Starting a business takes a whole lot of courage and discipline. A major part of starting a business is having a plan and sticking to it. Success in a startup is not achieved overnight nor is it achieved by luck. It is achieved by following a proper process which sometimes may get boring but is the right way to go about it. Being an entrepreneur is no mean feat and requires a lot of gumption. However, sometimes during this process, entrepreneurs tend to feel the pressure and make mistakes that hinder their growth and cause them a whole lot of unnecessary stress. Here are a few mistakes every entrepreneur must avoid when starting a new business.
Do not ever make this mistake. There is a fine line between multitasking and trying to do everything on your own. It is understandable that since it is your venture, you would like to think that you know your product best and nobody will do the job as well as you. However, wearing too many hats at the same time will tire you out and affect your productivity. To avoid having a burnout, it is best to delegate. Under the guidance of a mentor or someone experienced, you can find the right person for the job at hand.
Finance is an integral part of the business without which you cannot make any business move. You need to have a sound financial plan before kickstarting a business. As a new business owner, money is often the biggest concern so keeping a check on your financial statements will help you know where you stand. You need to be wise about how much you spend where and what returns you expect from those expenses. Being very liberal or very tight handed with money will not work in the long run.
Don’t make the mistake of keeping extremely low margins in the beginning to gain more customers. Keep a healthy profit margin from the beginning so that you don’t have trouble in the future. If you keep small margins, it will take you longer to get returns and if you wish to raise your prices later, you will have to deal with a lot of unhappy customers.
Another fundamental mistake to avoid is waiting too long to launch your business. Looking at the competition in today’s world, there is a huge possibility that along with you there are many others planning to launch their business around the same time as you. Do not get daunted by them and keep introducing more features before you launch. The longer you wait, the more imperfections you will find in your product and in your effort to polish those, you will lose out on the right opportunity to launch.
You can never have the perfect product, so it is futile to even think so. Every business will have some flaw that needs to be fixed and an opportunity to grow as well. Your product does not need to be perfect. Once you launch, you can get feedback and modify/upscale it slowly and gradually. It is natural to make some mistakes in the process. When that happens, you can check your errors, change your strategy and get right back on track.
Mr.Chirag Gujarati is a serial entrepreneur in the education sector and committed towards helping startups reach their full potential. As a Business Coach, his expertise lies in Design Thinking, Lean Start-up, Product Development and Strategy; where he has been working since the past eight years.
With his 40 years of experience & expertise, he teaches the techniques of management & strategy. He guides the new generation and helps them to manage startups and has brought cultural transformation in organisations. He has also designed & delivered several senior leadership programs.
The visionary behind the MIDAS School of Entrepreneurship, Prof. Pooja Shah is the torchbearer of young entrepreneurial minds in India. Being a Personal Master Coach herself, she has developed a one-of-a-kind course that dives deep into yourself, and makes you realise your true potential called ‘Transcend’ With a global perspective for an Indian business, Ms Pooja Shah has been a revolutionary to scale MIDAS to new heights.
Prof Parag Shah is an experienced entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of entrepreneurship education. He is the Founder-Director of FLAME University and the Managing Director of Oxford Golf and Country Club ranked the best golf course in Asia
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