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Startup Mistakes That Will Hurt You in the Long Run
Starting your own business is an exciting thing. You’ve figured out a great product, you have some money that you can invest in the business, and you’re ready to make this dream a reality. Before you get ahead of yourself, think about these mistakes not to make.
Overspending
When you’re starting your business, there are a lot of upfront costs that you have to tackle. And while you must be willing to put some of your skin in the game, make sure you know when to spend and when to hold off.
In the whirl of getting everything going, it can seem like a temptation to spend your money on things that won’t necessarily make a huge difference. For example, printing out your company mission on fancy expensive paper and framing it in a nice expensive frame aren’t necessary costs.
Buying Leads
When you’re just kicking off, you want to get more traffic to your website and more potential customers. One of the first things you might consider is to buy sales leads. But doing this will often be much more damaging than good.
First off, it’s hard to verify that the data that you purchased is good. Second, taking this step could end up getting your account penalized or it could make potential clients wary of your company. A better way to generate leads would be to create an organic SEO strategy.
Not Checking Your Branding
When you’re in the process of building your business, it can be simple to develop your brand, build your website, and just get things rolling. But if you don’t take the time to do your research and even have a trademark attorney do an appropriate trademark search for you to identify any other companies with parallel companies and parallel branding, you could find yourself in a legal bind down the road.
Taking this critical step of researching your branding and then getting your trademark upfront can save you lots of money in the long run. You’ll not only be able to avoid any legal disputes, but you’ll also avoid the pain, hassle, and potentially lost customers due to a forced rebranding.
You’ve figured out you want to start a business. You’ve made a business plan. And you’re ready to get started. Thinking about these common mistakes can help you sidestep a variety of different problems.
Read this next: Startup Challenges That Technology Can Make Easy
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