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Why your Startup may Fail ?
Manish is a college topper and rank holder during his technical studies in one of the finest engineering college of India. As soon as he completed his B. tech degree he left all the job offers for his dream startup. He started his project and was sure that he will get funding soon because his idea is great and he is from one the finest college of India. But after 2 years of struggle he hardly able to get any funding and has to shut the company. What went wrong;
- Is the business idea not good?
- Is the team was not competent
- Is the Idea not viable?
- Is the business risky
The answer of all the above questions are in negative. Business was viable, in fact it was a great business Idea. Then what went wrong. Why Manish got failed; Lets’ examine it,
Basically Manish did the same thing what 90% of entrepreneurs do. We basically get diverted by the lucrative opportunities on the way, while product development and business development phases. Let me explain it in detail;
Manish wanted to build a market place for yoga training teachers and yoga trainee. He wanted to build a web app where yoga trainers and trainee meet with each other and buy and avail services. Looking at the present scenario and acceptability of yoga and other ancient health related products in Indian Market it looks very attractive. Fair enough, there is a huge untapped market which one can take advantage of.
Loosing Focus
So what Manish did wrong, basically while developing the product Manish thought if we are making one market place for yoga teachers then we can do a lot of other related stuff as well like;
- We can sell health related products
- We can provide dance aerobics gym services
- We can provide health consultation services as well
One of the biggest factor for being successful in any field is the “FOCUS”. It is really very difficult to focus on one thing for a long time people get bored, get exhausted and tempted by other related things. Your mind will give you thousands of reasons to start focusing on some other related areas. But to be successful in any field you need to be very focused. You need to be focused like Arjuna, who was only seeing the eye of the fish and nothing else.
If you have started business by thinking to bring yoga trainer and trainee together on one place, then just focus should be on that only we should start thinking how we can make this visit enjoyable for both of what all we can do to make it unique and successful. We should stretch our mind in only one direction and should avoid all other lucrative options on the way.
But if you thing that during process of development you found something that you think that it will work and it is also aligned with your existing strengths the you should drop your previous project and start working on the product you think will be successful you cannot continue both the product and make both the product successful. It is like same way that we cannot focus on two corners in a room at the same time.
Product got bigger than customer
Second biggest mistake entrepreneurs do is that they hardly get out of their status quo. Their whole focus is on product development. They develop the product strategy in their conference room. All key people have their own assumptions about the product. They have their own assumption about their users as well. They think that users or customers are going to like this features customers are going to dislike that features and they all discuss these things sitting in their offices. The point here is you should ask your ultimate customers what features they are going to like and what features they are going to dislike instead of asking and discussing with your team member. Startups hardly do market survey or many of them do it at very small level with half-hearted. They manipulate all the responses to make the product in such a way as they are liking or convenient for them to build. It is always painful to leave something which you love and built it for a long time. But it is wiser to leave it today instead of forced to leave it after losing everything.
Approaching investors with half backed product
Investors are always looking for such businesses which have shown success at smaller level and the same business model can be replicated at bigger level. They do not want to see or give their precious time for businesses which are at idea stage or at in development stage unless until it is some very innovative and path braking product idea.
Manish made a very extensive business plan for all the three segment but he did not make even a single vertical successful or profitable. He started knocking the doors of investors with his portal idea. Investors clearly see that he is not focused it is three different businesses and it is not clear what is Manish priority. They understand that there is opportunity but business model is not clear.
Entrepreneurs should focus one thing make it successful model at smaller level and then approach to investors with some result. If business Idea is not viable at smaller level at least they can achieve the numbers like average daily users etc., some user’s feedback and with some market research about the product they can approach investors. In that way investors are going to listen to your product s and probably think of investment.
Lessons Learned
The story of Manish’s startup failure offers important lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs:
Stay Focused – Focus is a cornerstone of success. Like Arjuna’s unwavering concentration on his target, entrepreneurs should remain committed to their core idea and avoid getting distracted by tempting opportunities along the way.
Prioritize Customer Feedback – Your customers are the best source of insights. Engage with them from the outset and use their feedback to shape your product. Don’t assume; validate your assumptions through real interactions.
Prove Viability – Before seeking significant investment, demonstrate that your business model works at a smaller scale. Gather data, user feedback, and tangible results that showcase the potential for growth.
The journey of a startup is fraught with challenges, but avoiding these common pitfalls can increase your chances of success. Keep your focus unwavering, involve your customers in the product development process, and build a foundation of proven viability before approaching investors. While Manish’s startup might have faltered, his experience provides valuable insights for others embarking on their entrepreneurial journeys.
