Before You Start
Nobody avoids every mistake, but some are worth meeting on paper first
Most advice for new founders says what to do. The most useful thing a founder a few years ahead can offer is a list of what they did wrong, how long it took them to see it, and what it cost. This session puts several of those lists together, and gives participants time to hold their own plan up against them.
Explore this page6 sections
A mistake you have heard about is cheaper than one you have made.
First-year mistakes tend to repeat. Common ones include spending on appearances before sales, pricing too low, doing everything oneself, having no agreement in writing, mixing personal and business money, and not noticing a problem for months because nobody is looking at the numbers.
This session does not claim to know which of these will happen to you, and it does not rank them by how often they occur. It asks founders to tell their own stories plainly and puts the common themes on the table, so that each participant can ask which of them might be theirs.
Nothing said in the session is a rule. Different businesses make different mistakes, and each speaker describes only their own.
Where first-year mistakes tend to be made
34 topics across 7 areas. Seven areas, each with questions for speakers and for you.
Spending Before SellingThe business looks real before it is.4
- What was bought before the first customer
- What turned out to be unnecessary
- What could have waited until a customer paid
- How the spending felt at the time
Price and MoneyWhere small errors compound.5
- Prices set without counting your own time
- Giving credit to customers who did not pay on time
- Mixing personal and business money
- Not knowing, at any moment, how many months of cash remain
- Taking a loan on terms not fully understood
CustomersToo few, or the wrong ones.5
- Depending on one customer for most of the revenue
- Saying yes to every request, including those that lose money
- Not asking for payment in advance
- Not following up, or not asking for referrals
- Building for imagined customers
People and PartnersWhere relationships become business risks.5
- Starting with a partner and no written agreement
- Hiring family or friends without clear roles
- Doing everything alone until exhaustion
- Hiring too early, or not when it was needed
- Not asking for help
Paperwork and ComplianceDull, and expensive when ignored.5
- Registrations done too early or too late
- Missed filing dates and late fees
- No written terms with customers or suppliers
- Poor records that made tax and loans harder
- Relying on an agent or adviser without understanding
Yourself and Your HouseholdThe business depends on a person.5
- Working without a day off for months
- Not telling the family the real position
- Ignoring health, for you and those who depend on you
- Leaving a job without enough savings
- Measuring yourself against founders on social media
Noticing and FixingThe mistake that makes the others worse.5
- How long it took to see the problem
- What first made them look
- Who they asked and what was said
- How they changed course
- A weekly and monthly review they now keep
Questions speakers are asked to answer
- What was your costliest mistake in the first year?
- How and when did you notice it?
- What would you do differently, and what would you do the same?
- What did you worry about that did not matter?
- What did you not worry about that did?
What participants leave with
- A list of risks to check against their own plan
- Two or three actions to take this month
- A weekly review template
- Early warning signs, in their own words
- A first-year check-in date
How the session runs
Two or three founders, a few years into their businesses, each describe two or three mistakes from their first year, in about fifteen minutes. Speakers are chosen from different sectors so that the stories differ. After a break, participants review their own plans against what they heard, in small groups, and ask questions. Evening or weekend sessions, in person or online. Speakers talk about their own experience only, and nothing is presented as a general rule.
What your students leave with
- A list of first-year mistakes, each told by someone who made it
- An understanding of how they were noticed, and how late
- A review of your own plan against those mistakes
- Two or three risks in your own plan that you had not named
- A habit of reviewing the business weekly and monthly
- A short list of early warning signs to watch for
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Learn the first year's mistakes from people who have already made them.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.