Leah Lindeman's Blog, page 3

7 Pitfalls to Avoid When Becoming an Entrepreneur

Starting a new business is an exciting proposition, but it’s also a challenging one.  

First-time entrepreneurs are high on drive and enthusiasm, but lack of experience can make them vulnerable to making some common mistakes over and over again.  

As the adage goes, we learn from our mistakes. However, we must remember that it’s also possible to learn from the mistakes of others and avoid making those errors yourself. New entrepreneurs often overestimate their knowledge and expertise and overlook conventional wisdom guiding entrepreneurship for ages.  

While it’s great to be innovative and experimental, certain basics of running a business never change.  

A good entrepreneur must combine their new-age instincts with the core foundational values of entrepreneurship.  

It never hurts to seek the advice of others who are more experienced than you and re-evaluate your major business decisions coolly instead of making them in a jiffy.  

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is an art and a science. You need to avoid some common pitfalls like the plague!  

7 pitfalls to avoid when starting your entrepreneurship journey  

Trying to do everything yourself  

This is the most common mistake new entrepreneurs make.  

They take on too much work and overestimate their knowledge and capabilities.  

As an entrepreneur, you must understand that delegating tasks to the right people is imperative for the success of your business. Even if you do not want to hire too many people, you must hire competent staff for verticals like sales, marketing, and finance.  

Lack of trust in other people also makes many entrepreneurs take on too much work. You think that it’s your idea and your product, so no one can do the job better than you. Running a successful business is all about letting go of this irrational instinct.  

A company runs on the expertise of many people. If you want your business to grow, you have to start trusting people and delegating the relevant responsibilities to the right set of people.  

Spending too little or too much  

New entrepreneurs aren’t usually very good at financial management.  

They have no clue how much money to spend on marketing, promotions, product development, etc. Most entrepreneurs take one extreme or the other. Either they spend too much or too little.  

Those who spend too little are always scared that their limited finances will dry out if they spend any money. And those spending too much overestimate the importance of spending money for wealth creation. Both these positions are highly irrational and distorted.  

As an entrepreneur, you must carefully assess your finances and make spending decisions accordingly.  

To begin with, you must have a concrete financial plan. If your knowledge of finance is limited, hire a financial expert to help you.  

Ideally, an entrepreneur should embark on a self-learning curve and gain basic knowledge of financing and accounts before starting a business.  

Starting a business without creating a brand  

    The biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make is that they hurry into launching a business. And they start developing products and introducing them into the market without adequate market research and data backup.  

Smart entrepreneurs start marketing and testing their brands even before they have launched their businesses.  

You spend a fortune on developing a product, promoting it, and launching it in the market. What if the product fails?  

That’s why it’s important to do your homework in advance and work on strengthening your brand even before you’ve started your business.  

The best way to avoid this pitfall is by investing in content marketing before launching your business.  

Catch the attention of the audience with industry-relevant content in different formats. Build a solid prospective customer base even before you’ve started the business. Conversion gets easier once people start taking interest in your content.  

Test the waters in advance to see if there is a readymade market for your product. Complete your market research and product testing early to get the best results later.  

Not hiring the right people  

This is one of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make.  

They start their business with a bang but fail to hire the right people.  

Some entrepreneurs try to save money by hiring on cheap. While you shouldn’t pay an employee more than they deserve, you have to understand that hiring competent staff is a must for your growth. The skills and competencies of the workforce can make or break an organization.  

Many entrepreneurs pay a lot of attention to other aspects of the business but neglect hiring. They end up hiring people who are not suited for their particular roles.  

To avoid this pitfall, make sure you do not hire in a hurry. Have several rounds of detailed interviews to figure out if the employee has the right skill set for the concerned job profile.  

Also, you must not neglect background checks of an employee. Checking someone’s records before hiring them helps you make an informed decision in the interest of your business.  

Shiny object syndrome  

Shiny object syndrome is the curse of new-age entrepreneurship!  

With all the talk about innovation and creativity, entrepreneurs get carried away and jump excitedly from one idea to another which leads to confusion and chaos and affects their business.  

Shiny object syndrome is the continuous state of confusion, chaos, and distraction induced by the consistent belief that one must always pursue a new and innovative idea.  

This obsession comes at the cost of work that is already in the pipeline and ends up disrupting the major operations of a business. The shiny object syndrome is rooted in that childhood fantasy of wanting something new to play with,, even if the current toy is giving you good results!  

To overcome this pitfall, you must put clear procedures in place for assessing and vetting new ideas. Make sure to prioritize existing plans and see that they do not suffer in pursuit of new ideas.  

Getting obsessed with results  

Getting obsessed with short-term results is a standard mistake every new entrepreneur makes.  

While immediate sales are important, you must never lose the long-term vision for your business. Never let tacky shortcuts hamper the long-term growth of your business.  

As a startup entrepreneur, it’s more important to steer your business in the right direction than get obsessed with short-term results.  

To avoid this pitfall, do not neglect the fundamentals. Remember that you need good infrastructure and productive strategies before starting your business.  

Do not treat customers as mere numbers. Focus on offering something of value to them. Your attitude should be that you are bringing about a positive transformation in the customer’s life through your product or service. Then, sales will be effortless and your customers will truly value you.  

Changing from business to business  

Some entrepreneurs get carried away and start a second business if they think the first one isn’t doing well.  

This is a recipe for disaster. Changing businesses frequently will lead to financial losses and loss of credibility.  

There is nothing wrong with starting a second or a third company per se, but you must not do so for the heck of it. Setting up a new business takes time and effort, so it’s best to concentrate on your first business and make it work.  

Changing businesses frequently can also have a detrimental effect on your long-term vision. An entrepreneur needs to have a coherent vision for their business to succeed. Launching new businesses one after the other in fields unrelated to your niche will exhaust your resources and damage your professional credibility.  

About Author 

Entrepreneurs Tutor  is an educational website operated by a successful entrepreneur. Our one and only goal is to have everything helpful to an aspiring or already successful entrepreneur in the one place. 

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