Making mistakes is common to both old and new entrepreneurs because the world of business is full of chaos, challenges, and uncertainties. However, new entrepreneurs slip-off the most, because they are inexperienced and unskilled. From having the wrong business model, to building a product that no one will buy – new entrepreneurs (and sometimes, old ones) deliver the flop that can jeopardize their entire careers.
So, how do you avoid the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs often make?
1. Don’t anticipate immediate success
Success shouldn’t be the core factor that drives you into running your business. Of course, everyone wants to become successful. Everyone wants to, but the truth is, if you go in with this mindset, your energy will deplete faster if you don’t achieve success in time.
Nonetheless, if you should go into business with the right motive – to solve your customer’s pressing problems – this will give you the motivation to keep going, because you’re focused on improving your customer’s life. You’ll keep showing up, working with this mindset, even when success doesn’t come right away.
2. Don’t assume building a business is a “simple” task
Look at how Linda Ikeji turned her blog into a seeming ATM machine. With more than a million visitors a week, it takes Linda a couple of minutes to publish a 300-word post on her free blogger site, and millions of visitors click in to read, comment, and share. Even big brands understand this and that’s why they pay millions to place their banners on her blog, so they get all the traffic required to convert to sales. That makes Linda Ikeji a billionaire. It’s that simple?, you might think. Well, it’s not. It took her years to master the art of writing and many more years to build her blog into a success – through constant experimentation, pivoting, and re-iteration.
Success doesn’t come easily. It has a price such as sleepless nights, disappointments, years of persistence, and sheer luck. So, if you think that building a successful business is simple, you’ll be in for a great disappointment when you launch your first startup, and, a year later, your corporate account still reads zero.
3. Don’t try to do it all alone
You think you’re a genius. You have this great idea no one ever thought of, and so, you roll up your sleeves, trying to do everything – from operation, to marketing, to PR – all by your ‘mighty’ self.
Well, it doesn’t work that way. Remember that running a business is tough. You surely need a helping hand if you want to scale. So, get the right partner, good team, or outsource other jobs while focusing on ding what you are good at.
4. Don’t do it for the money alone
Of course, every business should bring in money. However, if you venture into entrepreneurship with the notion of only becoming rich, then you’re in for a big surprise. Here’s what will happen: You’ll spend a lot of money to begin with. If you have a personal savings, you’re going to use a large sum of it to power your startup if you are unable to secure funding. If not, you’ll have to borrow from your friends and family to stay afloat. You have to inject some capital into your business to get it up and running.
Injecting too much money into a business that’s not bringing in profit yet, is painful. If you’re in for the money, you’ll not get the motivation to self-fund a venture that is yet to break-even. So, you’ll quit sooner than later, and all your hopes and dreams will wither away.
Note these mistakes and stay away from them to become successful in business.
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