Mistake #8: Buying Services Too Early (Before You Even Know Your Product or Data)

One of the most expensive lessons I’ve learned in building multiple brands is this: never buy services before you truly understand your product and your data.

In the early stages, it’s easy to get sold on the idea that you “need” professional help to grow — an agency, a consultant, a PR firm, a data platform, a branding studio. And yes, those services can be valuable. But when you bring them in too early — before your product has found its footing — you’re often paying to amplify confusion.

The Illusion of “Readiness”

When you don’t have enough data, you don’t yet know what works — your pricing, your messaging, your core audience, or even your best-selling SKUs. Hiring an expensive agency or system at that stage doesn’t fix that. It just makes your guesses more expensive.

Agencies love a confident founder with a new product and budget to spend. But if you haven’t tested your offer, you’re giving them nothing solid to optimize around. They’ll spend your money testing things you could have figured out yourself with small, low-cost experiments.

I’ve seen founders sign $10,000 monthly retainers with agencies before selling their first 100 units. They ended up with a few pretty reports and no sales. The problem wasn’t the agency — it was timing.

Know Before You Outsource

Before bringing in outside help, you need clarity in three areas:

1. Your Product: Does it solve a real problem? Are customers buying it again? What feedback keeps repeating?

2. Your Audience: Who’s actually buying — not who you think should buy? What channels work best for them?

3. Your Unit Economics: What’s your cost per acquisition, gross margin, and repeat order rate?

   

Once you have those answers, you can confidently hand the keys to someone else — because now you’re guiding them with data, not hope.

What You Can Do Instead

1. Test Small, Learn Fast — Run your own small ad campaigns. Post content. Gather reviews. Use this data to learn before you scale.

2. Keep It Scrappy Early On — Use templates, freelancers, or free tools until you know what’s worth investing in.

3. Ask for Case Studies and ROI — When you do hire, make sure partners have proven results in your category.

4. Start with Clear KPIs — Know exactly what success looks like before you sign any contract.

5. Stay Close to the Work — The early stage is your learning lab. No one will understand your brand like you do.

The Takeaway

Buying services early can feel like momentum, but it’s often just expensive motion. The right help at the wrong time will drain your cash and leave you frustrated.

The best founders I know start small, build their own data, and only invest in outside support when they can direct it with clarity and confidence.

💡 Founder’s Reflection (Mayer):I’ve spent thousands on agencies that were trying to “figure it out” while I was still figuring it out myself. Now, I don’t hire anyone until I know my numbers, my audience, and my product performance. When you wait until you truly understand your business, every dollar you spend works harder for you.