Starting a business brings on a basket full of little this and that — among which, often the newcomers tend to make mistakes. And those mistakes sometimes cost the whole idea terminating into failure. In Bangladesh, we cannot afford failure. So, what better way could there be than to hear what budding entrepreneurs say about the beginning of their business journey?
The writer talked to a few new entrepreneurs in this regard. Let’s see which mistakes, they believe, should be very cautiously avoided.
Unrealistic goals
Having bold, ambitious dreams often gives entrepreneurs the drive to move forward and make their vision come to reality. Jannatul Ferdous Sigma, Tahsin Rob, and Tasmih Rob Mow, founders of Fatty Bun, said they had dreamt the ambitious dream of opening a restaurant in the same building in which Gloria Jeans operates. They believe this dream helped them get the motivation to work till they reached here.
However, ambitions have to be backed up by small and realistic goals. They made sure to keep our beginning goals small and achievable. They did not make the mistake of setting a goal that is highly unlikely to be achieved. Dreams can be as big as owning a food chain like KFC or Subway, but the realistic goal has to be making a successful food shop and growing gradually on buyers trust.
Money not the first priority
Founder of Leviosa and Lamiyagraphy – two photography ventures – Nazifa Tabassum Lamiya said that she deliberately takes a limited number of clients for a month as she believes the higher number of customers could force quality compromise. Though more clients could bring better revenue, she is, instead, focused on customer satisfaction and product improvement which she believes are more important than making money.
“If entrepreneurs prioritise money overseeing their venture solving people’s problems and contributing towards the betterment of the world, the quality of the product or service would soon start to deteriorate.”
Unaware of competitors
Often, people are so excited to just start the new business that they do not pay any heed to competitors, or think of themselves as better than the ones who are already in the industry. But Nowshin Noor Aysharzo, founder of Drape – o – Canvas, thinks otherwise. She said, “An entrepreneur must do proper research of the market and the competitors of the industry he or she is going to enter.”
Research about competitors can help entrepreneurs in various ways. For example, according to Nowshin, “If one needs to know about customer demands, he or she can learn interesting insights about customers’ preferred price ranges, and desired products from these existing competitors.”\
Hiring the wrong people
“It’s important to hire people who are team players and who can see themselves staying in the business for a longer period of time,” said Adiba Samantha Pervez, founder of Numinous and co-founder of Newton’s Archive. She in her own ventures emphasised the most on hiring people with adaptive vision and flexibility. Because, it is the employees who will show the path to success to a rising business, she believes.
Poor marketing
Tasnim Farah Zaman, founder of Newton’s Archive strongly recommended proper marketing. “Marketing is definitely a crucial part of the success of a new venture. For you to stand out among thousands of other stores, it is important that you get your marketing right.” No matter how amazing a product or service is, it is bound to fail if not given enough focus.
Bad marketing schemes, on the other hand, are even worse than no marketing. They can be detrimental, and end up costing the company a lot. “A distasteful ad, poor promotional strategies can be more harmful than even the lack of promotional strategies,” warned Lamiya.
Not spending the right amount of money
Two kinds of mindsets are commonly seen within entrepreneurs – one that defends spending a lot of money in the name of quality, and the other that focuses too much on saving money. Both are equally harmful.
As Jafna Chowdhury, co-founder of the Sweet Theory commented, “Every business requires different kinds of investments. You need to be cautious while spending, and forecast the future.”
Not evolving
The market is constantly changing and so are technology, trends, and consumer needs. Radiah Zaman Sarin, hence, remains cautious about grasping the changes. The owner of Brownie Crumbs thinks innovation is the only way of surviving changing trends.
“The demand for a product may change from time to time. Entrepreneurs need to make changes to the product to satisfy its customers accordingly.” If an entrepreneur does not want to be left out, he or she should definitely bring on innovations aligned with the changing marketplace.
Mistakes are an inevitable part of life. But that does not mean one cannot try to avoid them, or learn from the mistakes of others. A vision, coupled with knowledge about these few mistakes will only make an entrepreneur better and stronger in every possible way.
