Close to 90 percent of startups fail before they become profitable, often because of a few basic mistakes. Nearly half of these tech company failures result from the product not being something people actually needed. Other common causes of startup failures include running out of money or team members who weren’t well-qualified for their roles. These stats paint a bleak picture of your chances for success. However, knowing the biggest traps to avoid can give your startup a fighting chance for survival.

1. Focus on the most essential features.

Great startup ideas are often based on solving one of the founder’s own pain points. This is mainly because the founder is the person best qualified to describe such a solution. Furthermore, you can bring early adopters on board to help refine your product’s value proposition, assuming you can find others with the same pain point.

You must be careful to develop the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Do this by focusing on just the features users need to achieve their goals. For example, a project management app needs to upload attachments more than it needs custom emojis.

2. Get into the weeds of online conversations.

One common strategy for promoting a startup is to get involved in online conversations with prospective customers, which also helps you refine your idea. The main drawback with this tactic is that it doesn’t scale well. At some point, you’ll need to change your marketing approach as your idea gains traction.

3. Lean on customer feedback

Keeping your customers and their problems in mind as you develop your product is key to fully realizing the sales goals for your product. A customer-based solution to an existing problem can create demand very quickly. This is true whether it’s an entirely new product or simply filling a market gap.