The intent is to succeed in business. The freedom and the empowerment of doing your own thing. Not needing to listen to anyone by dictating your time while ruling how much you earn. This on paper sounds perfect. Everyone wants to see theirs or any business flourish.
To become an entrepreneur, where one will dedicate massive elbow grease, sweat, and tears, wants it to instantly bloom. But realize that 82% percent of all new business ventures will fail miserably within its first few years, and the reason always isn’t a lack of capital.
Knowledge, we know is power, and understanding beforehand why the failure rate is so high sets the proper foundation for building a profitable business, this by you avoiding to make the same blunders.
There is a distinct pattern. So what’s valuable is knowing the most common pitfalls why many will stumble and fall. So choose to be the select 18% percent of those who succeed.
Planning Makes Perfect Right?
Sure, but too much of it can be detrimental. The landscape is constantly changing quickly and what Marketing 101 taught us in school may no longer apply, this especially when it comes to online businesses.
So writing out that detailed “Business Plan” might be the wrong plan of attack. The reason being they’re not usually based on real life reality. They’re structured around “what if,” “or” and “when” scenarios.
The online marketing landscape moves so swiftly that most of these business plans become obsolete within a month. A short mission statement which can be revised is more effective, allowing you to alter and remain flexible.
That Perfect Business Idea
A proven path to failure is stubbornly obsessing over an idea for too long. What most dwell on are the details of their business idea, or spending too much time researching. Although research is necessary, never set yourself up for failure by over preparing a bad idea.
Obsessing too much on detail usually results in analysis paralysis, then nothing gets done. The inability to make any type of decision then overwhelms, which consumes all your time.
Most then can’t get past the starting gate while constantly revising that “perfect” business plan. The brain then goes numb and becomes frustrated, the end result being failing to take any action.
Attempting To Invent Or Innovate
You think that you need to come up with a completely new idea or concept that’s never been done before. One that’s new and cutting edge. Currently, almost every “idea” is pretty much thought of and tried out by others who are more quicker or smarter than us.
The truly innovative ground breaking ideas also now tends to be in the technology sector and are extremely expensive to undertake. They should be left for the hi-tech pioneers with massive backing, and not for “green” entrepreneurs.
So if you’re attempting to get your business off the ground, start small and don’t try to become the next technology tycoon.
Work Smart Not Hard
What new entrepreneurs usually think is they have to be, do, and know everything to succeed, including the design, marketing, accounting, copywriting, administration, and everything else.
But stretching out too far is found to be ineffective. So begin with what you’re good at, then outsource the rest, as there are now extremely affordable sources to do so. If you’re excellent at marketing but not that great in design, then do that.
Learn to channel your energy into the activities that you’re accomplished in, as this then allows your business to ride the wave that you’ve created by focusing on your strengths.
Once you attempt to do it all, what you’re doing is spreading yourself out too thin and everything ends up mediocre, this instead of being great at several things while plugging the deficiencies with experts.
To Excel In Business
Most now prefer starting an online business, this because of the ease of access. The cost of startup is less while not needing to go “head-to-head” with the big boys of industry. Doing so will give you the best chance of survival, and not becoming another failed statistic.
For entrepreneurs to succeed, it comes down to three distinct areas of accomplishment: personal, service, and operations management.
Personal Motivation
What’s required is strong personal motivation, staying focused. Most aren’t willing to sacrifice what it takes, do what’s necessary to make it work, which immediately places them at a disadvantage.
Since what most new businesses lack is capital, what’s required is focusing your time and effort on filling in all the shortcomings with sweat. What most can’t handle are the hardships once the novelty of “starting their own business” wears off.
To Serve
Without loyal customers, you won’t have any sales. Without revenue your business will suffocate. What most fail to do is generate a customer base, such as collecting an email list.
What you also need is to develop a cost effective marketing strategy which profiles your best buying customers. This is done by targeting your “ideal” buyer, and then advertising where they frequent the most.
You then need to know what your cost of customer acquisition is, how much it costs to acquire a single customer. The key is to constantly keep in touch with them, this by nourishing and serving them, giving them what they want.
To Operate
You need to operate efficiently by finding methods of reducing expenses, have precise sales tracking and accounting methods, while constantly managing improvement. “Operations” include all the areas of efficiency tracking of your sales and expenses.
With all these components intact, you’ll then increase your chances of survival as an entrepreneur. Understanding and then implementing these integral mechanics of your business will dictate your success or failure.