Being an entrepreneur or starting a business is a long and challenging road. As with everything, you may make mistakes even when you try hard not to. On that note, we discuss some common mistakes entrepreneurs make so that you can avoid them as much as possible. 

Let’s get into it: 

15 Mistakes You Should Avoid As an Entrepreneur 

Making mistakes as an entrepreneur is almost inevitable, but you can do your best to reduce them, especially by learning from other entrepreneurs’ mistakes and failures. With that said, here are some common mistakes to avoid when starting, launching, or running your business: 

1: Starting a Business Without Validating the Idea

Your idea may sound good in your head, but it’s still important to validate it to be sure it’s a good business idea. Spend time researching your market, the industry, and also the niche. Also, conduct market research to determine how your potential customers will receive your products or services. 

Don’t be afraid to run your idea by your friends and mentor; seek feedback and use this to improve your business idea. Also, take time to ask yourself some of these questions;

• Why would anyone want this, and how can it help them?
• What challenges are your target customers facing, and how can your product or service help them solve them?
• What does it help a person do that they aren’t doing already?

People are the heart of a successful business, so it’s essential to focus your idea on how you can bring value to your target customers. 

2. Assuming You Can Do It All

One of the top mistakes entrepreneurs make, and you should avoid, is assuming you can do everything. Developing a business idea and bringing that idea to life are two different things. While it may take only you to develop a great business idea, you need people around you to run a successful business. So, reach out to people, mentors, and professionals to seek advice for your business. Also, build a relationship with people in your niche, people with the necessary skills, and people who can help your business get off the ground. 

3. Not Making a Business Plan

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” 

This old saying holds for almost everything, including starting a business. A common mistake entrepreneurs make is planning everything in their heads without putting it on paper. Creating a business plan highlighting your goals, operation costs, target audience, and products is a good idea. A business plan will keep you on track with your goals and help you focus on things that matter to your business growth. 

Meanwhile, another mistake often made by entrepreneurs is complicating the business plan. You have no reason to write a 10-page business plan; it’s too complex and will affect the execution of the plan. That is why it’s best to create a simple business plan, about two pages long. You can also take advantage of online business plan templates to guide and simplify your plan. 

4. Underestimating Digital Marketing

One of the common mistakes made by entrepreneurs is underestimating the importance of marketing your brand. Many entrepreneurs do not make an online marketing budget and do little to differentiate themselves from other existing brands. 

No matter how unique or remarkable your product is, you need marketing to introduce people to your brand and stand out from the crowd. Take advantage of all forms of digital marketing, including social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, PPC marketing, and influencer marketing. 

5. Forgetting The Competitors

Every business has a competitor. No matter what you are offering, there is a high chance someone is already offering something like that or something similar. There are people and other businesses out there that will challenge your business, so it’s up to you to identify them and figure out how to outsmart them. 

One of the biggest mistakes in business is forgetting about your competitors. Try to identify your niche competitors, conduct a SWOT analysis and figure out what you can do better than your competitors to attract more customers. If you make the mistake of ignoring your competitors, you lose out on ways you can set your business apart from theirs. 

6. Websites Not Optimized for Mobile Devices

One of the top 10 mistakes entrepreneurs make is not optimising their websites for mobile devices. A lot of potential consumers are likely going to research your business by going through your website. If your website is not mobile-friendly, they will leave for another website, which means you lose potential customers. To avoid this, ensure you make your website mobile-friendly so that customers can easily do research or purchase right from their phones. If you don’t have a website for your business, consider building one.

7. Not Identifying Your Target Audience

You can’t sell to everyone because your products won’t appeal to every single person. That’s okay. 

What’s not okay is thinking everyone is your target audience. 

Identifying the subgroup of people within the larger audience who may be interested in what you offer is essential. 

How do you do this?

Create a user persona and customer profile highlighting the qualities and demographics of your potential customers. Once you identify your ideal customers, it becomes easy to market your product to people who will care about your brand. It also means you won’t have to waste time or resources marketing to people who do not fit into your user persona. 

8. Ineffective Marketing

Good marketing involves creating the right content to reach the right people at the right time. Even if you spend a lot on marketing or improving your product, you won’t get good results if you don’t have a solid marketing strategy. 

So, figure out how to generate leads, create compelling content, and entice your potential customers. Some other tips for effective marketing include: 

• Set realistic goals and budget
• Determine your target audience and create compelling messages they will find appealing
• Choose the proper distribution channels
• Create short-form videos
• Use a tone and voice that fit your target audience. 

9. Partnering with The Wrong Investors

One of the biggest mistakes in business is partnering with the wrong people. Your first investors can make or break your business, so you must partner with the right investors. The right investors will care about your business growth and sustainability, believe in your business ideas, and can back your business financially. 

10. Hiring Too Soon, Hiring Too Many People

Another mistake startups make is hiring too soon or more people than needed. If a subcontractor can do the job, there is no need to hire a full-timer for the same work. 

It’s easy to think that having too many people, but you don’t. What you need is the right people. 

Hiring too many people can get you more expenses than your business can sustain. You may find that your business isn’t performing as expected, and now you are stuck with staff with no money to cover that. 

For this reason, it’s best to avoid having too many people onboard. Take things slow and only hire people you really need. Also, you can consider hiring a part-timer, freelancer, or subcontractor instead of a full-time worker. As the company expands, you can retain them as a full-time worker. 

11. Hiring The Wrong People

Another top mistake entrepreneurs make is hiring the wrong people. Bad hires early in the business can kill your traction, so you must ensure you hire the right people. 

Who are the right people? 

The right employees should have the necessary skill sets and talent to execute your vision and job role. Some tips to improve the hiring process include:

• Creating detailed job requirements for specific roles
• Conduct multiple interviews and analyse potential candidates based on their resume, skills, experience, and personality
• Verify the applicant’s information
• Hire a great recruiter

12. Launching Too Fast

Starting a startup can be really exciting. You can’t wait for people to discover your big idea, to start using your product, and to know about your brand. 

However, putting everything in place before you launch your product or services is crucial. Ensure your website is up, your systems (such as payment, contracts, communications, etc.) are in place, and maintain your marketing strategy.

If there are things you didn’t fix before launching your business, your brand will appear unprofessional, and you don’t want something like that. 

13. Not Delivering on Your Promises

If you tell people your product will do this and that and it ends up not delivering, you may damage your business reputation. One of the mistakes to avoid when starting a business is overpromising or under-delivering. Don’t take on too many projects if you can’t meet the target, and don’t over-promise on your products because you will end up disappointing your customers. 

14. Not Taking Criticism 

Criticism isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a way to improve your business and make better decisions.  If you hate criticism or accepting that you are doing something wrong, you may have difficulty improving your business and providing value to your users. 

15.  Making Your Profit Margin Too Small

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is setting a small profit margin. A reasonable profit margin is essential for the success of your business so ensure you set a healthy profit margin. If you set a low-profit margin, you may need to raise your price eventually, and your customers won’t like this. 

For this reason, set a realistic profit margin from the start; don’t make it too high or too low. An excellent way to avoid setting unrealistic profit margins is to calculate your operating and production costs correctly, then add a reasonable price as profit.

Bottom Line

As an entrepreneur, mistakes are bound to happen, but you can’t afford to make too many mistakes. Also, you don’t have to repeat mistakes entrepreneurs already make. If you can avoid the common mistakes entrepreneurs make, you increase your chance of running a successful business. So, take note of the following mistakes and identify how you can avoid them in your business. If there is a mistake you have already made, you still have time to rectify it. Good luck.