By London Street Signs
The first 90 days of a new business are a blur. You’re hiring, stocking shelves, fixing the plumbing, learning the till — and somewhere in between, you’re supposed to be “doing marketing” too. It’s no wonder most new owners make the same handful of mistakes. They’re not stupid mistakes; they’re the natural result of having too much to do and too little guidance.
The good news: these five mistakes are all fixable, and fixing them early compounds. Get them right in your first 90 days and you’ll be ahead of most businesses that have been open for years.
Mistake 1: Trying to Sell to Everyone
What it is: Your marketing speaks to “anyone who might buy.” Your social posts, flyers and website describe what you do in the broadest possible terms, hoping to catch every possible customer.
Why it hurts: A message written for everyone resonates with no one. When a busy mum, a young professional and a retiree all read the same generic line, none of them feel you’re talking to them. Worse, broad marketing forces you to compete on price — because if you’re “just another café” or “just another salon,” the only reason to choose you is being cheaper.
How to fix it:
- Write a one-sentence description of your ideal customer: who they are, what they need, and why they’d pick you over the place down the road.
- Pick one primary customer type for your first 90 days and speak directly to them in every post and advert.
- Test it: show your latest social post to a friend and ask, “Who is this for?” If they can’t answer in five seconds, it’s too broad.
Mistake 2: Inconsistent Branding Everywhere
What it is: Your logo is one colour on Instagram, another on your shopfront. Your tone is playful on Facebook and stiff on your website. Your flyers use a font nothing else uses. Each touchpoint looks like a different business.
Why it hurts: Customers need to recognise you instantly — on the street, on their phone, in their inbox. Inconsistency doesn’t just look messy; it quietly tells people you’re not established, not careful, not trustworthy. Recognition is what turns a passer-by into a regular, and recognition only comes from repetition of the same look and voice.
How to fix it:
- Choose two to three brand colours and one main font, and use them everywhere — no exceptions.
- Write down your tone of voice in one line (“friendly and straightforward” or “premium and calm”) and check every post against it.
- Make a one-page brand cheat sheet and share it with anyone who posts, prints or designs anything for you — including yourself.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Your Google Business Profile
What it is: Your Google Business Profile is unclaimed, half-empty, or gathering dust — wrong opening hours, three blurry photos from two years ago, and not a single reply to your reviews.
Why it hurts: When someone nearby searches for what you sell, they don’t visit your website first — they look at Google Maps. Your profile is your digital shopfront, and for many customers it’s the only version of your business they’ll ever judge. An abandoned profile tells Google and customers the same thing: this place might not even be open. Meanwhile the competitor with fresh photos and recent reviews gets the call.
How to fix it:
- Claim and verify your profile, then fill in every field: correct hours, services, description and contact details.
- Upload real, recent photos — your interior, your team, your work. Add new ones regularly.
- Post a short update at least once a week, just like social media. An active profile signals an active business.
- Reply to every review, good or bad. A thoughtful reply to a bad review impresses future customers more than ten five-star ratings.
Mistake 4: Spending on Ads Before the Basics Work
What it is: You boost posts and run paid ads in week two, hoping for a flood of customers — while your Google profile is empty, your website is confusing, and there’s no clear way for an interested person to contact you.
Why it hurts: Advertising doesn’t fix a broken foundation; it amplifies it. Every pound you spend sends people to a business that isn’t ready to convert them, so the money burns with nothing to show for it. And because nothing was tracked, you learn nothing either — you can’t tell whether the ad failed or the landing experience failed.
How to fix it:
- Before spending a penny on ads, make sure the free foundations work: complete Google profile, a website or page that clearly states what you do and how to reach you, and a few genuine reviews.
- When you do start advertising, start small and track one thing: enquiries or calls, not likes or impressions.
- Only scale up spending on the ad and message that already produced real enquiries organically. Paid ads should multiply what works, not rescue what doesn’t.
Mistake 5: Having No Follow-Up or Review System
What it is: Happy customers walk out the door and you never hear from them again. Nobody asks them for a review. Nobody reminds them to come back. Nobody checks in when they go quiet.
Why it hurts: This is the quietest and costliest mistake on the list. Without a system, every month starts near zero — you’re constantly hunting for new customers while past ones drift to whoever shows up first next time they search. Meanwhile your happiest customers, the ones who would gladly leave a glowing review, simply never get asked. Reviews are the social proof that convinces strangers to choose you, and they don’t appear by accident.
How to fix it:
- Ask every happy customer for a review at the right moment — right after a great experience, while it’s fresh. A simple “Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It really helps a new business like ours” works.
- Make it effortless: a short link, a QR code at the till, or a follow-up message the next day.
- Build a simple repeat loop: a thank-you message after each visit, a reminder when they’re due back, a check-in if they go quiet. Decide once what happens every time, then let the routine run.
None of these mistakes means you’re bad at marketing. They mean you’re busy building a business — which is exactly what your first 90 days are for. But marketing isn’t a trick you bolt on later; it’s the system that turns your hard work into customers who find you, trust you and come back.
Fix these five, and you won’t just survive your first 90 days. You’ll spend them building something most businesses take years to figure out: a business that markets itself.
London Street Signs are marketing experts helping business owners win customers. Through The Marketing Edge, they share practical marketing ideas for shops, salons, cafés, clinics and offices.
