Avoid these mistakes as an entrepreneur
Some people are just born to be an entrepreneur.
They are not comfortable working for anyone else, and they get a buzz from being innovative leaders. When they see a problem that needs to be solved, their minds start turning to figure out how they can solve it. If this all sounds familiar, you may be considering entrepreneurship, or you may already be one yourself. Unfortunately, being an entrepreneur does not insulate you from mistakes. Below are some of the big ones to avoid.
Cutting corners on technology
When you own a business, you’re always looking for ways to cut costs. However, it’s important to remember that sometimes, short-term savings can cost you in the long run. This can happen if you cannot retain staff because your employees do not have the necessary tools to do their jobs or if your processes are too inefficient.
If you have a fleet as part of your business, you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed trying to keep up with compliance and other elements of fleet management. It may be worth investing in tachograph management as an all-in-one compliance solution. This can save you money and manpower in the long run by offering live tacho status, remote downloads and instant analysis. Take a look at the latest tech in your field and see what might substantially improve performance, and make sure that you keep up with the competition.
Working with the wrong people
It’s important that you choose the right people as partners and as employees. You may need a co-founder who has something that you lack, whether that is funding, expertise or something else, but it still needs to also be someone with whom you are compatible. If you don’t share values and a similar vision for the company, there may be trouble down the road. It is important to create a safe workspace for yourself, your partners, and your employees, and picking the right people in each department can help achieve that.
As for employees, choose people who have the right mix of skills and temperament, and trust them to do their jobs. If you feel like you have to micromanage your employees, you may have chosen your staff poorly. Turn to professionals, such as an accountant or an attorney, when you have issues that are outside your field of expertise. If you’re struggling to find a partner, employees or a professional for consultation, turn to your network and ask for personal recommendations. Finally, make sure you are looking at the right demographic for your customers. It’s important to know who you are pitching your product or service to.
Fearing failure
While it can seem contradictory to encourage failure in an article about avoiding entrepreneurial mistakes, if you are too timid as an entrepreneur, you may not ever be able to see any big successes. Calculated risks are important, and you shouldn’t risk everything on a whim, but you also should not build failure up as a referendum on your fitness to run a business. If you look at profiles of major business leaders, you will see that most of them suffered failures and setbacks along the way. Keeping failure in perspective can give you the courage you need to succeed.
