The road to being an entrepreneur is an adventurous one and one also filled with lots of fulfillment. It can also be described as a lonely and arduous journey that takes courage and determination to accomplish. Research has also shown that help and advice from mentors and successful entrepreneurs goes a long way in building a successful business enterprise.There is however a very thin line between genuine advice and myths which can negatively affect your business. Below are 7 myths that can lead to start up collapse.
Best product always wins – Any product on the market is just as good as its sales strategy. It is therefore a myth to believe just having a good product is enough to achieve success.
You cant compete with “big boys” – A start up should pay particular and extra attention on business goals and product expertise.You can also make yourself competitive against the big boys by focusing on the big boys downfalls and capitalise on them.You can therefore compete with big boys especially if you try to avoid competing on cost.
You better lower your price if you want to gain market share – Having a value first mentality trickles down to your product, service and sales teams and channels. If your product lifecycle matches a long term customer relationship, your company will avoid the otherwise inevitable sales and customer service hiccups.
Short cuts and quick wins – In the world of business, its rare that you achieve and record short cuts which lead to quick wins. A long term approach will always get you ahead in sales, customer loyalty and brand recognition.
Your growth will plateau – There is no limit to how far you go as long as you continue to deliver and push your team and company to hit new goals.Therefore avoid the myth of a growth plateau.
The channel is your only priority – Avoid using the sales channel program as the only priority because it can separate you from your customer base.You must focus on training and resources for both customers and partners, to nurture loyalty, knowledge and concern for products and the industry.
Don’t expect your culture to stay the same with growth – You must keep the values and company ethos that you had from the beginning and accept employee feedback. Its always difficult to keep the large number of moving pieces in sync but they must grow together to keep operations successful and morale high.