The Biggest Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are the ones born with the passion to pursue their dreams. They are the incredible humans who bring a change in the world with their ideas, beliefs and drive. While it’s commonly thought that the most difficult step in an entrepreneurial journey is to begin, what’s even more difficult is to keep going, despite the challenges. On the quest of realising their dreams, what’s the reason that some entrepreneurs reach great heights while others are left behind. This article explores some of the biggest mistakes that push entrepreneurs into extinction.

FAILURE TO ACCEPT FAILURE:

Who doesn’t love success? Especially when you have just launched your start-up and your audience is in love with your product or service, your sales are soaring and it all turns out to be a beautiful dream. Well, kindly wake up because this is not what happens 90% of the time. Success is important but remember failure is equally important. Entrepreneurs must be ready to accept both with open arms and an open mind. If you want to break the mould and take a new path then there will definitely be roadblocks. It is important to learn from your failures. Those who fail to do so and give up on their ideas will never achieve success.

LACK OF VISION:

When you are the leader of a business, your first job is to create a compelling vision that inspires people including yourself to push the vision forward. This means knowing what you want the business to be 5 years from now and knowing your top 5 objectives for the next 12 months, while managing daily tasks and monthly targets to ensure these objectives are met.  This also translates to knowing ‘why’ you are in business. Having a strong ‘why” means that, when things get tough, which they often do, you can see past the challenges and keep moving forward.  The motivation and excitement that comes with starting a new business will soon fade. When the obstacles arise, many entrepreneurs tend to fail, because they do not have a clear vision and a strong ‘why’. So, work at where you want the business to go and ‘why’ you want to work so hard to get it there.

DIMINISHING RISK-TAKING CAPABILITIES:

Google the meaning of the word “Entrepreneur” and you will see even the definition clearly integrates the element of risk and equates it with profits. Rightly so, it is the risk that defines the spirit of an entrepreneur. No risk means the idea will never move out from discussions and notepads into the real world. One of the gravest mistakes that leads to the failure of a start-up is gradual demise of risk-taking capabilities. When the identifying factor of any start-up is lost, it’s tough to find a way back to its core identity.

LOSING PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE:

Mindfulness is a hugely popular concept in today’s world. From preachers to professors and people all over, its power has been discussed and well accepted. When it comes to entrepreneurship, this concept is critical because the problem of now has to be solved before moving onto the next and stressing about all that’s not achieved yet. In the rush of achieving previously set goals, an Entrepreneur makes the mistake of impatiently jumping onto the next project before completing the important task in the present. 

BECOMING COMPLACENT:

Sustaining your success is way more difficult than achieving it. Be it an entrepreneur or any other professional, doing great work consistently, every day, every time on every project is a challenge for one and all. A regular job can take the toll of a complacent attitude but for an entrepreneur, it’s just not acceptable. Sounds tough, but no one said being an Entrepreneur is going to be easy. There might be shortcuts to success, but not hard work. The mistake of becoming complacent over a period of time is perhaps the most common reason of downfall for most start-ups who gain initial success, but unfortunately fade into oblivion later.

If you too are looking to start your own business or already have one, learning key skills from successful Entrepreneurs will definitely help you sail through and not fall prey to these mistakes. To better prepare yourself and your start-up for success, take a look at our Business Courses. Learn the strategies, tools and insights to become a successful entrepreneur.