We absolutely love the energy first-time founders bring to the table when we sit down to discuss matters of business, brand identity, and the buzz of the tech world.
You guys are honestly the truest believers in powering a better future through your amazing world-changing ideas. And we guess as you’re reading this right now, you’re already admitting that it’s not rainbow skies each day.
Of course, it’s obvious. We all make mistakes and many founders we meet have made their bunch too. Here’s a secret: A lot of first-time founders make the same mistakes that other founders have made before them.
There are probably a lot of serious mistakes that you could end up making, which should really first be discussed with a lawyer. However, there are a few others that we can with experience discuss with you here. Let’s get started:
1. Hiring your friends
Hear us out. Including friends in your project was never an issue, it’s only when they don’t own up and do the work they’re supposed to. Remember, high school? College? Of course, you’ve been in a ‘group project’ where you had to do all the work.
Anyway, the learning here is that one of the worst problems is if your friend who is also a business partner/contributor starts lacking could be difficult to deal with. Why? Well, there’s much hesitation in firing your friend. More so, it could scar your friendship.
Although, this isn’t a universal thing it doesn’t hurt to keep your work and fun time separate.
2. Neglecting your Personal Brand
It’s no secret that every 9/10 startups fail. And that’s the only bad news. The bright side is that even if you don’t end up spawning an empire out of your idea, you can still use whatever experience or money you gain to build another brand.
That’s the power of the personal brand. There are countless entrepreneurs who once used to own a scaling business, then sold it, and never had to care about it. Some have done this a dozen times and made big banks during the exit.
Even if not for the big money, many founders find paid opportunities for speaking at conferences, and seminars, write bestselling books, find profitable pursuits in consulting, and a range of courses to teach others the skills they’ve acquired in failing and succeeding at running a business.
3. Going too fast
Image: Lawless Capture on Unsplash
You have 24 hours a day, and 8 of those are recommended to be your resting hours. If you try to do all things at once, you’ll burn yourself out. Remember, one step at a time is the greatest advice for building an empire. And this is a business, it’s going to be equally tough.
Work hard but be smart. Use time management and planning to your advantage. The same goes for your employees.
Another round
Having said all this, you know it, we know it, that there’s no magic spell to being a first-time founder success. But all you can do is focus on minimizing mistakes and risks along your way.
And in this process, you’ll find that you’ve become a successful founder of several businesses and a leading expert in your industry. We believe in your idea and hustle, after our design studio also started with one simple idea; That every idea can be further improved.
