3 Deadly Mistakes of Inexperienced Entrepreneurs

1. “I have an idea, lets run with it!”

You’re falling asleep one night and suddenly you’re hit by an idea! You have a hard time falling a sleep that night because you’re so excited. You wake up the next day, start throwing money, time and effort into this brand new idea. Three months later you decide that your new business/product idea is ready to launch. But then something horrible happens… You decide to do a quick Google search, to see if there might possibly be any product idea out there just like yours. After a few more searches your excitement drops and you feel like

you’ve been hit by a boulder…

Why didn’t you do this at the beginning?

I think we’re all guilty of this. We jump into a hot idea, expecting it to making us a fortune and it ends up disappointing us in the end. After spending months, or even years of money, time and effort on our can’t miss idea, we open our eyes one day I suddenly realize we’re fighting a loosing battle. We find out that there is no real market for our idea.

What could we have done at the very beginning that could have prevented this?

In one word, RESEARCH! Between the moment we came up with the idea and the day we decided to run with it, there was one step that is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to the success of our idea, and should be the decider. How did we decide whether or not to run with the idea? Because it was great? But the sad truth is, it doesn’t matter how great your idea is, if you can’t “sell” you idea(whether it be a product, business, service, concept or system) to a market, it’s nothing more than just another idea.

NEVER, ever guess!!! Do your research, you can still loose, but at least you’ll know who’s going to buy your product before you launch it. Actually, before you release your idea to the public, get a bunch of people lined up. If people don’t line up in the first place, what does that tell you? It’s better that you come to this realization NOW, than later on after you’ve poured money, time and effort down the drain.

RESEARCH! Never guess!

2. “I’m going to drop out of school/quit my job to free up time for my start-up!” OK, first of all, how much money are you making on your start-up? Is it guaranteed monthly income, does it cover your monthly expenses(mortgage brokers london, insurance, gas, water, heating bills, cable, Internet etc.) and secondly does it raise enough every month to continue to support itself.

Second of all, is this what you want to do for the next 5-10 years? Are you giving up your education to because you want to dedicate yourself to your passion or because it’s “guaranteed” to make you more money than your post college career? Another questions you should ask yourself is: “Has this venture proved itself to the point where I want to sacrifice my career and lifestyle?”

I’m not a big fan of “job security” because I believe there’s really no such thing. If your business is making $2M annually, than go for it. But if you barely make enough to pay bills and get by a month than make sure your timing is right before handing in your two weeks notice to your old employer. Run some numbers before you put a lean on the farm and put a bet on the horse.

3. “I don’t need to research or write up a business plan”

Planning wont ensure you success but it will get you a hell of a lot closer. Failing to plan may cause you leave small forgotten details out of the picture, ones which could mean the ruin of your business. A plan is a road map on how to get to where you’re going. It’s not enough to just work towards “making more money” or “have 2,000 sign-ups by the end of the first quarter.” There has to be a well thought out plan of action that guides your business towards it’s goals. How do investors know what your future looks like? Are

they just suppose to take your word for it? How does your business decided what to do tomorrow? Without a plan of action your business lacks direction and is an accident waiting to happen. Don’t leave planning up to chance!

You’ll find that the deeper into the business world you dive the more common sense is required. Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith and follow your gut instinct. You wont need such an elaborate business plan. And sometimes it is smart to drop out of school to continue a business and follow a passion. It all depends on your unique situation. Always test new waters, try out new things and listen to people who have experience in your field.