Getting started on your entrepreneurial venture can be both exciting and stressful. Questions on whether or not it will work may flood your mind as you weigh out the pros and cons. With that in mind, it is always important to consider the mistakes made by people in your position in the past and make every effort to avoid such blunders. Take a look at some of the top mistakes that starting entrepreneurs have made and try not to follow in that direction.
Assuming you will need no help
As the saying goes, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” This makes sense in most situations, and you may think when starting your entrepreneurial journey this may be one of them. It could be that no one knows your product better than you do; thus no one can get the job done better than you can. However, in this instance, trying to do everything on your own is only setting yourself up to fail right off the bat. You would be doing yourself and your company a service by having a consultant to bounce ideas off from, or even outsourcing some of the work that may be a bit much to handle alone. Being willing to delegate some of the work evenly takes a huge load off your shoulders, allowing you to focus on other important matters that may specifically need your attention.
Poor hiring decisions
Choosing the right people to join your team is a very crucial when getting things started up. You want to make sure you hire people who can not only perform the job efficiently (which is extremely important) but also people who will be a good representation of you and your company. In the Forbes article, the author lists Guy Kawasaki’s Top 10 Mistakes By Entrepreneurs. One example listed is hiring people like you. For example: if you are a male, you are more likely to hire another male. However, you want to hire people who will complement you. So instead of hiring that second male, maybe hire a woman. It is always important to have people around you who are different to assure that you get exposed to different perspectives that can allow for innovation and change, which stimulates growth.
Failing to evolve
In today’s economy, things are changing by the second, and if you want to be successful when starting up your own company, you have to be willing to adapt to all these changes. This typically goes for any situation when thinking about basic survival; but even more so in the business world, one of the quickest ways to set yourself up for failure is assuming that the same methods work all the time. Times are changing, and to keep up and stay ahead of the game, you have to be willing to change with the times.
Bad/No Marketing
For most people, this would go without saying, but without any marketing or having poor marketing strategies, there’s no way for your business to thrive. Even some of the most innovative ideas will require a smart marketing plan whether it be from paid advertisements or doing a little PR. You have to find a way to get your product out to the public and differentiate yourself from your competitors. They say that “if you build it, they will come.” Well, the only way for them to come is by knowing that it is out there for them. So, crafting targeted marketing strategies is a sure fire way to get the ball rolling in the right direction.