Top 5 Most Common Startup Mistakes: Nobody Did This Before, So I Must Be A Genius
If I would have a nickel for all the original ideas I heard from aspiring entrepreneurs, I would probably fill a big bucket with them. And I'm talking about genuinely original ideas. Stuff that nobody did before. And I'm also talking about a really big bucket.
How many of those ideas really evolved into a business?
None, as far as I know.
The value of "being first" is often overrated in the startup playground. Lured in by hyped and often cryptic words like "disruption", many young entrepreneurs are focusing on absolute newness, forgetting the fundamental component of any business: what problem do I solve? Instead of trying to identify verticals where small, targeted services could improve value creation mechanisms, they focus on yet to be seen processes or applications. Sometimes even they have a hard time understanding their own ideas.
Don't get me wrong, I think innovation should always be part of a business. But hunting only the "being first to do something" position would only have two outcomes.
Between Reality Checks and Risky Hurdles
First, if nobody did what you did before, do ask yourself the very simple question: "why?" We're here, in this form as humans, for more than 100.000 years and if you really came up with some unprecedented way of doing something, ask yourself why? Why nobody else did this before you? Maybe there is no need for that? Maybe there is no real profit in doing that? Maybe it's not actually possible at the present moment (market is not ready, technology is not mature enough, etc)? Just because nobody did this before is not a clear indicator that your idea is fit for a business. It may be a good idea, it may be a generous and uplifting idea, but that doesn't necessarily means we're looking at a business.
Take the "going to Mars" idea of Elon Musk. This is a very nice idea and I'm a huge fan of it. I'm simply stoked by the prospect of setting foot on a different planet in this lifetime. And nobody did this before, right? But is this really possible now? Is this something that you can buy now? Is this something that can be mapped into business processes now? And now put that in perspective with a real business of Elon Musk: Tesla. Is that something you can buy right now? Is that something that solves a real problem? Obviously! See the difference? One is just a dream, the other one is a business.
Second, suppose your idea is actually good. You really did observed a magic spot where a never to be seen until now crop can be planted. And it may evolve into something really big and profitable. But now you'll hit another set of hurdles: you have to actually educate the market. And that is a very expensive thing to do. It takes both time and money. And at the end of the process, there is no guarantee that just because you were first, you will keep that position. Many things can happen along the way.
Take Facebook for instance. Although it dominates the social media market, Facebook wasn't the first player on this field. Do you remember which was the first social network? The one that actually invented the whole concept? Maybe it was Hi5, possibly? Or MySpace? Are those businesses still alive now? Growing and profitably setting up a market is a very tricky ting to do and if you really find a revolutionary idea, you have to take into account these difficulties.
If you look at the most profitable businesses in the world right now, none is really disruptive, or absolutely new. Even Google, one of the most innovative companies in the world (in my opinion) stormed the market created by AltaVista (how many of you really remember that was a site called AltaVista back then?) and turned it into a business. And even that business was made profitable years after they became market leaders on the search vertical, by implementing the good ol' advertising, with AdSense. The Google search engine, by itself, didn't make money at that time and it doesn't make money now.
So next time when you really find a thing that was never done before, curb your enthusiasm for a while and do some research and simulations.
Maybe there's a good reason nobody did that.
Just yet.
image source - Pixabay
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Why try to invent something new when I can improve something? That is what we did with $200 Social.
What is $200 Social?
That is @AnaHilarski and I's social media marketing company. We turned social media into a commodity. http://200social.com
That looks very interesting, indeed :)
That is what we are using for Steemit as well. They are on the corporate plan, even though this project is bigger than anything we have ever taken on.
I hope you do not mind what I did with your post and @thewisesloth's post. I played both excellent posts off against each other in the hope that a conversation might emanate. I would be interested to hear what you think:
Interplay between two posts
The Value of Knowledge
Absolutely true. I'm a firm believer that almost anything out in the market can be done better, or different, in a way the market will accept whatever you sell.
Existing business are usually not that innovative; mostly focused on their existing business (propositions, products, revenue model etc), focus on their existing clients.
Therefore any change in aproach, gives room for startups to pick it up. It is soooo cool to come with something totally new, but indeed, marketing cost to educate the market is enormous. Better take a proven business and tweak it in such a way some niche can be addressed succesfully.
Most of the times, the risk/reward ratio of growing an entire market from scratch is skewed. I did this with a niche portal 10 years ago and I was lucky to get out of there while I was still on top 3. But the consolidation after that was ruthless.
I'm in the process of starting up some projects, which may turn in businesses. Rule I apply: be realistic and critical on potential, cost of company, and indeed: do something that is proven, but find the tweaks in proposition, product, and clients. Exiting though to see that one of my projects find already some attraction.
Keep going! :)
Will do for sure! thanks :)