Venturing into a new business is mostly accompanied with umpteen number of challenges. Being a new entrant in the market, you will need to create your goodwill, ensure top-notch products and services deliveries and abide by your brand proposition. Research has proven that only 67% of the new entrepreneurs can sustain through the first two years of inception and only 50 % can survive for five years. However, if you can survive through these few years, there is a high probability that you will be successful.
It is always advisable to learn from others’ mistakes than yours. Research thoroughly, do your homework in the field you want to venture into. There is a lot to learn from the innovative ventures like OddyUniwraps, from their success stories and the challenges they have overcome. It will help you to know how a simple idea can make a difference in the market if you avoid some of the biggest mistakes that new entrepreneurs tend to make.
- Absence of Contract
The first step towards building any client relationship and accepting any work is the signing of a contract. Nothing should be done on the basis of verbal communication and to avoid discrepancies in the later stage, a vivid contract must be laid down at the inception of any project. This creates parity between both the parties, and if you know the expectations of your client, it will be easier for you to deliver.
- Handle everything singly
You must be an expert in the field you are planning to venture and might have the ability to handle everything single-handedly. However, it is vital to start a business with a team of like-minded partners. Business not only involves delivering but it also requires attracting trustworthy and genuine clients. Then, there are things like dealer management, media relations, customer support, etc. Instead of including partners in the latter phase after draining out yourself, it is better if you can join hand with someone or a group of people from the very beginning and form a core team.
- Using old tools
Technology is developing each day and thus for optimum utilization and best output, use the updated tools. Most of them are either free or can be used at a minimal subscription fee. Time has changed and to use tools, technical expertise is not a compulsion. Being user-friendly, any person can use it efficiently, and the clients can also access it with ease.
- Doing what you don’t find interesting
If you are starting a new business, try to invest your time, effort and energy in something you enjoy doing or something that you have always wanted to do. Even if you do not have enough experience in it, do not avoid it, as experience is the most prominent teacher. So, if you have an interest, it will always be easy to stay focused.
- Distributing free samples
Most of the businessmen feel that by distributing free samples among people, will increase their reach. However, it has a negative impact. Besides, investing a lot of money in production and distribution, it also gives a negative impact on the consumer’s mind. It reduces the brand value and hampers the goodwill in the market. Distributing customized products like Oddy Uniwraps food wrapping paper with your branding will allow you to attract more customers. Study your target audience and plan your marketing strategies accordingly.
- Not taking legal guidance
To save a few bucks, legal complications can lead you into deep trouble. Understanding legal terms and the hitches, expert knowledge is inevitable. Setting up entrepreneurship will require you to abide by the social, economic, market and other reforms. Trying to understand all of these by yourself will eat a lot of your time, which otherwise you can invest in your core business development. So, hire a legal advisor and concentrate on your new venture.
- Your business is your hobby
Never ever do this mistake; your business is not your hobby. It is not something which can be done during your leisure time. On the contrary, it should be your top priority. Many times, new entrants either become too confident or too casual; in either way their business suffer. Any endeavor requires the maximum push during the initial years, so stay dedicated and regular.
- Exhausting personal finances
You must have a perimeter on the quantity of personal finance that you are prepared to use in launching your company. Never exhaust your personal finances as it might pose a challenge in your old age, post-retirement. Take support from friends, families or banks. This will also imbibe a sense of responsibility and liability in you.
- Not being organized
It is a big mistake that most of the new entrepreneurs tend to make. They venture into business without doing a problem statement analysis. Refer to the problem and solution statements of the established businesses, and it is sure to give you clarity in organizing your business plan. It clearly states how to recognize the current market situation and address it through your services. Through thorough market analysis, Oddy Uniwraps has provided services which are not only environment-friendly but is also suffices the need of various age groups.
- Concentrating on one value proposition
Always remember that your product should have multiple usages. Never promote only one usage. There can be a USP, but there must be multiple usages of a single product, think of innovative ways of using your product and promote the same to your customer. The products of Oddy Uniwraps’ is an alternative to aluminum foil, but the way they have promoted the other usage, a customer is bound to feel tempted to purchase it. They also sell their Oddy Uniwraps Parchment Paper via amazon and they also deploy new marketing techniques that they have imbibed in their business.
Each business faces different challenges depending on the service, market, and competition. However, the above mentioned are some of the basic factors if handled at the beginning is sure to help in the overall development of any business.
Author
Atul Garg
