The statistics out there are scary … 20% of new businesses will fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years and 65% during the first 10 years.
I’ve been working with entrepreneurs for a lot of years now and here are what I believe are the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs are making that are leading to those statistics:
Mistake #1 – Lack of Planning
Unfortunately, many businesses fail with the owner still strongly attached to their vision and a strong belief it could still happen. However, because they never took the time to put together a plan of how to achieve their vision the actions they took each day never seemed to come together to provide the results they desired.
Mistake #2 – Don’t Understand Finances
Time and again I have seen business owners who hold the belief “the money is in the account today so I can spend it” … the problem with this thinking is that they don’t consider the expenses that are on the horizon. I’ve seen it before “oh no, I don’t have the funds this week to pay my team members.” Don’t let this be you.
Mistake #3 – Work with Everyone (and Anyone)
Contrary to popular belief, just because someone is willing to pay for your services does NOT mean you need to work with them. Not every client out there is going to be the right fit for you and your business. By saying “no” to a poor fit, you open yourself to say “yes” to the right client.
Mistake #4 – No Boundaries
There are two sets of rules; yours and the clients. Unfortunately, a lot of business owners let the clients make the rules which leads to frustration for the business owner. How many times has a client called you on personal time and you have answered or asked you to work later and you do?
Mistake #5 – No Marketing
I’ve seen it again and again, this “build it and they will come approach” … you put up a website, put a few posts on social media and then sit back and wait for the clients to come.
Mistake #6 – Stuck in “Hate” Mode
We all have those tasks we hate doing such as bookkeeping, admin, sales, etc. and often these tasks can take us away from that which we really love doing. This can result in hatred for the entire business and thus “throwing in the towel” just to get away from these tasks.
Mistake #7 – Don’t Ask for Help
Absolutely no one said you have to figure it all out on your own. Yet, so many entrepreneurs spin their wheels figuring out how to do everything on their own. This is often what leads to the countless hours that entrepreneurs are investing into their business. How many hours have you spent attempting to learn a new skill (especially the ones you really didn’t want to have to learn)?
So fess up … are you making any of these mistakes? Now that you have identified where you might be going wrong, it’s time to figure out a plan to stop making this mistake again and again. We would love to help!
As Einstein said:
You cannot keep doing the same things again and again, expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
