Problems faced by entrepreneurs during start-up

1: Market Problems

A major reason why companies fail, is that they run into the problem of their being little or no market for the product that they have built. Here are some common symptoms:

• There is not a compelling enough value proposition, or compelling event, to cause the buyer to actually commit to purchasing. Good sales reps will tell you that to get an order in today’s tough conditions, you have to find buyers that have their “hair on fire”, or are “in extreme pain”.   You also hear people talking about whether a product is a Vitamin (nice to have), or an Aspirin (must have).
• The market timing is wrong. You could be ahead of your market by a few years, and they are not ready for your particular solution at this stage. For example when EqualLogic first launched their product, iSCSI was still very early, and it needed the arrival of VMWare which required a storage area network to do VMotion to really kick their market into gear. Fortunately they had the funding to last through the early years.
• The market size of people that have pain, and have funds is simply not large enough

2: Business Model Failure

As outlined in the introduction to Business Models section, after spending time with hundreds of startups, I realized that one of the most common causes of failure in the startup world is that entrepreneurs are too optimistic about how easy it will be to acquire customers. They assume that because they will build an interesting web site, product, or service, that customers will beat a path to their door. That may happen with the first few customers, but after that, it rapidly becomes an expensive task to attract and win customers, and in many cases the cost of acquiring the customer (CAC) is actually higher than the lifetime value of that customer (LTV).

The observation that you have to be able to acquire your customers for less money than they will generate in value of the lifetime of your relationship with them is stunningly obvious. Yet despite that, I see the vast majority of entrepreneurs failing to pay adequate attention to figuring out a realistic cost of customer acquisition. A very large number of the business plans that I see as a venture capitalist have no thought given to this critical number, and as I work through the topic with the entrepreneur, they often begin to realize that their business model may not work because CAC will be greater than LTV.

3: Poor Management Team

An incredibly common problem that causes startups to fail is a weak management team. A good management team will be smart enough to avoid Reasons 2, 4, and 5.  Weak management teams make mistakes in multiple areas:

• They are often weak on strategy, building a product that no-one wants to buy as they failed to do enough work to validate the ideas before and during development. This can carry through to poorly thought through go-to-market strategies.
• They are usually poor at execution, which leads to issues with the product not getting built correctly or on time, and the go-to market execution will be poorly implemented.
• They will build weak teams below them. There is the well proven saying: A players hire A players, and B players only get to hire C players (because B players don’t want to work for other B players). So the rest of the company will end up as weak, and poor execution will be rampant.
• etc.

4: Running out of Cash

A second major reason that startups fail is because they ran out of cash. A key job of the CEO is to understand how much cash is left and whether that will carry the company to a milestone that can lead to a successful financing, or to cash flow positive.

Milestones for Raising Cash

The valuations of a startup don’t change in a linear fashion over time. Simply because it was twelve months since you raised your Series A round, does not mean that you are now worth more money. To reach an increase in valuation, a company must achieve certain key milestones. For a software company, these might look something like the following (these are not hard and fast rules):

• Progress from Seed round valuation: goal is to remove some major element of risk. That could be hiring a key team member, proving that some technical obstacle can be overcome, or building a prototype and getting some customer reaction.
• Product in Beta test, and have customer validation. Note that if the product is finished, but there is not yet any customer validation, valuation will not likely increase much. The customer validation part is far more important.
• Product is shipping, and some early customers have paid for it, and are using it in production, and reporting positive feedback.
• Product/Market fit issues that are normal with a first release (some features are missing that prove to be required in most sales situations, etc.) have been mostly eliminated. There are early indications of the business starting to ramp.
• Business model is proven. It is now known how to acquire customers, and it has been proven that this process can be scaled. The cost of acquiring customers is acceptably low, and it is clear that the business can be profitable, as monetization from each customer exceeds this cost.
• Business has scaled well, but needs additional funding to further accelerate expansion. This capital might be to expand internationally, or to accelerate expansion in a land grab market situation, or could be to fund working capital needs as the business grows.

What goes wrong

What frequently goes wrong, and leads to a company running out of cash, and unable to raise more, is that management failed to achieve the next milestone before cash ran out. Many times it is still possible to raise cash, but the valuation will be significantly lower.

When to hit Accelerator Pedal

One of a CEO’s most important jobs is knowing how to regulate the accelerator pedal. In the early stages of a business, while the product is being developed, and the business model refined, the pedal needs to be set very lightly to conserve cash. There is no point hiring lots of sales and marketing people if the company is still in the process of  finishing the product to the point where it really meets the market need. This is a really common mistake, and will just result in a fast burn, and lots of frustration.

However, on the flip side of this coin, there comes a time when it finally becomes apparent that the business model has been proven, and that is the time when the accelerator pedal should be pressed down hard. As hard as the capital resources available to the company permit. By “business model has been proven”, I mean that the data is available that conclusively shows the cost to acquire a customer, (and that this cost can be maintained as you scale), and that you are able to monetize those customers at a rate which is significantly higher than CAC (as a rough starting point, three times higher). And that CAC can be recovered in under 12 months.

For first time CEOs, knowing how to react when they reach this point can be tough. Up until now they have maniacally guarded every penny of the company’s cash, and held back spending. Suddenly they need to throw a switch, and start investing aggressively ahead of revenue. This may involve hiring multiple sales people per month, or spending considerable sums on SEM. That switch can be very counterintuitive.

5: Product Problems

Another reason that companies fail is becuase they fail to develop a product that meets the market need. This can either be due to simple execution. Or it can be a far more strategic problem, which is a failure to achieve Product/Market fit.

Most of the time the first product that a startup brings to market won’t meet the market need. In the best cases, it will take a few revisions to get the product/market fit right. In the worst cases, the product will be way off base, and a complete re-think is required. If this happens it is a clear indication of a team that didn’t do the work to get out and validate their ideas with customers before, and during, development.

6: Overestimating Success

Many entrepreneurs have a bad habit of overestimating initial success, and for some this means disappointment. Don’t get discouraged if your endeavor isn’t initially as successful as you thought it would be. Good things usually take time to develop into great things. Continue to work toward your original goals and keep in mind that any progress is better than none. Don’t give up.

 7: Misplaced Purpose

Money is something we’re all concerned with, but don’t let it blind you from the main goals of your business. Your passion should be focused on your customers and products. Focus on your organization’s message, how you set yourself apart from the competition, and why your business is a valuable asset to consumers, the money will come.

8 : Negative Mindset

Often, entrepreneurs find themselves discouraged in the beginnings of a start-up. Failure and lackluster achievements almost always have that affect, it’s natural. What sets true entrepreneurs apart from the crowd is their stamina and willingness to push through the rougher times. Keep your head up and stay focused. Don’t let yourself fall in to the mindset that you can’t accomplish your goals. Good things usually take time to develop. With vision and determination comes success, it’s inevitable.

9 : Jack of All Trades

Entrepreneurs, especially at the very beginning of a business endeavor, often find themselves wearing multiple hats, and while it’s almost always necessary, it can be very taxing and discouraging. Don’t let this discourage you — if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Try to find a balance between the various duties you must tend to, set a schedule, and stick to it. Things will get easier.

10 : Employee Motivation

This one is may important  As an entrepreneur, you’re leading an organization to either a clear victory or miserable failure. There’s no middle ground. One of your primary job duties should be to keep employees motivated and focused on success. Often, entrepreneurs lose sight of the importance of motivating team members. An organization’s staff is its life blood. All hugely successful organizations have extremely motivated, talented, and happy team players.

11 : Lack of Support

Sometimes entrepreneurs find it difficult for family and friends to understand their drive. We aren’t built the same way as most. Push through any criticism you encounter and stay focused, you’ll find that, following success, those very same people will often be singing a very different tune. Find support in colleagues and industry connections. Get involved in professional organizations that are related to your endeavor and stay motivated by connecting with other successful entrepreneurs. You aren’t alone.