4 common mistakes made by entrepreneurs

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Oct 14, 2016 / by
4 common mistakes made by entrepreneurs

Perhaps due to the mass adoption of social media, successful entrepreneurs are now internationally revered. In 2016, the average person can get real insights into the lifestyles of superstar business owners such as Elon Musk and feel that such things may, one day, be attainable for themselves.

We live in an age of individualism where people are looking for greater financial control of their lives, more flexibility and higher rewards. Entrepreneurship is more attractive now than ever before.

Margarita Hakobyan, writing for Solopreneurs, states:

Starting your own business comes with more risks than taking a job at a company, but the potential for rewards are so much greater that many people feel it’s worth the risk. Add in the fact that many businesses now require nothing more than some spare time and a computer, and many entrepreneurs are getting their start long before they leave school or quit their day job.

While it’s easy to think about the benefits of owning a successful business, it is much more challenging to consider the hardships and struggles endured by new entrepreneurs before success is attained. Here are some of the most common mistakes made by new entrepreneurs so you can, with any luck, avoid them!

1 – Doing it all for the money

Coins and notesFor those who choose entrepreneurship as a way of obtaining a greater level of financial abundance, picking a niche solely based on the potential profitability can be a severe mistake. If you want to make money, picking a niche that has the potential to make lots of money sounds logical, but it actually isn’t.

If you choose a niche that you have no real passion for, motivation can be a real problem further down the line. Most entrepreneurs go through brutal periods of putting in long hours with very little financial reward. If you’re working in a niche that doesn’t truly interest you, you’re much more likely to suffer from burnout and quit. Even if you are successful, running a business that you’re not passionate about strictly for profits can become very unfulfilling very quickly!

2 – Doing everything yourself

Entrepreneur and digital outsourcing specialist Chris Ducker has spoken of his early experiences as an entrepreneur where he would regularly do 16 hour work days, 7 days a week. This is clearly unsustainable and for Chris, he ended up in the hospital being treated for severe exhaustion.

This is a case of an entrepreneur taking on too much work for themselves, instead of delegating where it is reasonable to do so. Thanks to the Internet and its global labour force, many different tasks can now be digitally outsourced. There may also be many people local to you who take take on work. By delegating the simple tasks, this leaves you, the entrepreneur, to work on your business rather than in it.

3 – Not setting realistic goals

It’s so easy to fall in love with the idea of producing a big selling product, gallivanting around exotic countries and living a life of luxury that you forget to set realistic goals. If you have a big dream, there need to be logical steps in order to achieve this over a specific time period.

Success is never linear, and there are bound to be plenty of horizontal (or even backward) steps in the journey from A to B, but your chances of arriving at your destination are much higher if you’re able to plan effectively. Also, goals should be definitively measurable so there is no ambiguity. Knowing you have to reach a specific amount of revenue, web site traffic or social media followers by a specific date will help you to plan more effectively.

4 – Thinking the product will sell itself

New entrepreneurs often spend so much time thinking about their product and its numerous intricacies that they completely forget they actually have to market it in order to make sales. Just as much, if not more, time and money should be spent on marketing as it is on developing the product.

If things such as paid advertising, SEO and content marketing are alien concepts to you, then it’s time to give yourself a comprehensive education, and fast! Additionally, for digital entrepreneurs who plan on leaving the world behind and earning money online, thinking about offline marketing tactics can also be extremely productive (people like to buy from real humans, not faceless corporations).

Conclusion

Behind the social media glamour, entrepreneurship involves a lot of work. It’s not like high school where effort typically leads to positive results. Entrepreneurship requires you to work both hard and smart in order to be successful. Having a real passion for the company you want to create, maintaining adaptability and continuously seeking out new information to further your efforts will increase your chances of success no end.

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