Top 10 Reasons Why Web
Start-ups Fail
eBC’s ‘Look Before you Leap’
Guide to eBusiness
10 Marginal Niche
Web Start-ups fail by choosing a small, obscure niche in the hope of avoiding
competition. If you make anything good, you're going to have competitors, so you may
as well face that. You can only avoid competition by avoiding good ideas.
9 Copying Success
Web Startups fail by trying to duplicate a great idea. If it's been done once then chances
are others have tried, and failed. There can only be one amazon.com or ebay.com.
Come up with your own unique and fresh concept.
8 Inflexibility
Your business plan should be an organic document that can adapt to change. Web
Start-ups fail because they refuse to deviate from the plan. Listen to others, get advice
and keep your eyes open; adaptation is the mark of a successful business.
7 Getting the Wrong Help
Good people demand good wages. Hiring the cheapest person is a recipe for Web
Startup failure. Old sayings become old because they are true, the best example being
"you get what you pay for".
6 Listening to an Un-Expert
Web Startups fail by acting on advice given by an unqualified person. Anyone can claim
to be an expert at something and often we lack the knowledge necessary to determine
their qualifications. To protect yourself from the Un-Expert get a second, third or fourth
opinion. It never fails to ask around.
5 Forgetting the User
Web startups fail because the websites are designed from the perspective of the
business owner, not the user. In an entrepreneur's excitement and passion for their
idea, they can often lose sight of their customer's accessibility needs. Focus groups and
user trials can be a great way to improve customer interaction with your website.
4 Running out of Runway
Web Startups fail by forgetting or downplaying funding. Every startup that isn't profitable
has a certain amount of time left before the money runs out and they have to stop. This
is sometimes referred to as runway, as in "How much runway do you have left?" It's a
good metaphor because it reminds you that when the money runs out you're going to be
airborne or dead.
3 Spending Too Much
Often caused by listening to the Un-Expert, Web Startups fail because they over spend
needlessly. Unless you’re doing volume of business equal to chapters.ca you do not need
a dedicated co-located IBM Xeon server when a $20.00 hosting account will suffice.
2 Believing the Hype
The web is all about Hype; from get rich quick schemes to seemingly endless unsolicited
emails claiming to have insider information. The reality is that the people who get rich
quick from the internet put a lot of thought and energy into their projects, just like
anything else. The internet is a great medium for scammers to find suckers to buy into
their scams.
1 A Half-Hearted Effort
The failed start-ups you hear most about are the spectacular flameouts. Those are
actually the elite of failures. The most common type is not the one that makes
spectacular mistakes, but the one that doesn't do much of anything—the one we never
even hear about, because it was some project a couple guys started on the side while
working on their day jobs, but which never got anywhere and was gradually abandoned.
In other words, starting start-ups is just like everything else. The biggest mistake you can
make is not to try hard enough.
For more information on Internet Business Solutions visit www.e-bc.ca.
Phone: (604) 775-7532 | Email: info@e-bc.ca | Website: http://www.e-bc.ca
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Growing Your Business Organically™
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Thanks for the post, there is lots of good info!