Failure factors of common startup have to avoid around the globe

A few days ago, a online chatting season was held with  PPH (Peopleperhour.com) founder Xenios Thrasyvoulou, If you have just launched a start-up? Read this article first

Failure factors of common startup have to avoid around the globe

Getting a start-up off the ground can be incredibly tricky. You really only have one shot at it, and if you make too many mistakes, you can find yourself in a bit of a hole.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a heads-up on the kinds of mistakes entrepreneurs are prone to?

Relax, because at PPH this week we’ve got the lowdown on the top 10 howlers entrepreneurs make in the early stages of their new venture.
From hiring too early to snapping up the first investment offer you get, this list covers all the bases.

1. Hiring Too Quickly

As an entrepreneur, you are naturally eager to move fast and build a big business. Not only that, but you are by nature impatient, no matter how fast you’re moving. That’s partly what makes you who you are and why you don’t fit into the normal routine of a corporate job.

Inevitably you make the mistake of hiring someone too quickly. Just don’t do it. Listen to your hunch. Take your time on hiring—it’s the single most important investment you will make. Do it carefully.

2. Giving Too Much Equity Too Quickly

Every entrepreneur has been there: you need cash imminently, and door after door gets shut in your face. Then someone comes along who is listening, but is a vulture. You’re so starved that the vulture looks like an angel (hence, angel investor). Believe me; they can sense your starvation, and they will use it to get as much equity as they can.

3. Ignoring a Hunch

I hate regret. I don’t normally regret things, but I do regret the times I didn’t listen to my intuition. Whenever I didn’t listen, I have always, always regretted it. The founder’s hunch is one of the most important assets of any startup or business. Use it, and be confident enough to stick by it.

4. Only Relying on Your Intuition

You need to complement a hunch with proper management discipline: looking at numbers and KPIs and formulating strategies and plans. Doing so goes against many entrepreneurs’ nature, but it’s important and will become easier with practice.

5. Listening to Outsiders Too Much

Having outsiders around you, especially smart ones, is great. It gives you fresh perspective. It helps you take a step back and see things in a new light. But it can also lead you down the route of destruction if you’re not careful. Nobody knows the business better than you do; you built it. So it’s all too easy for investors or successful entrepreneurs to blind you with their money or success. Make sure you take everything with a grain of salt.

6. Taking Things for Granted

Especially when it comes to investment, take nothing for granted. Investors have amnesia, and their money will often come before their promises. So make sure you have a contingency plan.

7. Underestimating Competitors

The best entrepreneurs are fiercely competitive and paranoid. They watch competitors with very little pride and a lot of determination. The losers are the ones who gloat about their own achievements.

8. Not Letting Go

Most entrepreneurs struggle at some point or another with letting go. They are used to doing everything themselves. They can be perfectionists and obsessively detailed, or focused on the bigger picture.

Amazing things can happen when you let go and hire people to work on your business. You will have time to think, play around, find things you would otherwise miss, bond with your team, check out the competition and meet people.

9. Working Too Hard

I work all the time. Even when I’m not working, I’m thinking about the business. Yet I’ve come to appreciate the importance of getting out and doing things that get my mind off of my work. That’s when most of my best ideas come to me.

10. Forgetting to Enjoy the Process

Last but not least: having fun is key, especially if you are a founder. People in your team will look at you and mirror you; some will emulate you. So if you’re miserable, your whole company becomes miserable. If you’re upbeat, they will follow.

Note: This is the summery of the memorable conversation with one of the top serial entrepreneur (Xenios Thrasyvoulou) in the world.

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