FailWhen you're a start-up you're often everything in the business – technician, salesperson, accounts department and office manager.

Not all of these roles come naturally and there are very often specific functions that you like less than others. This normally translates into a gap between tasks you know you 'should' do, but for a range of reasons don't always land up on the 'done' list.

Anna Pino, CEO of Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre, a virtual accelerator working with entrepreneurs, inventors and researchers says that business diagnostic tools like BizLab, highlight these strengths and weaknesses in a graphic form and provide a bit of a wake-up call for areas that need attention.

Ms Pino who also trained as a psychologist says there are a few traps that business owners can fall into:

  1. Fear of making a mistake – one of the reasons we don't tackle things is we worry we might make a mistake, especially if it's not our area of expertise. This is exacerbated if there's been a negative experience in the past. Start-ups who have to tackle their own marketing often feel out of their depth if it's not something they've done before. When it comes to social media they can be especially nervous as they've seen other brands criticised online and worry that their inexperience might put their fledgling company at risk.
  2. Indulging in negative comparisons – one of the drawbacks with pitch competitions and start-up success stories in the media is that it fosters constant comparison with other companies. Not every start-up is going to be the next facebook, but that doesn't mean they won't be a successful business.
  3. Fear makes us hesitate – sometimes timing is everything and hesitating can mean the difference between launching the idea and watching someone else make a success of 'your idea'.
  4. Thinking it has to be perfect – Eric Ries's Lean Startup method has challenged the notion that products need to be perfect before they're introduced to the market. Perfectionism gets in the way of collaborating with your customer to make products that the market actually wants. Microsoft and Apple are examples most of us have experienced. They both released products that have been far from perfect – in fact they release them knowing they had glitches. Customers are prepared to wait for the upgrades and fixes. So why do startups wait until they think it's perfect before they release their product/service?
  5. Unrealistic expectations – unrealistic expectations come in all shapes and sizes. They can relate to the length of time it takes to build a product or make a profit, to the expectation that you will get funding, win a pitch or attract investors. Unrealistic expectations lead you down blind alleys. They waste your time as you sit and stew over the fairness of something whereas you should be focused on giving your customers a compelling reason to shop with you by solving problems that are important to them.
  6. Worrying about what people will think – start-ups are about experimenting, iterations and pivots, so a fear of what people will think if your business isn't immediately successful can paralyse you and stop you taking risks.
  7. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is part of bridging the gap between 'should' and 'done'.

 

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About Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre
Lighthouse has a strong track record of supporting entrepreneurs, researchers and inventers on the path from concept to commercialisation. Since July 2008, Lighthouse has worked with over 990 distinct enterprises and provided group and peer based services to over 3400 enterprises and individuals. For over five years Lighthouse has successfully delivered business advice, education, mentorship and networking opportunities to help these businesses commercialise their ideas and grow their companies. Lighthouse also delivers programs such as the ACT Microcredit Program for the ACT Government. Visit www.lighthouseinnovation.com.au for more information.

Photo: "Do not fear failure" by Tomasz Stasiuk