Starting a business? Don’t focus on these things

December 5, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 2 Comments 

When you’re starting a business, especially a cool boostrapped biz that frees you from corporate America, it’s easy to get caught up thinking about some key things that are a waste of time in the long run.

  1. Your company structure, partnerships, percentages, etc. As my attorney and friend Rush Nigut says, “In the end, I promise you, all partnerships WILL come to and end.”  Man I love realism.  Just put your head down and WORK.  Get contractor agreements in place that clearly define that YOU own the intellectual property that’s being developed before that first check comes.  MONEY IN = IMMEDIATE change in attitude by participants.  Promise.  After 6 months it will become obvious who’s takin’ names and rockin’ and who’s already looking to make it big on your back.  Buy/sell agreements, etc. are critical when you finally do need to form a corporation, etc.
  2. Designing “the perfect looking website”. Use a template.  Use Wordpress to be more findable.  Blog more.  Design less.  Get the site up fast and invest in making IT more findable with the right plugins and writing.  You’ll want to change in 3-6 months anyway.
  3. Advanced revenue models with a million co-dependent what ifs. Average things out.  Simplify.  Be basic.  You won’t get this right anyway because things will change too rapidly.  When you confront the reality of your project (if/when it becomes a business) that rev model will be way off.  Let things evolve before u get crazy and use simple online accounting program like Less Accounting to track your progress.

What are your top 3 business start up pitfalls?

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