By Fernando Berrocal

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Many tasks are simpler than expected for the operations of a startup. In fact, the typical entrepreneur would agree that the majority of worthwhile endeavors are quite challenging. After all, starting and maintaining a business involves more work than it initially appears to. 

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When you're running a business, every task item takes on additional relevance, which makes it simple to see why the majority fail. If you can't demonstrate that you are an exceptional business, there's a good possibility that your organization won't survive. Imagine you're in the planning stages of starting a business, and developing strategies in anticipation of changes. What can you do, now that you are aware of how slim your chances of success are? You can wait for the ideal thought and combination of circumstances, but it will make you wait an interminable amount of time since it is completely improbable.

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More effectively, you may get ready by conducting in-depth research, studying the successes and failures of prior business endeavors, and developing a business plan that's as near to foolproof as you can make it. Although it won't ensure victory, it will offer you a greater chance. This post will discuss some of the most prevalent (and annoying) growth pains that startups face and provide you with some easy-to-follow advice for avoiding them.

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Hire well, but don’t neglect to delegate–or trust.  It should be quite pleasant to go beyond the solopreneur stage of business establishment. One moment you're managing every facet of your professional goals, taking on every new duty that enters your work, and the next you're developing a specialized team to relieve some of those duties and free you up to concentrate on sales and growth. Unfortunately, startup business owners frequently make wise recruiting choices but fail to effectively utilize their new hires. They only consider the advantages of delegation while beginning the process, but when it comes time to implement it, they get fixated on its drawbacks.

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Trouble follows unavoidably from this. The staff members struggle to work efficiently as a result of their frustration. The employer keeps scrutinizing every decision while paying wages they don't allow to produce Return on Investment (ROI). In other words, practically every area of the firm deteriorates, with the pretense of increasing expertise being the only exception. What is the answer? Simply take the risk. There will never be the ideal moment and there will always be pauses in output caused by steep learning curves. You must now manage your time wisely. Your newly formed team was hired for a reason. How can you trust yourself to manage the business sensibly if you don't trust your intuition?

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Prioritizing growth but forgetting retention: Gaining new customers is your solitary, unambiguous objective while trying to get your new business off the ground. You need to demonstrate something. It's time to pull out all the stops and truly impress people with your promotional materials and presentations since your brand is unfamiliar and you won't attract any clients if you don't do something eye-catching. However, once you have those customers, your aim has been accomplished. Now, what do you do? Keep going after it, perhaps? Additional consumers and/or more businesses, that's an issue and a trap that many startup entrepreneurs fall into. Their obsession with dramatic signings, substantial bills, and significant social media announcements causes them to overlook the crucial aspect of retention.

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No matter what your industry is, there are limits to your audience. Every transaction you make reduces your pool of potential customers, and every client you lose due to inadequate service or an unwillingness to grow makes it tougher to find a replacement. While this is going on, bad publicity keeps coming out, damaging your brand's reputation and making your value offer seem unattractive.  How to avoid this? This isn't difficult, just concentrate on customer service. Turn your attention to retaining and cultivating loyalty if you've been successful in luring customers since the value is there for your target market. Some tips on how to go about doing this are:

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Observe and respond to remarks on social media. That may not be your thing, but it matters. Ignoring criticism of your brand will make it harder for you to influence your career path. What if someone completely misrepresents the facts and claims? Prospects are likely to assume the worst if you don't rectify. Above all, social media interaction with fans of your business is crucial for developing that attachment. The more charm and charisma you can exhibit, the better.

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Give your clients additional choices.  People want the ability to personalize their experiences in an era of flexible delivery methods, reactive working, and sophisticated user interfaces. Give that a high priority. Allow customers to pick how they want to receive your items if you sell them, using drop-off points as needed. Use subscription management software if you offer subscriptions to allow customers to choose exactly what and when they want it. This will help you retain more clients.

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Offer meaningful rewards to your supporters. People sometimes despise businesses that provide essential or nearly needed services since they take advantage of their importance to focus on pulling in new clients. Consider how phone businesses reserve all of their finest offers for potential consumers, knowing that most current clients are loyal or set in their ways. This cannot be done. Instead, reward your loyal customers with better prices and robust offers, and make sure everyone is aware of it. This will foster priceless loyalty.

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Defending your brand. Customer management is one of the most challenging. It is tempting to nod along and make grand promises to seize possibilities. But the main issue isn't usually not living up to expectations. It is instead a failure to stop over-delivery. The urge to be flexible can quickly lead to scope creep. At first, you have a defined scope of work and a list of activities for which you have budgeted adequately, but then a customer brings up a problem, and your desire to win their favor prompts you to resolve it. It doesn't take long for that kindness to develop into an implied responsibility, adding to your already heavy burden.

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Unfair demands can come up while dealing with clients. Someone may purchase one of your products, uncover a small flaw, and then demand that you set it right by giving them something for nothing. The message is clear: comply with their requests or deal with their unfavorable reviews besieging your business. Then there is the issue of making sure you are paid fully and on time. The idea of personally addressing a crucial client who is late with payment might be intimidating. Suppose you displeased them? What if they decide to depart as a result of that? It must be preferable to ignore it and have faith that they'll finally pay in full. Although this rationale is not absurd, it does create a dangerous precedent that, if ignored, will destroy your business. 

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Therefore, how can you prevent being a pushover? You must establish clear expectations from the start and adhere to the listed penalties unless there are exceptional circumstances. There will be less uncertainty and you'll be more confident in your ability to maintain your ground if someone attempts to take advantage of you if you can fully outline your obligations and those of the client/customer before a contract is completed.

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In conclusion, many problems affect startups, but the ones we've discussed often cause the most harm. You must delegate as soon as possible and make a decision. Wasting hired talent is an error. Maintaining your current client’s satisfaction should be your priority since allowing your business to reach a high churn rate will stress your sales process and hinder you from gaining momentum. Additionally, if you don't stand up to consumers who are trying to take advantage of you, you'll watch as they tramp all over you. You'll create a precedent that makes you appear unreasonable when you ultimately try to change it–and expectations will rise beyond your ability to manage. So, defend your brand while treating your customers well enough. 

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Ready to bring your startup to the next level? Apply to MassLight’s next batch. MassLight supplies capital and a dedicated tech team. We take equity in return. Have questions? Refer to our FAQ page.