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The five biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make is today’s topic. I recently shared with you the 12 Biggest Mistakes I Almost Made My First Year as An Entrepreneur. So, I thought it would be fun to discuss the five biggest mistakes that I see entrepreneurs make in business. These mistakes are not in any order. Let’s begin with the first mistake.
First Mistake – Expecting Success Right Away
The first mistake has to do with expectations. Every entrepreneur believes that they are going to be successful. Who would go into business, thinking that they were going to fail? However, expecting success right away is setting yourself up for failure. You need to be diligent and follow your business plan. Success will come, but it will not necessarily happen in your first year in business. It may take a few years before you start to see the results from your efforts.
Second Mistake – Having Unclear Goals and an Unclear Mission.
Many entrepreneurs believe that they can just start their business without a plan. They fail to have clear goals, and worse, they have not defined their mission. Goal setting should not be overlooked. Take the time to develop your mission statement. The mission statement describes the purpose of your business so that you know how your business is different from your competitors. Then build your goals. But your goals need to be SMART. Goal setting can be easily accomplished by writing SMART Goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. One of the first blog articles I wrote was on SMART goals.
Third Mistake – Hiring the People You Like and Not the People You Need.
Hiring the wrong people happens more than you think. I have seen many businesses hire their family members who do not have the expertise in the area that the owner has assigned them. Six months later, the owners cannot understand why there are issues in the business. I know that entrepreneurs feel obligated to provide for their families. However, critical positions within the company go to experienced personnel, not family members. If you want to hire family members, then consider putting them into training positions, not crucial management positions.
Fourth Mistake – Ignoring Your True Passion and Just Going for the Money
Generally, this happens to many successful businesses. Owners get caught up in the money that the business generates and forget all about the passion they once had. I have seen this a lot with companies that were getting ready to graduate from the 8(a) BD Program. Successful entrepreneurs sometimes look for an easy way to obtain revenue. They will partner with new companies and noticing the weaknesses they will exploit them. Why? Were these businesses not once in the same shoes as these younger companies? Yes, but they see dollar signs and forget about the passion they once had for the business. Greed comes into play, and it changes people.
Fifth Mistake – Not Being Adaptable.
The one thing that I have learned as an entrepreneur is that everything changes, and either you learn to adapt, or opportunities pass you bye. Just because you have accomplished a task the same way since you opened your doors does not mean that there is a better way to achieve the same task. Take, for instance, the computer. Today, we don’t know what we would do without computers, but when I graduated, computers were large systems taking up approximately 1,800 square feet. And that was just for one computer. Imagine having to do your accounting books manually!!!
In Summary
Entrepreneurs need to remember to evaluate where they are and where they want to go. By doing so, they will realize for themselves the mistakes that they made in their business. I hope this vlog has helped you. Please remember to subscribe, hit the notification bell, and click that liked button. Until next time, please be safe.
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