I hate making mistakes.
Who doesn’t? Especially when it’s something super important to me, time consuming and costs money, like building a business! Growing a business is a process and sometimes I wish someone would have warned me about this evolution before I began this entrepreneurial journey.It’s almost like having a kid. No one warns you about the REAL stuff, they just watch you learn as you go, snickering in the background.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to do that to you. Instead, here are ten mistakes I made within the first two years of launching my business that I hope you can avoid.
Listen and learn… I’m about to save you time, energy and money!
10 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Solo Business or Passion Project
1. Worrying about a business license
Honestly, you don’t always need a license or a registered business certificate to start selling. Build your business, get some sort of web presence up and running and then move on to legal stuff. These things can take months and even years to figure out. Take it slow. Work in phases.
2. Paying way too much for a website
And by way too much I mean anything over $2,000. I live with a graphic designer so it was really hard to know what was “too much.” Email me sometime I’ll tell you how much my first site cost. Check your local Small Business Association, Universities or even try Elance to find a freelancer if your budget is tight.
3. Securing a Trademark
Yes, I own a trademark. (See my name next to BrandKit LLC. in the US Patent and Trademark catalog?) This is the name of my old business and cost me about $900, 6 months of waiting and hundreds of dollars in attorney fees. Lets be real, I run an online business, not selling tangible products, so I’m pretty sure I could have done without this. Silly me wanted to make sure I “owned” this name all over the web. Although, it hasn’t done me much good considering someone else random still owns brandkit.com and the @brandkit Twitter username. (See mistake #6)
4. Developing products or services people don’t need
Honestly. It doesn’t make any sense to create something nobody will use. Listen before you launch. There are lots of free tools to listen to online conversations in your market. Try Twitter Search, Quora and LinkedIn discussions in groups. Or, test out ideas on your friends.
5. Not listening first
See mistake #4.
6. Inconsistent marketing
Did you know this I stated out as a company named Branduu and then later BrandKit?? I owned the .com, the Twitter handle, you name it and I had it secured. Too bad Branduu is trademarked and not the right name for the demographic I work with. Once I settled on BrandKit (which is a great name) I discovered I couldn’t own the .com (yet) and a European company owns @BrandKit on Twitter. This means I had to be creative and use a .co for my domain and slightly alter my Twitter handle. When you choose a company name check all your online channels to make sure it’s available. KnowEm is a lovely free little tool that checks availability by scanning thousands of social platforms in seconds.
7. Forgetting about photos and graphics
Text heavy websites are so 1990. Find a local photographer, get yourself some fabulous headshots and put some money into finding a kick ass graphic designer. People are more drawn to websites and materials that look pretty, over text heavy sites or web pages with stock photos. Trust me on this. Check back soon I’ll be posting a new resources page highlighting some designers I love.
8. Launching a blog without content direction
Once you start a blog there’s no going back. Your audience will come to know you and look forward to your content, even if it’s just 3 people. Don’t launch a blog without a plan and leave people hanging! How would you feel if one of your go-to blogs stopped publishing posts?
9. Planning and not doing
There are only so many strategy sessions to host before you need to dive in and just do it. Give yourself a time limit on research and planning. Your business is never going to be perfect, but it will be close.
10. Thinking you can do it all on your own
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, even the best of us can’t do it all alone. I am 100% guilty of fierce independence, but collaboration brings out the best in us all. If you need help try finding an intern, asking talented friends, begging your family, or pitch local student groups and organizations. Free help is just around the corner.
Now go! Continue building the business of your dreams and be sure to avoid these ten mistakes if you can.
Cheers!
