Entrepreneurship is a task that requires a lot of effort and succeeding in a company or any type of business is not a process that will happen overnight or instantly.
Most know failure first before succeeding. They learn from the mistakes they make so they can move on down the road. A process that requires a lot of dedication and work.
If you can avoid the errors that appear in the first months of creation, it is much easier to achieve what is proposed. Here are the seven most common mistakes entrepreneurs make early on, mistakes that could set you up for failure.
The 7 mistakes of entrepreneurs that will make your business fail:
1. You don’t know your customers
This may sound old, something that has been repeated many times for years, but reality shows that only a few entrepreneurs apply it.
It is crucial to get to the inside of your audience, to their thoughts, knowing what interests them, what concerns they have. What problems have been found? What are your concerns? What goals are they pursuing?
You have to know these people, try to empathize with them. Your business does not exist without them and that is why they are one of the most important pieces. Most entrepreneurs fail because they live in a bubble where everything is a dream, they are not on the street to connect with real people. The company has to have a root that comes from the day to day of the clients.
2. You are stuck in a mental trap
We all have certain thought patterns that we tend to follow. They are usually related to our way of being or the culture that surrounds us. Other times it is about forms that we have adopted in previous works, where someone told us that it was the most appropriate. Sometimes it happens that it is something we have read and it remains with us.
The point is that it is necessary to be flexible in order to change our point of view on any subject. You don’t have to have a closed mind or follow an idea with a fixed gear. Just because you think something is the best doesn’t mean it really is. Challenging thinking is achieved by taking risks, trying new things and experimenting with different points of view.
3. You ignore market forces
The market is unpredictable, untamable and sometimes stressful. But you have to learn to cooperate with him. If you pretend that the forces that prevail will not affect you or your industry, you are putting yourself in a situation of extreme failure. The market is impersonal, no matter what feelings or plans you have. You have to adjust to it because no one is going to do it for you.
4. You don’t execute quickly
All ideas, all projects, have to be carried out in the most appropriate and fast way possible. You can have fantastic, unique and revolutionary business plans but unless you execute them nothing will happen.
Succeeding means being faster than the competition. If you let someone else do something before you, you will be taking advantage and positioning yourself in the market. The best entrepreneurs are not those who dream, but those who take quick action, rush to get what they set out to do.
5. You are busy with wrong tasks
Being busy is not a sign of being successful. It’s not even a mark of productivity. It’s a good thing if you’re doing the right things. Most entrepreneurs spend hours doing tasks, and that blinds them to see that they are not the right ones. You have to be clear about what you are doing and why.
That is why it is essential every morning or the night before, before starting the day, to have a plan about the most important tasks to be carried out, leaving aside the low-priority ones. Staying focused on them will produce better results and higher productivity. Knowing how to manage time is essential.
6. You don’t focus on income
It is something very big. Income. It is true that in a business environment you have to be focused on many things but if you lose sight of income then you will practically be saying goodbye to what you had designed.
It is one of the most dangerous signs and one that must be taken into account. It is the final objective, where the game ends. You have a passion, but you do this to make money. Do not let finances end up destroying everything and never contract debts that you cannot assume.
7. You do not have an alternative financial route
Capital is what keeps your company alive . Once your business is gone it will go with it. There is no chance of survival possible. That is why you always have to keep an eye on your finances, controlling the inflows and outflows, as well as the amount in the accounts.
It is important to have an alternative, for that moment in which the company is about to run out of funds. You have to look for people who can contribute, even someone you know who wants to invest. Sell the business idea as something spectacular, where investors want to bet their money to have a higher return in the future.