Mistakes entrepreneurs must avoid
According to the legendary American Sportsman, Vince Lombardi, “perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we catch the excellence.”
In every scope of life, mistakes arise when you start a journey, especially in new and strange terrain. But when you chase your dream and learn from your mistakes, scores of success will definitely follow.
This is not different from an entrepreneur or any startup business owner. Most times, these mistakes are serious. They serve as learning curves for any entrepreneur with foresight. Suffice to say then that learning from your mistakes is something more valuable.
As an entrepreneur, avoiding some common mistakes when starting a business is a great pattern for success and failure. Through the process of trial and experiment, you discern what gives results and what doesn’t.
Mistakes entrepreneurs must avoid
However, for those entrepreneurs who have not been so successful, here’s a collected list of common mistakes that usually kill a business.
1.Accurate Financial Planning
This is one of the biggest mistakes, if not the biggest, among the entrepreneurs. Everything about finance must be put into the proper budget for the business to boom and stay afloat from the onset.
Failure to have proper financial planning is a clear indication that your business is not going anywhere.
Have plans for the capital to invest in your business. If you don’t have enough capital, you can opt for loans or do some other part-time jobs to fetch you some money on the side.
When you have the capital, you must plan it carefully to better your business.
Avoid spending irresponsibly or spend money meant for the growth of your business on buying fancy cars or taking expensive trips with a girlfriend for no good reason.
If, through naivety, you don’t know how to handle a large amount of money on your business, get counsel from trusted individuals like business associates or friends.
2.Greed or Doing Business for the Money Alone
As an entrepreneur, if your mindset is focused only on getting rich alone, then think again. Passion is one important thing you must acquire to drive your business. Position the vision of your business on some bigger missions.
You are in the business to make money. But what happens when the tides turn on your business? How do you sustain the energy to continue? What would you do when things don’t work out? It is the passion that gives any successful entrepreneur the tenacity to forge ahead.
If you aspired to be a successful entrepreneur, you must learn to be tenacious.
3.Impatient
This is another common mistake any entrepreneur should avoid. Noted that you’re in the business to make money, but you cannot start making money immediately you open for business. It might take weeks, months, or even years before you start making money, depending on the nature of the business.
As an entrepreneur, you need to understand that your business cannot grow overnight. If you exercise enough patience and grow your business well, you will be surprised how it will start making you money.
If you concentrate your energy on the bright side, though it can be challenging and requires a heavy dose of personal encouragement, you will soon start seeing the result of your hard labour.
Don’t relent in giving your business the best it deserves.
You might not know when luck pushes something capable of changing it forever.
4.Leaving out Branding
Listen, you need a clear identity when you open for business. You need people to trust you and do business with you.
As an entrepreneur, if you want to lead potential customers to your business, you must build a brand for it. Your clear identity is a message to these customers on what they expect from doing business with you.
If properly done, your brand will build credibility for you and your business, thereby increasing profit margin because your customers will keep coming back for more business transactions.
Never rely on getting on with the job alone. Build a good brand, maintain it, and see your business soar.
5.Doing Everything Alone Without a Team
It is a common belief that your business is doomed if you’re the smartest person in the room. Never make the mistake of doing everything on your own. Build a dream team. Hire experts, get out of the way, and let them do the magic.
Never work IN the business but ON the business. If you set to do everything alone, you will limit your business’s potential growth. That’s a great mistake that will cost you years to correct.
6.Lack of Clear Vision or Goal
This is another common mistake you must avoid as an entrepreneur. Do you venture into your business without any clear future implications? Do you have any vision for your business? Do you know what you want your business to achieve from the onset?
If you don’t have clear answers to these questions, you may want to start setting those goals right away. Setting the vision on certain aspects of your business can greatly endear success to it in the short run.
Plan on your target market and work on it to achieve your goal. Your long-term goals and short-term goals must be clearly defined, and you must work towards them.
7.Trying to be a Perfectionist
Another common mistake any entrepreneur should avoid is procrastination. By waiting and perfecting things, you’re wasting precious time to learn to improve on some sloppy services or products.
Don’t wait for perfection before launching. Learn along the way. Messy success is far better than flawless normality.
The feedback you get from customers is the vital keys to improving your products or services. Start your business and improve along the way.
It is very vital to conclude that these are not the only mistakes any entrepreneur should avoid. Rather, the list is just what you should try to refrain from. I’m sure you must have your own common mistakes you wish to share. Can you add anyone that I might have missed? Leave a comment below with your answer.
