7 Common Mistakes You Must Avoid When Starting A New Business
The joy of starting a new business anywhere can be so overwhelming. I mean all of a sudden you have enough money to start the business you have been longing for. Everything has fallen into place for you and your dreams all seem to be materializing. Your joy at this moment knows no bounds.
However, it is at this moment that most beginners often make mistakes that comes back to affect their businesses greatly. That is why in this post today, I will be showing you common mistakes you must avoid when starting a new business anywhere in the world.
This post will serve as a guide to help beginners and people who have the intention of starting up a business someday become successful. It doesn’t matter where you are, this post will be of great help to you.
Here Are Some Of The Common Mistakes You Need To Avoid
1. Starting a business without doing a proper research about it
This is one of the biggest mistakes to avoid when starting a new business. It is so common that you find most beginners falling victims to it.
In one of my earliest but most useful posts on this blog, I discussed on the first thing every entrepreneur needs to do before starting a new business. In that post, I stressed the importance of acquiring a proper knowledge of the specific kind of business you wish to start.
Whether it is an offline business like a production business, an online type like blogging, affiliate marketing, domaining or any other kind of business that anybody including students, can start. It is important you make a full research about that particular business before putting a dime in it.
Nowadays, it doesn’t cost much to do that. With just a simple internet enabled device like our smartphones, you can find out about almost all kinds of business online. Apart from this, there are several books on different businesses that you can always buy, read and learn from.
This is one of the striking qualities and secrets of successful entrepreneurs like Tony Elumelu (chairman, UBA, TRANSCORP, Heirs Holdings and Tony Elumelu Foundation) and Cletus Ibeto (chairman, Ibeto Group)
These world celebrated billionaires spent a lot of time learning about the businesses they are currently operating.
Before starting yours, ensure you have gotten every vital information you need before going into it.
2. Not considering the location
Location plays a very vital role in business. This is the major reason mega manufacturing companies do not just situate their businesses anywhere. They always target areas where their products will be mostly needed and the areas with the highest opportunities (government backings, electricity, water, human resources) for them to take advantage of and be successful.
Imagine starting a computer business centre in an area without a single school (higher institution), a bank, a legal institution or even a government headquarters. You don’t need anybody to tell you that is a very bad idea. Lack of patronage will do that for you.
It is always wise you take proper time to select the best locations that will be suitable for the kind of business you intend to operate.
Starting anywhere available is not really a good idea. Wait if you have to, till you find the best place for your business.
3. Doing everything by yourself
While it is true that there are certain businesses that can be successfully operated by one man. It is also true that the kind of success this “one-man-business” celebrates, can never in any way be compared to the success of businesses in which there is a team of workers.
Make plans to employ the services of others whose expertise will help give your business a boost.
Don’t be a jack-of-all trade and master of none. It will not only weigh you down and decrease your productivity, it will also slow the growth of your business.
4. Not having a proper record of financial transaction
Most beginners do not often see the need of keeping a good record of all the money that comes in or goes out.
This is common among business owners who handles everything about the business themselves. They often feel like since they are the owners of their business and accountable to no one, there is no point in keeping a good record of how money that comes into the business is spent.
This is one reason so many businesses fail in the long run. Avoid this.
5. Using the business money for every other purpose
This is one of the commonest mistakes people do in business. Treating the business money as though it is their “personal” money.
When someone comes to them for a loan, they take money immediately from the business and gives to this person. Another day someone else (a neighbour) throws a birthday party, they take out money from the business and buy gifts (expensive or inexpensive) for this person. They hear of a donation going on in their daughter’s school, again they take money from the business and give. Before long, there is nothing left in the business account for the payment of bills, staff, repairing of equipments, rent or even buying of goods.
Helping people is good. I am not against that. There is nothing wrong with it. But do all that from your “personal” pocket and not from the business purse. I mean not from money meant for the operation of the business. So the business doesn’t go bankrupt.
6. Copying everything in vogue
Although it is an advisable thing to learn one or two things from people that has gone ahead of you in business, copying everything everybody is doing is not.
Do not just copy anything simply because that is what is trending in the business world and do it. Learn to be unique. And let people know you for that. It will do you a lot of good.
7. Add yours. (In the comment section)
In Conclusion
Mistakes are common when starting anything on earth here. Not just business. Minor ones and costly ones.
But the beautiful thing is that some of these mistakes can be avoided. Especially the costly ones. This is why I took time to show you some of the common mistakes people do in business and how to avoid them.
I hope you find this post helpful. You can add any other mistake you know most people often do in business through the comment section below.
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Thanks for reading!
Image Credits: Poskod