Starting up a business is, to say the least, a lot of work. There are many mistakes new entrepreneurs make. There are so many factors that go into growing a business to success. About 50% of businesses survive four to five years. The likelihood your business will be a success depends on your product or service but also on you, as an entrepreneur. Have you found yourself making these four common mistakes?
Not Setting Goals or Not Setting Attainable Goals
Setting goals gives you vision and motivation. Where do you want to be? How are you going to get there? What steps do you need to take to reach your goals? Goals give you focus and they allow you to measure progress.
Not Thinking About Marketing
You may believe your product or service is worth everything and everybody will want it, but you cannot rely on customers coming to you. Marketing is an important part of business growth. It informs potential customers about your product or service. Marketing should inform them, too, not only of the product itself but of the problem the product or service solves. Modern marketing, utilizing social media, email marketing, and other avenues helps small businesses compete with larger corporations.
Making Hiring Decisions Based on Cost
When a company may be short on cash it’s easy to avoid spending activities, like hiring. However, not hiring help when you need it, or hiring cheaper, less experienced help, can cause hurt to your businesses growth. Great people attract others. Hiring employees that are intelligent, hard-working, experienced, and personable, can mean your success.
Trying to Do It All Alone
Starting a business can be daunting. Often times entrepreneurs try to do it all alone due to saving money or in an effort to keep control. However, trying to do everything alone can mean simply not having enough time in the day to market, build new products, work with clients, seek new clients, network, etc. Hiring help early can mean time saving opportunities to work on more successful, growth building for your business.
What mistakes have you seen as an entrepreneur? What have you learned for those mistakes?
Sarah
