The process of launching a business in a particular niche and becoming established is a long and difficult one. Asides from the fear of doubt, other issues will try to discourage you from executing your ideas. The whole process requires determination, focus and a lot of consistency.
According to Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of Alltop, “Ideas are easy but implementation is hard.” This is the mistake most aspiring entrepreneurs make, they allow the challenges they face to stop them from implementing their ideas.
However, to help aspiring entrepreneurs and you reading this article launch your business easily, we’ve compiled a list of common mistakes to avoid when launching a business.
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A Poorly Defined Business Idea
Business ideas are what defines the basics of a business enterprise. No business can start without an idea, and to get the best results from such a business, such ideas have to be fully formed and well defined. To determine if you have a well-defined business idea, try defining your business in a few words. If you cannot do this, then you need to go back to the drawing table.
Lack of clarity is what affects businesses without well-defined ideas. When your ideas are not well-formed, all launching processes will also be unstable. It is the plan that determines your brand logo, brand image, brand identity, product packaging and even your target audience.
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Not Building An Audience First
What’s a business without a target audience? Launching a product business without a ready audience is like fighting a lost battle. Before you finally launch your business, one of the very important pre- launching steps is creating an audience. When you identify your audience and carry them along through the pre-launching process, you create positive anxiety in them.
Some of the ways you can build an audience are:
- Grow a social audience- Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest
- Grow an email list
- Use other people’s audiences
- Content marketing and blogging
- Combine all of the above
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No Particular Niche
With the influx of new brands and entrepreneurs into the business world, it is now very urgent for you to have a clear niche. Choosing and building your business around a particular niche will help your brand clarity. This niche can include your type of product, who they are meant for, your visual identity and delivery method. All of these must be very clear as they will tell your audience why they should buy from you, or if your product meets their needs.
Consider this 5-step formula to find your niche from Forbes:
- Evaluate your passions and skills
- Figure out if there’s a market for your niche
- Narrow down your niche
- Check out the competition for yourself
- Test your niche
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Not Enough Attention To Profit
You are in business to make a profit! Don’t ever leave out that part. Although, as a new entrepreneur, likely, you won’t make much profit because you are starting on a small scale. That doesn’t mean you should not pay attention to profit. Keeping track of the money you make on every sale is very important to the future and expansion of your new business. This simply means, know your numbers! Your business will not last if you don’t know how much you make on each sale.
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Ignoring Customer Feedback
One huge mistake you can make when launching a product business is ignoring customers’ feedback and recommendations. Before you launch, it is expected that you have sent out surveys, posted trivia on social platforms and even used the question feature on Instagram. From all of these methods, your proposed target will drop some feedback about your new business, don’t joke with this feedback! It will surely be a mixture of positive and negative feedback. Take the positive ones and act on the negative ones by correcting the issues identified.
To become a successful product entrepreneur in 2021, you must be able to create a well-defined plan, create your audience, invest enough in marketing and also pay attention to profit. Doing all of these five combined with the fact that consumers are now looking to support small and independent businesses will help your business grow at a first pace.
