Top 10 Reasons Startup Fails

10 REASONS TOP STARTUPS FAIL TODAY'S ENTREPRENEURS TIPTOE THROUGH A MINEFIELD OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS THAT COULD CRIPPLE THEIR BUSINESSES. How do you know the right move for your company? CB Insights recently analyzed 101 startup postmortems and identified the most common reasons for failure. Watch out for these top 10 mistakes to avoid costly missteps. #1 YOUR PRODUCT DOESN'T HAVE A MARKET. 42% Identify a market need before creating a solution. Building a product and then looking for a target customer is a recipe for disaster – & zero revenue. YOUR RESOURCES RAN DRY. #2 29% Time & money aren't infinite resources. Use them efficiently & wisely. #3 YOU'RE NOT WORKING WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE. 23% Hiring brilliant people won't get you anywhere if they can't work well together. Build a team with complimentary skills & perspectives. YOU'RE OUTMATCHED. # 4 19% Don't obsess over competitors, but don't ignore them, either. Even if your product is superior, a flawed user experience & sluggish time to market can kill your startup. FINISH #5 YOUR PRICING MODEL IS FLAWED. 18% Are you priced too high – or too low? Find the sweet spot by learning why customers churn: do they say the product doesn't justify its cost? Or complain about usability instead?. YOU'RE NOT USER-FRIENDLY. #6 17% Just because you think it's a great idea, doesn't mean customers will love it. Listen to what customers tell you they want. Assume nothing. #7 YOU DON'T HAVE A CONCRETE BUSINESS PLAN. 17% Even with a great product people want, you need to be able to scale appropriately. Create a sound business model investors can trust & you can rely on as you grow. YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS FALL FLAT. #8 14% A great product is meaningless if nobody knows about it. Know your customers' pain points & how to capture – and keep – their attention. #9 YOUR CUSTOMERS TAKE A BACKSEAT TO YOUR VISION. 14% You need a clear vision to achieve your goals. But don't put on blinders & pursue that vision full steam ahead without asking for customer feedback. YOU PRODUCTS AT THE WRONG TIME. 13% Timing is everything. Debut too early, and you risk a poor first impression with a product that falls flat. Wait too long, and someone else may beat you to a hot market. (*Note: Most startups listed more than one reason for failure, so the data adds up >100%) A GENIUS IDEA AND BRILLIANT TEAM ARE ONLY PART OF THE STARTUP SUCCESS STORY. Check out our list of 25 SaaS Tools Startup for the apps you need to beat the competition: bit.ly/StartupToolkit Run Your BROUGHT TO YOU BY Wrike SOURCE: CB Insights' 101 Startup Failure Postmortems: https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/startup-failure-post-mortem/ Award-winning collaboration and project management software Wrike.com