What was the biggest mistake you made in your startup. ( Business)

I saw this discussion pale Mukuru and thought maybe it would offer some help to some of us. Below are some of the experiences that would probably help salvage some of us:

  1. Starting a business while clueless about its operations coz my friend said it made money…the stock is still lying in the house nowhttps://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fa3/1/16/1f61f.png
  2. Location i rented a shop for 1mnth no one came to ask what i was doing…20k rent n deposit ikakunywa maji.
  3. employing a beautiful girl as the cashier
  4. Bad location, I didn’t set aside cash to run the biz for atleast six months before it picks,
  5. Set up the business same building with my favorite joint.
  6. I bought an existing butchery @120k,Pesa ya loan bad location kumbe the guy knew it couldn’t work Pesa kunywa maji and he was a family friend.
  7. Opened a saloon and kinyozi bila skills.Telephone salooning.The lady would check in at 11am and leave at 4pm.Sema kuzama…Mpesa went down coz of those majuju guys with some chemicals
  8. Bought a shop through goodwill,only to realize the landlord would have given it out bila goodwill. Sob sob
  9. I started chicken farming ambitiously with an expensive building and too many chicken. I did not vaccinate on schedule so many birds died, economic crunch I had to sell half at a major loss. Trusted my supplier too much he didn’t deliver all the chicks. But I’m using it as a learning curve …
  10. Using pesa ya biashara to start farming and operating on loans… I ended up closing the business
  11. Employing a teenager
  12. Marriage…she ate everything like a swarm of locusts. And when the business went down, she left
  13. Spending the larger percentage of the money in setting up the business and equipment than on the stock.
  14. Inheriting the three workers plus the business name from the guy before me in the same business that had failed…I ended up inheriting the theft they had, the lazy and stubborn asses they were,…my business ‘did not pick’ na Nilisota hadi karibu nianze kuvaa attires Kama wale Zulu’s Wa 'The Gods must be crazy ’ …karibu nifunge kitambaa tu Kwa kiuno nikikam job. …nilikua Niliona supplier naanza kuskia kususu juu sina doo… End month ikifika macho zinaanza ku squint juu ya rent .NEVER INHERIT WORKERS OF SOMEONE WHO HAD CLOSED DOWN. look for your own workers.look for your own name… Create your own brand

…What are your biggest mistakes?

Not putting in 150% of your time. The moment I realised this, my business finally took off.

  1. Settling for an expensive premise because I couldn’t find a cheap one in a prime place…buying the stories I read about the kind of profit I would make etc…U only get to know everything when ur in the business…
  2. Consuming the stock slowly by slowly with friends na kuwapea madeni enye ikuwai lipwa #pub
  3. Partnership… Doing business with a friend… When the friendship died, the business died as well…
  4. selling goods at a throw away price thinking this way I’ll make more sales n giving credit to regular customers…nilijipata nimebaki tu na shop na magunia
  5. i opened and my shop was swept clean na wezi hata before one month iishie. stole four ps 3 , games and four 32’ screens. invest in proper security
  6. starting a business with all the money I had saved 2.leaving an employee to run it 3 ignoring the little mistakes the employee was making

I’m yet to start mine,plans underway to be up and running by Dec. I’m thinking of registering it as an LLC. Afro & Co.

I started telephone farming, inanipeleka mbio

Trusting my cousin to run my business while monitoring him remotely . Never trust your relative that much to run your business . Sio wote but a good majority

Another thing is that you really have to keep your temper in check. I once almost lost a valuable client because of a little misunderstanding. Kumbe ni mimi sikuwa nimeelewa kile alikuwa amesema :smiley:

Hio ya Kuku I did but learnt very quickly…now in the same biz…problem is doing the same thing without fixing the problems you encounter.

Anyway, mine is exactly 2 months old. So far so good. But with time I will tell whether there is a blunder I have made at the startup.

This reminds me of a certain time I messed up big time.

I pal of mine was abroad and he normally calls me to do favours for him. Things like, buy two goats peleka home uwambie ni Christmas gift from majuu…
So this one time, he called me and said buy 100 “waffles” (zile za mjengo), but Mimi nikaskia “apples”… Huyo Mimi mpaka High ridge bought a box that had apples and delivered to his folks home in a leafy suburb.
Dude called me later asking " unaona familia yetu don’t have good health ama ni nini?" Told him Si you told me to take apples to your folks and that’s when he clarified he said waffles… Am just glad that I bought the cheaper stuff…

I have concentrated full time on my startup for 6 months now after leaving my job. The first three months were the hardest but I now have regular clients and a steady flow of income. It’s good to note though that I had enough savings to keep me comfortable for at least a year, incase the business failed to pick up. What I can tell potential business owners is that, you should choose something that you are very passionate about and an expert in. Only you can grow your business into an empire.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Trusting a rela to run our patnership greenhouse biz on “his” farm while monitoring progress remotely . Siku moja kudecide kufanya suprise visit to “our” greenhouse na kuanza kuchuna tomatoes while waiting for my rela nakutwa na maasai ana nyahunyo ananishow na tresspass kwa wenyewe.kumbe ile matapaka ilikua inanitumia progress pics za shamba ya wenyewe. Ushaipata shock mpaka unashindwa kujam unaanza kucheka.

Stocking a commodity that people desired but didn’t really need. Hapo ndio unajua entrepreneurship is about meeting people’s needs. Sell only what they want not what you imagine they want.

In Greek, there’s a saying that “gùtirì ùthomaga na rìene”- nobody learns from another person’s book.

Yangu, though I call it a learning experience rather than a mistake, was to start a high-end butchery in a low-class location coz I figured out that there are a few " classy" people like me living in the locality.

My family consumed 7/8 of the bull. I only sold 11kgs in one week.

Haha…busheri ni motoo. How much did it take your family to finish the bull?

Am getting into this business next week hope I will learn very fast

Partnership with a friend… never try. Business gone, friendship gone too

Men and experiences noma…mine was to let my kunguru to be wife to run the business she ate everything I was left with a book full of clients whom she had given credit

Layers or broilers?