Business success can be yours if you avoid these critical mistakes

So, you have decided to start your own business. What are your motivations to do it? Maybe you have an innovative product or service that you think could be the “next big thing” that will take the world market by storm. Or maybe you’re just so tired of being an employee: you hate your boss, you can’t stand your colleagues, you don’t believe in your company’s goals, you think it’s time to jump into the business world. Or maybe you’ve been laid off and feel that not being able to find a job in this economy is forcing you to start a business.

Whatever your motivation, you are now working for yourself. However, starting a business is the easy part. In the United States, the Small Business Administration states that approximately 627,200 businesses were formed, while 595,600 businesses closed during the same period. Pretty bleak stats, you might think. The question is: what can you do to ensure that your business is among those that survive and thrive?

These are the 5 most common mistakes entrepreneurs make and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Expecting quick success

It’s easy to get drawn into the idea that we should be successful if we’ve invested some time, money, and energy in a business. For example, place an ad for a workshop and expect many people to sign up. Or invest all your savings in building the business and think that as a result, you deserve some clients. When quick success isn’t achieved, self-doubt arises, causing a stab at much-needed confidence and causing you to lose faith and patience in your business.

When asked what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, Norm Brodsky, a veteran entrepreneur who has started and sold several multi-million dollar businesses, replied, “The most important quality is resilience.” He was referring to the ability to bounce back from failure, to turn a bad situation around, and to capitalize on mistakes.

This mistake can be avoided by taking a 360-degree look at the steps required to grow your business, implementing a well-researched plan, and having sufficient financial reserves to last at least 18 months when starting a new business.

2. Not applying sales and marketing fundamentals

Do you have a negative reaction to the word “sales”? Many entrepreneurs fear sales and marketing because of old mental images of “snake oil peddlers,” people who can convince others to buy things they don’t need. Entrepreneurs don’t want to be perceived as manipulative salespeople out to rip people off.

While this is a common perception of sales, the truth is that nothing happens until a sale is made. As such, the first fundamental is to have a healthy mindset about sales and marketing.

Other sales and marketing basics like having a target market, knowing who your ideal customer is, having a sales process, the 80/20 rule [that 20% of your marketing activities will generate 80% of revenue], the process of 7 or more touches that prospects go through before they become customers, the need to have a marketing plan, the need to spend at least 10% of revenue on ongoing marketing, may seem commonplace. The truth They are applied in successful businesses, and are absent or sporadically in those that fail.

Some successful entrepreneurs may even go so far as to say that a business owner’s primary business is marketing, and not the product or service they offer. While you may not agree with this point of view, the point is: constantly exploring new marketing methods, testing them, repeating what works, and discarding what doesn’t, will ensure the survival of your business.

This mistake can be eliminated by attending any variety of Sales and Marketing 101 type seminars, really weaving the fundamentals into your business and continuously testing marketing methods. And as always, the strategies you will learn work only if you work on them.

3. Not knowing or owning why you are in business

Because the barriers to entry in most businesses are low, many people start a business without really connecting with why they want to be in business in the first place. Maybe they want to get rich quick, or downsized, or had a life transition. [e.g. from being a professional to a stay-at-home-mom]or they have the mom and dad corner store mentality (if mom and dad could succeed then so can I).

Seduced by the lifestyle possibilities of the new business, some business owners may fail to see if the business is truly aligned with their passion and values. Prospects will notice a lack of passion or authenticity in what you do even if you don’t articulate it. Furthermore, in the highly sophisticated and ever-changing world we live in today, it takes true passion for your products and services to sustain you and your business through the ebbs and flows of business cycles.

This mistake can be mitigated by clarifying what your passion is: what do you really want to do with your business? What are your values ​​around how you will do business with the world? Learn how and why you started your business and accept the reasons why. If possible, pass them on to your customers.

4. Not mastering the mental and emotional game

If running a successful business was as easy as knowing what to do and doing it, why aren’t there more successful business owners? Usually it’s because we haven’t mastered the inner game of winning in business.

To win, you must be aware of the types of behavior that are self-sabotaging, deal with them, and stick with your vision to the finish line. At the same time, you must continually nurture yourself by connecting with your belief in the success of your business and truly owning the positive difference your business is making in the world.

An example of self-sabotage is the inability or refusal to learn from mistakes. It is the tendency to repeat self-destructive behavior patterns even though you repeatedly end up getting hit on the head. For example, an entrepreneur I worked with nearly closed his business because, like the previous business he had started, he didn’t embrace sales and marketing, and he let sales dwindle until it was too much. afternoon.

This mistake can be eradicated by having a good business mentor or coach and asking them to help you uncover your blind spots and develop an unstoppable mindset. “You can’t see what you can’t see” is why sports legends like Lance Armstrong and Michael Jordan work with their coaches. After all, you are taking on the challenging yet rewarding business game and you deserve all the support you can get.

5. Go solo

The journey of entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. There are many roles to play (salesperson, marketer, manager, bookkeeper), and these roles involve risk-taking and an enormous amount of energy and time.

While the business owner has to wear several hats, the trend is to do everything yourself. Before you know it, you don’t have enough time to socialize or spend time with your family, and you become increasingly isolated. Your business becomes your life. You are tired. And you get tired of your business.

What’s worse, many entrepreneurs don’t accept the help they can get because they think that no one else knows their business better than they do. After all, they started their business in the first place so they could do things their way! They have allowed their ego to get in the way.

This error can be remedied by outsourcing certain functions such as accounting or website development. You can break out of isolation by joining entrepreneurial think tanks, where you can exchange ideas and ask for feedback and support. You can also create your own Board of Advisors, where you can invite established professionals or business owners to advise you.