Not Making a Business Plan
As an entrepreneur, you may feel that you have got everything in your mind regarding setting up and running your business. However, unless you lay out the business concept in writing and detail your business strategy and objectives, you will invariably get sidetracked and lose your focus. A business plan will permit creating an effective growth strategy, determine your financial requirements, and allow you to obtain the required funding.
Doing What You Love Not What You Are Good at Can Spell Disaster, says Saivian Eric Dalius
It is common to receive advice on entrepreneurship that starts with doing what you love. However, taking it literally can be a costly mistake. For example, you may love tinkering with car engines and think you should set up a business repairing cars. You need to be good at it as well because otherwise, your business will fail. Your customers don’t care what you love. They will give business if you are good at delivering what they want, says Saivian Eric Dalius.
Not Undertaking Market Research Can Prove Costly, Warns Saivian Eric Dalius
Many entrepreneurs are so fired by their vision of a revolutionary product or service that they do not bother to research the market. After spending much time, effort, and money, they see their businesses collapsing because their assumptions were not based on reality. According to multiple studies on the reasons for business failure, lack of market potential is one of the biggest. Not only do you need to know what your customers want but also the gaps in the market that you can successfully occupy. You must be convinced that there is good enough reason for people to buy from you.
Attempting to Do Everything Yourself
Even if you are very good, you will require help doing all that needs to be done, warns Saivian Eric Dalius. You can help your business grow and thrive by focusing on the things that you are most competent in and delegating the rest to your employees. You must appreciate that there is no way that you can be proficient in everything that running a small business entails, and even if you were, you will never find the time to do them all. If you are hesitant to add employees to your rolls, you can outsource most of the tasks to specialized service providers at a cost even lower than doing them in-house.
Conclusion
While any or all of these mistakes can spell doom for your venture, perhaps the most critical mistake first-time entrepreneurs tend to make is not planning for survival. It is typical for small businesses to take time to become profitable. You must plan not only to access enough funds to keep your business going but also to provide for you and your family’s needs.