7 Costly Mistakes Founders Make - And How To Fix Them

If you're a founder wearing multiple hats, chances are you're also the default head of sales. But founder-led sales can either ignite growth—or stall it completely. After 30 years building and leading sales teams, I’ve seen the same painful mistakes cost startups time, deals, and cash flow.

Here are 7 common traps—plus what to do instead:

1. Selling Without a Process

🔥 The Mistake: “We just talk to leads and see where it goes.”

No sales pipeline. No documented process. Just vibes.

Fix: Build a 5-stage pipeline (e.g. Lead → Qualified → Discovery → Proposal → Closed) and define what qualifies each stage. When your sales process is invisible, your deals are unpredictable.

2. Chasing the Wrong Leads

🔥 The Mistake: “We’ll take any customer we can get.”

You waste hours pitching bad-fit prospects—and then wonder why they ghost or churn.

Fix: Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and ruthlessly disqualify bad fits. Great salespeople say “no” early and often.

3. No Clear Offer or Pricing

🔥 The Mistake: “Our offer is flexible... we kind of do everything.”

Ambiguous offers lead to awkward sales calls and pricing hesitation.

Fix: Productize your service. Create 2–3 simple offers with outcomes, timelines, and pricing. Confused buyers don’t buy.

4. Over-Relying on Referrals

🔥 The Mistake: “We grow through word-of-mouth.”

Referrals are great—but not predictable. If you can’t generate leads, your growth dies.

Fix: Build one outbound or content engine that works. That could be LinkedIn outreach, cold email, SEO, or ads—pick one and double down.

5. Skipping Sales Training

🔥 The Mistake: “We hired a rep... they’re figuring it out.”

Most early-stage reps fail because nobody taught them how you sell.

Fix: Create a basic sales playbook: scripts, objections, case studies, tools. Train like you would a franchise. Teach what works.

6. Pricing From Fear

🔥 The Mistake: “We’re cheaper than the competition.”

Being the budget option almost always leads to low margins, needy clients, and burned-out teams.

Fix: Price based on value, not cost. Anchor your pricing to the outcomes you create. Own your expertise.

7. Trying to Do It All Alone

🔥 The Mistake: “I’ll fix sales after I finish product, hiring, ops, finance...”

Sales is your oxygen. You can’t delegate growth to “later.”

Fix: Bring in experienced leadership early—even part-time. Fractional sales leadership can give you expert guidance without the full-time overhead.

🎯 Next Steps

If you’re making even one of these mistakes, you’re likely leaving tens of thousands on the table each month.

Need help fixing them? Book a free 30-minute Rev-Up Call and I’ll show you

• What’s stalling your growth

• How to turn leads into revenue

• What a tailored sales system looks like for your business

👉 Book a Rev-Up Call or DM me on LinkedIn to start.