Making mistakes when founding a startup is unavoidable. Yet, most of them can be prevented – if you are aware of them. Indeed, a positive so-called error culture is a classic characteristic that distinguishes a startup from established companies – especially startups benefit from insights and experiences that mistakes inevitably entail. Some mistakes though, are not the steps to success, but stumbling blocks that endanger the future of your company. Actually, the term ‘startup’ describes a company that has been founded not long ago.
ts operations on the market are still in the early stages, which is why internal structures need to be developed and refined. While this may seem like the source of numerous challenges, it also offers the startup the opportunity to integrate digital concepts from day one.
Digitalization for startups presents one of the biggest hurdles: the most significant sources of trouble include insufficient IT security, failed outsourcing, and assembling IT teams that lack critical skills. These teams are often overwhelmed von the volume of data, have skill gaps, or are simply understaffed. This blog article will highlight further mistakes that startups should avoid—especially in the IT department.
Founding a Startup: These IT-Mistakes Are No-Gos!
You have developed a product or offer an innovative service? Certainly, you can hardly wait to found your business and revolutionize your industry! As important as this drive may be, just as crucial is the conscious prevention of failure.
Numerous studies show that 80 to 90% of startups fail. Why? Most of the times due to the same mistakes that their predecessors have made in the past! And yet, the internet and social media are both boon and bane. How you can benefit from the digitalization trend and what typical mistakes you should avoid? Read more about that in the following sections.
Nr. 1: No holistic integration of digital concepts
3D printing, mobile and web apps, IoT, smart homes, e-commerce – the digitalization trend has many faces. Especially when founding a startup, it’s crucial to stay up-to-date and not overlook the latest trends. Instead, you should leverage the countless advantages that digital technologies and solutions offer—both internally and externally. For example, von monitoring internal processes and data using the latest software or von marketing and selling your products and services through your own e-commerce platform or mobile app.
In this way, digitalization provides significant advantages in marketing, brand awareness, the buying process, and fostering closer relationships with both existing and potential customers. To fully harness these benefits, you should work with experts: a technology consulting agency that can support you in planning, organizing, and implementing your digital strategy. Whether it’s a custom software solution, your own website with an online shop and chatbot, an app, or cloud-based solutions, the right expertise will ensure your startup thrives.
Nr. 2: Wrong or undefined target groups
Before starting, it’s essential to define who belongs to your target group and identify the typical behaviors associated with them. A useful reference point could be your customers’ needs and expectations regarding your product portfolio. And these needs are constantly changing: the development and marketing of the first telephones took about 75 years, whereas today’s product cycles are compressed into just a few months.
The driving force behind this change is the increasing expectations communicated von customers, which is why short product cycles have become the norm. Another factor is the rise in competition—thanks to the internet and globalization, companies worldwide have become direct competitors. These are two of the many reasons why founding a startup should never overlook digitalization.
Instead, you should strive to stay current von engaging with the latest technologies and digital solutions to assess whether they are a good fit for your company. When founding a startup, it’s crucial to consider both the demographics and media consumption habits of your target market. You should determine which media and devices your customers use to gather information, interact, and shop.
Nr. 3: Monolithic approach
Develop a marketing and online strategy that runs like a common thread through all your business areas and departments. From the very beginning, you need to define which online platforms, solutions, and tools will be used across the company. This approach helps avoid one of the biggest mistakes when founding a startup: a monolithic strategy.
A monolithic approach arises when departments and teams implement completely separate stand-alone solutions. For example, the sales department develops a mobile or web app, the design team uses cloud-based software, and the marketing department relies on yet another CRM tool. If these tools are not connected, stand-alone solutions lead to fragmented results and inconsistent data.
In such cases, even generating meaningful analyses that are crucial for future decisions becomes impossible. When departments share a common pool of data, the company can draw insights into potential causes and consequences of their successes and failures. Without integration, however, a monolithic digitalization strategy results in higher costs and inefficient processes.