Starting your own business is full of thrill, excitement and lots of uncertainty. Now as you’re going to step into an uncharted territory, it can be quite daunting and you’re bound to make mistakes. So in this article we’ll discuss the 7 Common Mistakes that the new entrepreneurs are making. You’ll get to know what mistakes you need to avoid and what things you should do so that you can ensure the smooth sailing of your business.
7 Common Mistakes That First-Time Entrepreneurs Make
Being a startup founder means lots of excitement and new experiences. Nonetheless, the blind spots in this journey can lead to some early setbacks. As a first time entrepreneur it is your duty to learn what are some of the common mistakes and how you can avoid them. Handling these mistakes will lead to strong, sustainable business.
7 Common Mistakes That New Entrepreneurs Make
So let’s see what are some of the mistakes that you can avoid while starting your business journey.
1. Hiring Based on Familiarity, Not Fit
When you become a business owner it would be a temptation to hire the people you know, they can be anyone, a cousin who is switching jobs or a friend with some knowledge about marketing. However, one thing that you need to understand is that your business is only as strong as your team. So hiring someone on the basis of familiarity might be convenient but can result in an issue if they are not competent. Let’s see what to do:
- Define the scope of skills and the kind of experience that you need for the roles.
- Conduct a proper interview and assessment process, even if they are known.
2. Launching Without a Truly Great Product or Service
Now, another mistake that new entrepreneurs make is that they focus more on branding, website design, or social media hype and forget about the actual service or product. Remember one thing in order to be successful you need not to be the cheapest or most popular. Rather you should focus on providing something unique and valuable to your customers. If your product or service is not solving any problems or solving a real issue then no hype or branding can make you successful. You can avoid this by:
- Conducting a proper customer need assessment. You can use surveys, pre-sales and prototypes to know what customers are thinking.
- Work towards providing a real value to the customer rather than creating a hype.
- Work on getting feedback and refine your offerings.
3. Ignoring Financial Management
You should focus on your startup finances. My new entrepreneurs don’t plan their finances accordingly and this becomes one of the top reasons for why startups fail. Poor financial management can lead to the start of a debt spiral, missed payments and a total financial burnout rendering the business dead. So you can avoid this issue by:
- Create a budget as per your needs and strictly follow it.
- Regularly track your income and expenses and keep your cash flow entact.
- You should also hire an accountant or use financial services to stay organized finance wise.
4. Expecting Everyone to Work Like You
No two people in your team are the same so you shouldn’t expect everyone to work the same as you. You’re the founder of the business, the hustler but not everyone will work like you. You should accept this reality and shouldn’t expect your team to mirror you. If you expect that your team members have the same drive, passion, and work style, then it’s unrealistic. This is how you can avoid making this mistake:
- Understand the work styles and strengths of your team members and respect it.
- As a founder you should set clear goals but you should also give them freedom on how they want to achieve it.
- Avoid micromanagement, rather work in developing a culture of accountability.
5. Staying In Office Like It’s Home
Every new entrepreneur thinks that they have to spend every waking minute in their offices at their desks. If you’re constantly at the battle ground then you might miss the bigger picture. Also being in the same setting day after day can lead to a total burnout, which could lead to poor decision making and a lack of new perspective. So to avoid this you should:
- Set a time away from your desk so that you can strategize and reflect.
- Try to delegate the tasks if it doesn’t need your involvement.
- Take regular breaks from your work.
6. Letting Your Ego Lead
Many new entrepreneurs become a victim of their success and the lines between confidence and ego get blurred. Confidence is good but ego can kill your business in an instant before it begins to take off. If you believe that you’re better than everybody else, then you miss out on valuable feedback and help that you need. This is how you can avoid it:
- Surround yourself with people who can challenge you when you’re wrong.
- Always be open to advice if it stings.
- Always focus on learning but not proving yourself.
7. Trying to Do Everything Yourself
Being a startup founder comes with lots of responsibilities, sometimes you’re marketer, sometimes customer support, and sometimes bookkeeper. It is a part of your startup hustle. However, if you think you can do everything alone then it can quickly become unsustainable. So try to avoid by delegating and outsourcing less important tasks.
All to Know!
Being an entrepreneur is a changing experience and mistakes are bound to happen as a part of the growth process. However, your goal should be to quickly learn from your mistakes and adapt to it in order to see real growth. Make sure that you have competent members in your team who support you , challenge you and motivate you to grow. So these 7 Common Mistakes you can make as a new entrepreneur.
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