The Most Common Business Mistakes
Anyone who works independently can inevitably encounter some obstacles. When it comes to the business area, there are some common business mistakes we can undoubtedly agree on. By sharing these business mistakes, we hope that you can avoid at least a few. Let’s take a look!
1. Not having a business plan
Sometimes people start with their business with a “let’s do it!” attitude. At the beginning, this is not bad at all and the “idealistic motivation” is great, but at some point, it is super important to sit down and ask yourself “How can I achieve it and make my business running without harsh ups and downs?”
Choose the best business strategy that suits you the most. Think about the way you want to be promoting your product, including what social media you want to use, and so on.
2. Keeping things disorganized
While creating your own business, your mind may get cluttered with many tasks which have to be done. It’s pretty normal that we start forgetting some of them when we feel a bit under pressure. If this happens, you should get a notebook where everything will be written down and tracked. If you don’t like the paper version, you can start using note apps such as GoodNotes 5, Evernote, Microsoft OneNote and also Google Calendar or Monday.
3. Not having a target group
Before even creating a new product for your business, ask yourself “What is my target group?”. There should always be a straight answer without any question. To help determine this, you can create “a fictive persona” where you will assign a name, age, situation, and needs to your customer persona. By doing that, you will know which potential buyers you are seeking.
4. Starting with a low financial capital
Another business mistake which is slightly connected to the first one, is that you should set the financial capital which will enable you to start your business properly. Calculate how much you will need for the services, taxes, incomes, outcomes, and all-around finances. The more you put into your financial sheets, the fewer unwanted surprises you encounter on your entrepreneurial journey.
5. Using money in an inappropriate way
The 5th entrepreneurial mistake is using money for things you necessarily don’t have to have. Before you spend your money, think twice, especially as you are “a freshman” in the entrepreneur world! You don’t want to waste your precious financial capital on useless items that you actually don’t need at all.
6. Design is not finalized
Design business mistakes, here we go! Before launching your website, logo, products, and basically introducing everything to the world, make sure that the design is matching your expectations and the colors are not clashing. For creating a perfect color palette you can use a color palette generator which will create the perfect one for you. There’s one that you can use in Canva which is the most accessible tool for designing. However, if you’d like to try another app, we wrote an article about 5 design editing apps that can elevate your design and won’t take you too much time.
7. Doing everything by yourself and not asking for help
The 7th common business mistake is more or less a self-fulfilling prophecy for those who are not used to asking for help. Sometimes we can’t handle everything or we are not the best ones for the task at hand. It can be marketing management, sales, design, or many different number of areas. Hiring someone to take care of these tasks can be not only a stress saver but also a huge plus for time management.
8. Underestimating the value of the product
In some cases, entrepreneurs who are just starting out need to pay more attention to the value of the product they want to sell. They begin by giving it for free or with a hugely reduced price which can result in it not being profitable. Always remember that your services are valuable and the price should correspond to the effort, time, and money which have been put into it.
9. Collaborating with “wrong” influencers/celebrities
Collaborating with influencers or celebrities can bring enormous recognition to your business, but that doesn’t always automatically translate into sales. When you have gone through creating fictive personas in the 3rd point, you should also have a target group where the influencers fit in, too. This way, it’s more likely to keep the brand’s desired reputation as well as the potential sales of your target groups.
10. not Being afraid to fail
The last business mistake, which may be a little cliché, carries the biggest value and importance in comparison with all points above. If you are not afraid of failing and do not put in all of the blood, sweat and tears required to build a business from the ground up, you can be setting yourself up to fail. A businessperson’s mindset has to be something different than the mindset of a worker who is being given tasks. You have to believe in yourself, have faith and do the hard, often thankless, work. If you do while throwing in a bit of courage and discipline, you will find things can take care of themselves.
To sum up, some business mistakes may appear and surprise you during your entrepreneurial journey, but you will surely learn from them! And at the very least, once you burn yourself by making a business mistake, you will have learned and know to avoid them next time!