Neil Patel came out with a great article in Greek Wire. He grew up around many entrepreneurs, so he knows some good pointers for starting a business. In his article he tells us about many mistakes to avoid when you are starting your own business.
Here are key takeaways from Neil’s article.
Make Sure Your Product Is Affordable
In this economy people only want to buy things they can’t live without. They can only buy what they can afford. Money is tight for a lot of people and families. Therefore make sure people can afford your design and labor before you make it. Also make sure that people will feel like they need the product your selling. These concepts will only benefit your company and make your financials and marketing so much easier in the long run.
Have A Good Marketing Plan
Most businesses will go under if you are not marketing the product and company properly. Make sure you have good strategies lined up and planned. Make sure you go into a business knowing how to market your brand and product. You can always hire companies to help you market, but sometimes that doesn’t even work. We are so lucky in this age of time that internet is so easy to use and a lot of the internet marketing is FREE. You just have to learn how to use the smart tactics of internet marketing. Don’t forget about thought leadership in blogs, social media, and press. Get the world to know about your product, so they learn they need it and can go buy it
Simple Is Better Than Complex
Stay away from over complicating your business and product. Some of the best products out there are the simplest creations. The simpler you make it the easier it is to control. Don’t try to add too many details and complicate what you are selling. If you do you are just making your job harder. People don’t want a product that is to hard to use and understand. These days Americans like fast, easy, and instant gratification.
Patience Is A Virtue
The business world can be tough and many rewards come after being patient. Keep plugging away at your business and don’t give up. If you are doing everything right and your product is simple, affordable, and makes people’s lives easier than it will turn a profit. You can talk and learn from many entrepreneurs that started a company. They worked hard for a couple years and saw no profit. After the third or so year, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel and finally turned a profit. As Neil stated, “The lesson I learned is you must be patient when it comes to software companies because it takes a few years for them to take off.”
Do Something That You Love
If you start a company that your not passionate about, than how will you be motivated when your company hits those low points? You need to do something you love and enjoy working on so that you won’t loose passion and drive to make it successful. Starting a successful business takes a lot of time and more hours than there is in a day and week. You will live and breathe this business day in and day out that is why you should do something you love and have passion for.
Check out Neil Patel’s full article here!
Neil Patel is the co-founder of KISSmetrics, an analytics provider that helps companies make better business decisions.