5 Things Not To Do as A New Entrepreneur and How to Avoid Them
“Everyone makes mistakes, but only a person with integrity owns them” — Nicole Guillaume.
As a new entrepreneur, you can’t just simply think that you own your own business. More than that fact, you need to have a strong plan, complete with clear objectives. Naturally, you need to know what’s the most effective strategy on how to achieve the goals that you’ve set. In reality, not all new entrepreneurs seem to understand how business works entirely and experience a feeling of disappointment when things don’t work out as planned. Five things below are some common mistakes that new entrepreneurs usually make that may lead to severe problems in your business.
1. Trying to do everything by yourself.
As a first-time entrepreneur, you are still loaded with overwhelming bravado that makes you believe that you can do almost everything well. You are the one who comes up with the idea, knows the product and market, then has a passion for doing this all the way home. Unfortunately, this isn’t the right way. However, there are things you can do to stay away from this problem:
- Develop a mindset that a business is nothing but consists of a good and reliable team. Your business will not grow as effectively and successfully as when you are working in a group.
- Hire some potential people that you think can help you to run the business well.
2. Putting your product first, people last.
It might not sound like a problem, but it is. Being a new entrepreneur may make you focus more on your product/service and how you can earn money from it yet forget the reason why you made it. Understanding your target market and having loyal customers is one key to achieve a significant and sustainable business. Therefore, here are some tips for you to avoid that problem:
- Don’t forget to do market validation to reasonably think whether your product solves people’s problems and is relevant to people’s needs.
- Set your business to have a customer-first approach. Try always to put the customer’s needs in the first place.
3. Not spending enough money/spending too much.
At the beginning of any business, money will always be one of the significant concerns. So far, there are two types of new entrepreneurs, the one who has a mindset “I have to spend some money to make money” and the other one “ I’d rather spend money at the bare minimum until I have a good cash flow.” Both of these will cause destructive effects if left unchecked. Here are some things you can do to prevent this problem:
- Take into account your business expenses. Learn how to spend your budget wisely.
- Don’t be afraid to invest in hiring good people and improving product quality. It will be a long-term investment for your business.
4. Dare to take risks
Many people don’t want to take different kinds of action on business because they’re afraid that the money they have invested in developing a new product doesn’t go well. Nonetheless, you must know that running a business is all about taking risks. Entrepreneurs don’t get paid every month as they work in the office or company. These are things you can do to stay away from this problem:
- You have to know what people need right now to get interested in your product/ services.
- You have to believe in your business plan and always see the progress rather than think about the profit.
5. Start a business without knowing the basics
This kind of action often happens in business. A famous saying is that “you get unnecessary risk by not knowing what you’re doing.” An entrepreneur isn’t just about selling things and getting profit; you need to think about the business plan, target, management, finance, etc. These are things you can do to stay away from this problem:
- You can find a good mentor to help you understand what’s entrepreneur all about
- You can learn from books and Youtube about becoming an entrepreneur
So as you can see, here are things not to do as a new entrepreneur and how to avoid them even though there are many more besides this. But still, the most important thing to remember when you run a business is that you must enjoy the process, do your best, be patient, and never give up. Good luck with developing your new business!
Sources:
Council, Y. E. (2018, February 14). 11 Major Mistakes To Avoid As A New Entrepreneur.Forbes.https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/02/14/11-major-mistakes-to-avoid-as-a-new-entrepreneur/?sh=2c77251d3a15
Khan, I. (2020, December 16). 15 Things not to do as an entrepreneur in 2021. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/361117
Porat, E. (2020, December 22). 6 Mistakes every entrepreneur should avoid. Vault. https://www.vault.com/blogs/general-articles/6-mistakes-every-entrepreneur-should-avoid
Top 4 mistakes to avoid if you’re a new entrepreneur. (2015, October 14). CEO Suite. https://ceosuite.co.id/top-4-mistakes-to-avoid-if-youre-a-new-entrepreneur/
DeMers, J. (2020, August 12). 9 Common mistakes made by new entrepreneurs. Medium.https://jaysondemers.medium.com/9-common-mistakes-made-by-new-entrepreneurs-379954a19ffd
