Young CEO shares business mistakesfrom @gracebeverley

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I could make so many more of these lol

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  things I wasted money on as a baby CEO

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  overspending on influencers I shouldn't have spent so much money on influencers - until you're established, work with 80% 'converting' influencers and MAX 20% 'brand building' (cool) influencers. Converting influencers will actually drive sales rather than just add brand value (which is so important but not as important as staying afloat early on). Ask to see their affiliate link data before going ahead to ensure they can actually sell! Tbh I would avoid using influencers altogether until a few launches in and focus on gifting instead

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  too many rounds of sampling I shouldn't have waited to create the perfect product before releasing it - sometimes done is better than perfect, especially early on in your business. You will learn SO much from the feedback you receive on that product which you would only learn from putting it out there and getting it into customers hands, meaning you can go back and work on those imperfections before the next release. Know which decisions are small and which are big - eg. don't hold on first production for a small change like branding colour, you will learn so much more about what you need to change from getting the product into customers hands so you dont want to run out of money on first samples

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  ordering above MOQ or too many colours you know nothing about your customer until they've bought and used your product, even if you have 1000 people signed up to the waiting list, order MOQs. waiting lists operate off fomo so convert less than 10% usually especially if you dont have an established customer base, you're much better off selling out and creating some hype in the first few launches than sitting on tons of stock you didn't need to buy which could've been your next round of perfected product

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  held 'vanity project' influencer events I held events WAY too early - events are a vanity project and good for building 'brand', but you can't afford to focus on truly building brand until you have some cash. So skip the events and put that money into ad spend until you have stronger cash flow.

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  related: hosted events with no real purpose I wish I'd been really clear on my aim for events before just choosing something that looks cool. If you want any conversion from events, make sure you invite influencers who convert and give them a discount code for the day, ensure they come away from the event educated on your brand, not just with a meaningless tag on Instagram. If you want brand awareness, invite the people in your niche and educate them on the product as much as possible, don't just go for the biggest names

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  over relied on social media I shouldn't have waited so long to prioritise email marketing - automated email marketing will make you money IN YOUR SLEEP. You will have customers come to your site, add something to their basket and then get distracted before checking out; automated CRM flows will remind that customer via email that they left something in their basket. So many other flows too. Think how many people you follow on ig and tt whose posts you never see - email is far more effective and relies less on algorithms

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  lacked communication with earliest customers I really wish I had prioritised my earliest customers - all customers are amazing but your first few customers are golden. Work with them as much as possible on feedback, get them into the office, send them perks, allow them to have enough info to become advocates! They will help to better your brand in ways that would cost you £££ in market research and it really helps to build your community

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  secured social handles too late I shouldn't have waited so long to secure my business's social handles - the MOMENT you come up with a name for your business idea, you need to secure that username on all social media platforms. There is nothing worse than coming up with a brand name that you love, only to find that it's been taken already - you literally break your marketing funnel from day 1

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  giving myself a bit of credit here - one mistake I didn't make is that I made my own first logos on canva and then made do until I could afford better. it's not part of the MVP unless you're hugely logo driven!