In the chaotic early stages of a startup, commercial strategy can feel like a secondary concern, overshadowed by product development and funding. Yet, it is the bedrock for all sustainable growth. Without a clear commercial roadmap, even the most innovative product is destined to wander in the wilderness of low adoption and inconsistent revenue.

At Thaver, through our focus on Business Development Strategy & Execution, we’ve observed that founders often fall victim to the same high-impact mistakes that stall growth, burn capital, and prevent market penetration. This article decodes the top three commercial mistakes and provides actionable advice.

Mistake 1: The ‘Sell to Everyone’ Strategy

The fear of missing a sale often drives founders to define their market as ‘everyone who could possibly use the product.’ This lack of segmentation, while seemingly inclusive, is the fastest way to dilute resources, confuse your messaging, and end up appealing to no one. This is the fundamental flaw of neglecting a precise Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and a prioritised Total Addressable Market. The costs include inefficient marketing spend and a failure to achieve deep Product-Market Fit.

How to Avoid It:
Get granular with your ICP, defining not just demographics but their specific pain points and budget holders. Start by dominating the smallest viable market – a niche where you can become the undisputed leader first – before strategically expanding your commercial focus.

Mistake 2: Confusing ‘Price’ with ‘Monetisation Strategy’

Many founders treat pricing as a simple numerical exercise: cost + margin. This is a transaction, not a strategy. The core flaw is basing pricing purely on internal costs or competition, rather than on the quantifiable Value Metric you deliver to the customer. This results in eroded value.

How to Avoid It:
Determine your true Value Metric (e.g., time saved, percentage of cost savings) and tie your pricing directly to it. Conduct a value-based pricing analysis to understand the economic value you create for the client. If your solution saves a company £100,000 annually, your price should reflect a strategic share of that value, not just your internal operating costs.

Mistake 3: Prematurely Scaling Sales Execution

In the excitement of landing a few initial, often founder-led, customers, founders frequently rush to hire a full-time sales team or scale marketing. They scale the execution before validating the underlying strategy. This leads to wasted salaries, high turnover, and flawed unit economics because the sales process is not yet proven to be repeatable.

How to Avoid It:
The founder, must first achieve Repeatability. Personally close 10-20 deals with your ICP using the exact same pitch, collateral, pricing, and process. Critically, document every step. This documented process becomes your commercial Playbook. Only after this strategy is proven and scalable should you hire process-driven team members to refine and execute the playbook efficiently.

Your Next Step: Strategy Before Execution

To build a robust, data-driven commercial engine, your strategy must prioritise precision: who you sell to, how you capture value, and how you build repeatability. Thaver’s Business Development Strategy & Execution service is designed to help early-stage founders move beyond these common blunders to define their ICP, lock in value-based pricing, and build the scalable playbooks necessary for market dominance.

Contact Thaver for a strategic review of your current commercial model.