Top 5 Mistakes Startup Founders Make in the First 6 Months

Starting a company is a huge accomplishment, but it’s also a huge undertaking. Setting the right tone at the beginning helps dictate your success.

We’ve gathered some of the most glaring mistakes or oversights that can really hold you back as a startup in the first six months of your business. 

1. Losing Track of Cash Flow: Managing your cash flow in the first six months is so critical. Taking the time to make sure you’re prepared for unexpected expenses is critical to the success of your business. Talk to other people and do your research to see if there’s anything you may have overlooked, and make sure you’re diligently keeping track of your expenses and funds. 
2. Making Expensive Hires: We get it – you want to hire the absolute best in the business. But sometimes, the best in the business hasn’t been discovered yet. Screen candidates based not only on where they are, but where they could go. If you need more tips on efficient hiring, check out our Hiring in a Bubbling Market and Tips for Remote Hiring blog posts.
3. Lacking Research and Focus: Remember preparation and research can help you avoid most of the mistakes we mention in this post, but perhaps most importantly it can help you avoid simple oversights that can ultimately be your kryptonite. Some of starting a business is fun, but you can’t forget all the important pillars in your excitement to get going. 
4. Being Too Generous with Equity: Equity is a good perk to use to entice quality candidates to join your company, but many early-stage startups make the mistake of being a bit too generous with who gets equity, how much they get, or both. Keep track of everything with a capitalization table and make sure you aren’t diluting your equity early in the process.
5. Not Testing Early Enough/Not Listening to Customers: You have to know what you want to do and where you want to go as a company, and you have to know how you’re going to get there. Starting out with a flawed business model is going to lead to a flawed business. Get feedback from beta customers and unbiased people who are going to be brutally honest with you about your plans to make sure you start off on the right foot.

Launching a new startup is a huge deal, and you should be patting yourself on the back for getting to this point. Make sure you’ve laid the right groundwork and considered all the facets to guarantee your success, enjoy this new phase for your company.

You can check out our other blog posts for more resources about growing your team and staying competitive.