated all too many times. As a result, repeating any of the follwoing 10 mistakes outlined here won’t get you any credit for intelligence and learning and will cost you dearly in your funding credibility and real cash.
Related: Starting a Business in 2016? Avoid These 5 'Beginner' Mistakes.

1. Assume you already know what your customers need and want.

Just because you love a new solution doesn’t mean your customers will love it. Before spending any money, make sure you interact directly with potential customers, industry experts and investors. Be prepared to pivot at least once before you get it right, even with this input.

2. Confidently believe that you have no real competitors.

Usually, no competitors means no market -- or it means you haven’t looked. If the market is new and competition is minimal, then the time and costs of educating potential customers probably exceeds your survival time and budget. Innovation in the face of a few competitors is much less risky.

3. Try to solve all the world’s problems with a first solution.

A startup needs focus to do one job well or risk the alternative of solving many problems poorly. It’s tempting to tell everyone about all the future potential uses of your new technology and risk confusing them, having them wait for your future or disappoint them with several poor solutions.

4. Forecast revenue growth that defies business principles.

Every business takes time to scale and penetrate a market due to organizational growth, hiring, training, brand building and customer adoption. Forecasts that exceed 10 percent of a large opportunity in the first five years rarely happen and will likely disappoint you and your investors.

5. Dismiss the need to register any intellectual property.

Some entrepreneurs believe that being first to market will keep them ahead of competitors. They forget that big companies with many more resources do wake up when they see your traction and can easily overrun your efforts. You need patents and trademarks as a barrier to entry.
Related: 6 Things You Don't Realize Are Hurting Your Business

6. Count totally on friends and family to run the business.

Every startup business is a new challenge and needs real dedication, experience and skills to survive. Friends and family may tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. Personal relationships and emotions have broken many businesses -- so be careful.

7. Delegate cash-flow projections and transactions.

Entrepreneurs who under-estimate cash requirements or focus on product development while someone else pays the bills are doomed to fail over and over again. Smart founders always build a buffer into their estimates, find a strong financial advisor and personally sign every check.

8. Hire helpers in lieu of people who are smarter than you.

When you need help as your startup grows, many entrepreneurs are quick to hire less expensive and more available helpers rather than finding the real skills and experience to complement their weakness. Hire people who can train you rather than ones you need to train. Hire slow and fire fast.

9. Build the company at the expense of employees.

Being too aloof or busy to lead and communicate goals and status to the team is a sure way to reduce motivation, morale and productivity and set the wrong culture. A startup with happy and highly motivated employees will provide a better customer experience resulting in viral customer growth.

10. Try to build a business without specific milestones or a plan.

Building a business is much more complex than building a house, and I don’t see any houses winning awards that were built without a documented design and plan. The plan should not be put together for investors but to map the workload and desired results to you and your team.
So, as you contemplate your next startup, it will be worth your effort to go the extra mile to avoid these 10 mistakes. Doing so may well save you the time and cost of a startup failure and also will save you from the embarrassing admission the next time around that you don’t pay attention to the advice and counsel of people who have been there before you. That doesn’t bode well for your ability to manage funding or your likelihood of success the second time around..

---

Author Bio:
Name:                     Martin Zwilling
Website:                 http://www.startupprofessionals.com/
Article URL:        http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270860

Little Biography:
Martin Zwilling is the founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. The author of Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur? and Attracting an Angel, he writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs and dispenses advice on the subject of startups.

Read More

7 Startup Strategies to Gain From Your Limitations

Join us in a city near you at Entrepreneur’s Accelerate Your Business event series kicking off Feb 23. View cities and dates »
As Clint Eastwood once said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Every new entrepreneur soon realizes he or she has some big ones, but very few figure out how to use these them to their advantage. I believe that the resourcefulness to turn constraints into competitive differentiators and new opportunities is a trait that separates the great entrepreneurs from the “wannabes.”
Related: The 7 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
For example, the Facebook business model of offering a product free to customers while gaining revenue from advertising was born out of the need to survive as a business while offering a fun service. By contrast, as a startup investor, I still see too many entrepreneurs looking for another check to keep them going -- without any convincing plan to ever be self-sustaining.
Smart entrepreneurs understand that more funding often comes with onerous constraints on who is in control, what can be done by whom, and who gets to share in the returns. These founders follow alternative strategies, including the following, to push themselves and their team harder for innovative and less expensive approaches to a complete product, advertising and new markets.

1. Do it yourself with new tools rather than hire outside help.

They look for creative solutions to problems that are inhibiting progress, rather than the conventional solution of outsourcing or hiring people. For example, many founders now use makerspaces such as TechShop to build prototypes without the costs and long lead times of manufacturers.

2. Focus on a top productivity bottleneck each week.

Startups funded by large venture-capital investments rarely think about productivity. I can think of cases where executives actually created make-work activities to keep idle people on the payroll in case they might be needed later. It’s better to use creativity and tools to find better ways of doing things.
Related: 8 Signs You're on the Golden Path to Success

3. Use big constraints to drive innovation.

Doing things the way they have always been done only works with unlimited resources. Constraints are great motivators to finding a better way, or maybe even deciding that something doesn’t really need to be done at all. Sometimes the quality of a result is inversely proportional to the amount of money spent.

4. Strategically reduce the budget on your most expensive projects.

It always amazes me how work expands to exceed any deadline or budget, and, conversely, how the important work still gets done when budgets and staffing are cut. Apply the 80 to 20 rule for maximum value, and urge people to work more efficiently rather than longer hours.

5. Find partners to complement your strengths.

If you have a great product and need customers, find a partner with many customers who needs a new product. If your strength is building businesses, find a partner who is a technologist. These are win-win situations requiring less resources and time for each side.

6. Look for disruptive solutions rather than linear innovations.

Without constraints on pricing and size, computers would still look like mainframes rather than fit in your wristwatch. The most successful and innovative solutions come from understanding and honoring constraints -- rather than feeling like the victim of limitations.

7. Create new business models and new ways to measure value.

Focus in recent years on social issues and saving the environment has created whole new industries, including solar power and the electric automobile. On the business side, we now have the subscription model, the freemium model and others. There is still room for many more.
Entrepreneurs need to celebrate the fact that constraints and limitations are sources of opportunity in the marketplace, and sources of profit and competitive advantage inside the business. Get past the victim mentality -- where every limitation is seen as an inhibitor to the realization of the vision.
The challenge of being an entrepreneur is in being able to turn constraints into advantages for fun and profit, and enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Are you having fun yet in your new venture, despite the limitations?.

---

Author Bio:
Name:                     Martin Zwilling
Website:                 http://www.startupprofessionals.com/
Article URL:        http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270822

Little Biography:
Martin Zwilling is the founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. The author of Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur? and Attracting an Angel, he writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs and dispenses advice on the subject of startups.

Read More

Get a Software Patent to Protect Yourself, But Be Prepared for a Frustrating Process

For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. I still generally advise software startups to file a patent as a barrier to entry from competitors and to increase their valuation by investors, but every entrepreneur needs to understand the tradeoffs.
Related: 7 Apple Patents We Hope Will Be Used to Make Actual Products
Most experts agree that the software patent process is in disarray, and you can find a long Wikipedia article on the debate, as well as many strong views from key industry players. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. patent reform legislation and an international Patent Cooperation Treaty to mitigate the challenges.

1. Every business is global, but patent rules differ around the world.

There is no such thing as a world-wide patent. There are at least five major international jurisdictions, and the protection you receive in each depends on meeting the unique required rules and on whether that jurisdiction has any meaningful enforcement mechanism or intent.

2. The patent application and approval process is expensive and slow.

Even if you start with the U.S. and the European Union to cover the largest opportunities, startups who can't do the work themselves should count on spending $10,000 per patent per area and up to four years for final approval. That's more than a lifetime in today's technology.

3. Patent offices can't keep up with software technology.

It's impossible for any patent jurisdiction to keep staff up to speed and qualified to validate significant innovations in a complex and rapidly changing technology, where trivial innovations are not obvious. The standard issue patent duration is 20 years, which is far too long in the software business.

4. The patent application process has become a legal negotiation.

The reason that lawyers get large fees for patent filings is that legal negotiation and strategy have become more important than technical merit. Patent lawyers know how to frame claims broadly, with legal wording, to negotiate the success of some at the expense of others.
Related: What Good Is a Patent if You Can't Enforce It?

5. Patents can become a commodity for buying and selling.

Some companies called patent trolls purchase or license software patents to build a portfolio that they can sell to the highest bidder or use to hold startups hostage due to limited resources through royalties and litigation. Rather than protection, this can be seen as a tax on innovation.

6. Patents are counter to open source initiatives and free software.

The free and growing open source software community, which covers most mobile and web apps, oppose software patents as impeding or prohibiting the distribution of free software. By definition, patents limit the commercialization rate and range for a new innovation.

7. All patents require public disclosure.

This is positive, in educating the public by making them aware of an unknown or non-obvious software invention. On the other hand, it can be negative to an entrepreneur inventor who needs more time to capitalize on a competitive advantage or wants to benefit from licensing or sale of the patent.

8. Unlike hardware, software is already covered by copyright.

Copyright intellectual property protection is already given automatically and immediately without the need to register the copyright with a government. Copyright, on the other hand, only protects expression which can be reworked substantially to hide theft without changing function.
In any case, I believe maximum protection for your intellectual property should always be sought by entrepreneurs to increase their sustainable competitive advantage and increase their valuation to investors and potential acquirers.
The smart ones continue to judiciously apply for patents but only in the jurisdictions where the opportunity is greatest, using their own resources to keep the costs down and limiting their claims to only the most defensible and valuable. It pays to understand the tradeoffs, but it doesn't pay to let an emotional debate stand in the way of your business success.

---

Author Bio:
Name:                     Martin Zwilling
Website:                 http://www.startupprofessionals.com/
Article URL:        http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/269495

Little Biography:
Martin Zwilling is the founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. The author of Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur? and Attracting an Angel, he writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs and dispenses advice on the subject of startups. 

Read More

8 Initiatives to Make Your Customers Loyal Advocates

If you can't provide a memorable customer experience, your startup won't survive very long these days. According to many observers, we can thank or blame technology for these higher expectations, providing information at the speed of light, leading everyone to expect more. You now need more than loyalty from your customers -- they need to be your best advocates.
Related: The 4 Easiest Ways to Supercharge Your Social-Media Marketing
In case you don't understand the urgency, just be aware that according to a recent Forrester report, nearly 95 percent of your competitors are saying that providing a good customer experience is their top strategic priority. The bar is being raised, so every entrepreneur needs new initiatives just to stay in the ballgame. Here are some key ideas to get you started:

1. It all starts with the right people on your team.

Make sure you only hire top-notch employees who can relate to the demographics of your customers, and make sure they share your vision and expectations. The days of pushing new and marginal performers into customer service are gone. Every job on your team drives your customer experience.

2. Personally listen and interact with customers regularly.

Some entrepreneurs are so focused on their technology, they assume their customers think the same way. If you and key members of your team haven't talked to a real customer this month, you have missed some evolving needs and shifting expectations. Lost customers provide the best input.

3. Promote by example a superior customer experience mindset.

A mission of superior customer service is more than words in the board room or words in front of customers. It must be written down, with measurable team objectives, validated by metrics and compared against competition. Most importantly, your actions speak louder than words.

4. Be a visible role model for customer urgency versus emergency.

Many startup founders are great at putting out fires at the expense of urgent customer priorities. Customer-centric leaders display a calm but visible urgency for improving the customer experience during all stages of business evolution and growth. Culture growth follows the leader.
Related: 5 Simple Ways to Reach Customers

5. Aim your customer experience at their hearts.

Emotional connections are often more valuable than money in building loyalty, differentiation and an exceptional customer experience. Move from customer friendliness to customer charisma. A business with charisma gives the customer something very special, and they want to tell others about it.

6. Make your customer experience fun for all constituents.

A business that is not employee-friendly will not be customer-friendly. All processes need regular updates, so a non-punitive feedback mechanism is important. One approach is to give frequent rewards to your team and special discounts and exclusive promotions to your best customers.

7. Provide coaching and mentoring as well as training.

Formal training for the team is just the beginning, not the end. Customer-centric founders have found that interactive coaching and mentoring by experienced peers is more effective and positive in keeping everyone up to speed on trends, competition, customer demands and technology.

8. Give team members and customers incentives to improve the experience.

Engage team members in creating the experience as well as fixing problems. Encourage and motivate them with the freedom to do their jobs by providing bonuses and giving credit along the way for every contribution. Engage your best customers in the process as well.
Maybe you still remember the days when competitive advantage was all about economies of scale, advertising power and service versus price. Today, with instant low price search, ordering via smart phones and unfiltered online reviews everywhere, the advantage has shifted to companies who can make the whole customer experience positive.
If you wait for poor experience reports before you start, it's probably too late to recover..

---

Author Bio:
Name:                     Martin Zwilling
Website:                 http://www.startupprofessionals.com/
Article URL:        http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254850

Little Biography:
Martin Zwilling is the founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. The author of Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur? and Attracting an Angel, he writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs and dispenses advice on the subject of startups. 

Read More