6 Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs Make and How to Avoid Them

When looking back over the years to when I first start my very first business, I see so many mistakes! I first got started in Network Marketing and failed miserably. Then I took the time to invest in myself and learn how to market, after doing that things got a lot better. I was able to accumulate a down line of over a 1000 people in less than a month using online strategies… Not bad huh!?

But I still wasn’t where I wanted to be, so when my wife and I started our Coffee Shop, I thought things were going to be different. But yet, we still weren’t where we wanted to be. We still didn’t have the time and freedom to do other things… The business started to own us!

I now know why and I would like to share with you 6  mistakes most entrepreneurs make when starting a business…

#1. No Strategic Plan.

My wife and I jumped in with both feet, not having a clue what it took to run a successful business. Around the same time a friend of mine took over his dad’s shop… We all thought it would be easy… lol We were wrong.

But, I must say, I see this more often than not with the majority of business owners. They have an idea about something they want to do, but have no business and marketing plan. This is a BIG mistake. If you are thinking about starting a business or already own one, take some time to really plan out a solid business model.

#2. No Purpose, no point.

Another thing I have seen with many business owners is that they don’t really know the purpose of their business. Sure, they know what they are selling and offering, but there really is no purpose to it all. It is extremely important to know the purpose of your business.

If your purpose is to sell golf clubs to one legged golfers, that not only sets you apart from your competition, but it will also keep you on track. It will keep you from selling pairs of shoes! They may seem weird, but I hope you get the point. So many start with the idea of selling something (let’s say golf clubs to one legged golfers) and end up going off trying to sell what they think are good products and good ideas, but really will never appeal to their target market.

#3 Not Knowing Who Their Target Customer Is.

When taking a close look at your business, you probably can’t say that “everybody” is your target customer. But, still many business owners do think that…

You really need to drill down to find out who your target customer is. If you don’t know who your target customer is, you will most likely fail in your marketing strategies. For example, I know many in the health niche and I see many of them trying to get EVERYONE to buy from them. (They think everyone is their target market)
But if they took a closer look at what they are selling, they may find that the health product is really for people over 55 that have colon issues. When you figure that out, now you know who your target market is!

#4 Not Knowing Your Target Customer.

No, I didn’t just repeat #3… It’s one thing to know who your target customer is, but it’s another to know them. This is a majorly overlooked aspect. So let’s take our target customer who is 55 or older and has colon issues…

- Do you know their desires?
- Do you know their fears?
- Do you know where they go for their answers?
- Do you know where they hang out?
- Do you know their embarrassments?
- Do you know what makes them happy?

If you answer is “no”, then you have a LOT of homework to do. Plus, you are throwing away huge amounts of potential profits.

When you truly know your customer like you know your friend or a family member, now you are able to strike at the heart of your customer and strategically market your product in the most effective way possible.

#5 Doing EVERYTHING themselves.

This is where business owners can become owned by their business. When we try to tackle every task that needs to be done, we are setting ourselves up for burnout. We must be smart about this and if money is tight at the moment there are still ways of getting more done in less time.

Outsourcing is worth every penny when done the right way. Ultimately, you want to focus your attention and drive on the money making tasks and outsource the other lesser important tasks.

This is done by paying someone per job or per day. It’s kind of like hiring an employee, but in my opinion way better! You can also pay family members to take care of email and things of that nature while you focus on the good stuff. This is also a tax write off!
You can also go to sites like elance.com and hire people to specific jobs.

#6 Not Investing In Yourself As A Business Owner.

I soon learned that learning through trial and error was not the easiest, quickest or fun way to learn how to build a business that works for you. So throughout the years I have invested in myself with different training courses, memberships, reports and books, etc. This is something I highly recommend doing. Some people don’t want to because it looks like it’s more money out of their pocket, but if you find training and/or coaching that is right for you, it will have a return beyond expected.

That is also why we have made it so members of our Founder’s Circle can make their money back and more by promoting our program. That way they win double!

If you find yourself making some of these mistakes I highly recommend sitting yourself down and coming up with a battle plan. If you need help, find a trusted business coach that will help you get on the right track.

Don’t ever give up!

Tagged as: Business model, Entrepreneurs, Small business, Target market