If you want to make your online platform a success, there are quite a few challenges. The biggest pitfall is: if you’ve never done it before, you actually don’t know where to start. Startups often have a good idea and call a development agency to build the platform. Nothing wrong with that, but you have to be lucky that the agency really guides you in the process. Not an agency that says: you ask, we turn. There are a number of important pitfalls that you need to avoid. We’ll tell you which ones they are!
Pitfall 1: The lack of a good value proposition
Many startups want to develop immediately, but the first important step you need to take is: determine the added value of your platform. Why are you creating the platform? What makes your platform unique? It’s a process in which you carefully consider why people use your platform. After all, you want to prevent your platform from being unused when you bring it to the market. We therefore also say: software development starts with meaning.
Pitfall 2: Thinking ‘big’ too quickly
A second pitfall is that startups immediately want to build a large product with many features. Of course that’s fun, but it’s not the best thing to do. Start first with a small proof of concept and see if there is actually interest from the target group. Does it catch on? Then you can expand into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). In addition, the chance of bugs is much greater if you immediately build many features. As a result, you often end up in an endless cycle in which everything starts to wobble when you adjust or add features. If you start with a small set of features, you will spend much less time removing bugs.
Pitfall 3: Not adding features as an experiment
In addition to pitfall 2: add features as an experiment. Run tests with customers to find out if features are good enough to really launch. Add feature for feature and test whether and how often the feature is used. Is it a keeper? Then you can expand the feature. Is it not being used? Then you remove the feature. Furthermore, it is important to think like a ‘researcher’. Does every feature contribute to the end goal? And how can you make a feature as easy as possible?
Pitfall 4: Measuring the wrong things
As a researcher, it’s important to measure whether features are being used and if it aligns with your value proposition. However, startups regularly measure the wrong things. Suppose you build an application for a library with the goal of getting people to read more. What are you going to measure? In this case, you can measure how many hours people read a day. The hypothesis of a feature that makes it possible for people to also read on a desktop is: ‘If I can view a book on a desktop, I will read more’. There’s no point in measuring the number of reading hours in general. In this case, you specifically want to know whether the desktop has added value.
Pitfall 5: Thinking about new investments too quickly
Many startups want to grow quickly and are already thinking about the next phase during development: Will I get another investment in the next round? But, patience is a virtue. First make sure your application is really well put together. If this is not the case, then you will not survive the next investment. Of course investment is important, but it’s not an end in itself. So first spend your time setting up a good platform and then start working on a new investment.
These are some of the most common pitfalls that startups are not always aware of. That’s why it’s important that you work with an agency that really thinks along with you and knows which pitfalls to avoid. Therefore, in addition to a team of developers, Wise Minds also offers people who think strategically about the development of your platform. Want to know how we approach this? Feel free to make an appointment! Or read what the 8 growth phases of a platform are.