What first-time entrepreneurs get wrong?

‘Well-fitted in suits’ to loosely clad in T-shirts, the entrepreneurs have their own peculiarities with ideas, visions and acts that define the success of their business and in other case the failure.

When startups are raining cats and dogs, survival is more than just tough. One small mistake can easily turn into an impasse for business. Over the years, we have seen some great calibers in business falling prey to such mistakes. So, no matter how experienced or new you are in the arena, guarding yourself against common mistakes is an inevitable necessity. To help you with that, here is a list of some of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make.

Not Able to Bridge the Gap between Plans and Executions

To dream is an act of human that is impossible to go without.

Do not rely on the dreams heavily when you plan your business. Planning of business operations, targets, expansions, etc. is never an as easy task as it sounds. There is a very fine line between over-expecting and under-expecting from a business. Entrepreneurs have to walk that fine line. Slightest of the diversion can widen the gap between your planning and its execution in the market.

If you perform far below your targets, then the negatives are quite well known. But if you perform well above your defined targets, it indicates that you do not understand your resources enough and that means even with what appears to be positive achievements, you are not making optimum use of the resources. In the long term, it can result in business-threatening consequences.

Rescue Tip: Trusting resources and their caliber too much is one of the most common mistakes that most entrepreneurs commit. The best business practice involves testing and not trusting. Entrepreneurs should test their resources before going in with a plan.

See Also: Savaree Breakup – One of the cofounders of Savaree has left

Not Balancing Change and Idiosyncrasy

“Only dead fish go with the flow.” ― Andy Hunt

Our research with the Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups indicates that they are highly focused on the uniqueness of their products and services. They try to earn the reputation for not being part of the crowd. But when they get closer to the established state in the market, the situation is completely different and tougher. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that this is the period when most SMEs and startups fail.

Target clients, brand value, and such factors that an entrepreneur should focus on, demands for the change. Change in business practices, marketing, services and products must arrive to stay in the market. Entrepreneurs are usually able to make the shift for survival.

During this shift, the individualistic trait of business goes missing and they start to follow the crowd. Needless to mention, this kills the strength of your business and eventually, the business on the whole.

Rescue Tip: No one is denying from utilizing ‘in trend’ opportunities, but that should not come for the cost of losing the strength of your business. Find the ways how your services and products can benefit the new clients. Think of the new ideas to improve the products on existing strengths and impress the clients with them.

Not Utilizing Network Aptly

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.” – African Proverb

A good, positive, and fast start with the business is always welcome. But the success of an entrepreneur is judged not by the start he gets for the business, but the way he steers the business in long run. And, in the long run, the network of the entrepreneur helps many a miles, but some entrepreneurs have the habit of not valuing it.

Market crisis, recessions, business stagnation and other such troublesome situations are inevitable. All entrepreneurs have to struggle somewhere and mistakes during those situations are toughest to avoid. Most of the entrepreneurs work on innovative strategies for marketing, developments, etc. to escape the crisis, but only a few of them clicks.

Many entrepreneurs trust themselves instead of getting an expert’s say. What they do not realize is that a strong network can find them potential clients, genuine and reliable advice, partnership offers, funding, etc. The dearth of such support during the crisis is the final nail in the coffin.

Rescue Tip: Business Incubator and Business Accelerator programs help in building the network and almost assure that your business gets immune even from toughest situations. Be an active member with such programs to keep your network growing and support other to support yourself.

Forgetting the Basic Business Rules

“Maybe you are searching among the branches for what only appears among the roots”- Rumi

After all, entrepreneurs are humans. As their business takes the flight, they tend to think of growing further and forget the basics. Basic business rules, such as- asking customers for feedback, being polite to clients, controlling emotional (anger, laziness etc.) behavior in business meetings, investing after considerable thought on ROI possibilities, avoiding delay in actions, etc. are just not meant to be forgotten at any cost at any time. Negligence on these rules can weaken even the well-settled businesses. The issue only gets worse when the business performance shows a declining graph.

Rescue Tip: Be disciplined with the business practices. Reading about the successful businessmen, best customer support rules, ‘never say things’ to customers, etc. helps in keeping the business rules in memory. You can even maintain a checklist for daily activities to perform before calling off the day, such as- replying to all emails and voicemails, view at daily employee performance report, etc.

Final Note

Making business decisions is a very weird situation sometimes. The outcome of a decision that was taken instantly might arrive years later. No entrepreneur has led the business without committing any mistake and same are the chances for you. But the fewer mistakes you commit the better entrepreneur you will be. If you are an entrepreneur or willing to be one, then don’t be afraid of making the mistake, but do give a thought on keeping their number to the lowest and rectifying them.