What is the difference between an entrepreneur and a successful entrepreneur? May be the successful entrepreneur did not commit the 5 most common mistakes in entrepreneurship or he learned from it and moved on. This article gives you a broad spectrum insight into some of most common mistakes that may be holding your business back and stopping you from being a 'Successful Entrepreneur'.
Unclear Goals and Unclear Missions
Having unclear goals and missions is one of the major mistakes that an entrepreneur or a group of entrepreneurs can make. For any business to succeed, it should have a set of well defined Goals and Missions that will reflect the entire personality of the organization. A system to measure 'success' should also complement these goals, so that the organization can identify any deviation or fulfillment of the goals and missions. While envisioning the company's goals and missions, the mantra of policy makers should be "S.M.A.R.T", Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
Specific: This is the "What, Why, When" attribute of the whole goal setting process. Policy makers should be keen in defining all these important aspects of a goal before moving on.
Measurable: If you can't measure something, you will not be able to manage it. While defining a goal various performance indicators should be incorporated that should help measure the success/ failure rate of the goal to help manage the implementation.
Attainable: While defining a goal you should keep in mind to make that goal attainable. Once you have envisioned an unattainable goal and work towards achieving it, by accumulating resources, there is no going back. Therefore, an unattainable goal will definitely hurt the company.
Realistic: Devising a plan to achieve the goal when it is envisioned makes the goal more realistic and do-able. This should also complement the attainable part of SMART goal setting.
Timely: This is the most important aspect of goal setting. Giving a dead line to achieve a goal makes the commitment towards the goal clearer.
Hiring People They Like Rather Than Hiring People They Need
This mistake can cost you, very badly. There are people you like and then there are people you need. Working with people you like can be a great experience, but ask yourself "Are they achieving what they are supposed to achieve?" If they are not, they are hurting your organization. On the other hand, working with people you do not like can be a difficult, but ask the same question, if they are achievers, then they deserve to be tolerated. But then, tolerating people you don't like for the greater good of the company is a personality trait. There are other things an entrepreneur should keep in mind before hiring people, as they are the ones who take the company forward.
Don't compromise on the quality of people you require, second best is never the best.
Only hire people when you need them
Always hire people, who are better than you, an extensive SWOT analysis is required to accomplish this.
The best person you should hire should love the product or service your company offers
Integrity is the most important trait to look for, when you hire, he should give priority to the organization than his/her best personal interest.
Revenue is Directly Proportional to Advertising Budget
For many businesses, revenue is directly proportional to advertising budget. This may not be true, these days. There are many low cost, yet effective and targeted, marketing strategies available to make the most out of your advertising budget..
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is a new and emerging trend in advertising. Guerrilla marketing/advertising is creative, entertaining and low cost advertising campaigns that will create a lasting impression. These may be simple thought provoking posters to road signs and even graffiti on walls.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media Revolution- The greatest revolution since industrial revolution has given marketers and advertisers a platform for low cost targeted advertising campaigns. You should be able to hire interns who are experts in social marketing or you can outsource your social marketing to India, which will be even cheaper.
Email Marketing
This is considered trivial by many entrepreneurs. However, email newsletters are considered as one of the best ways to stay in touch with your customers and to reach new customers, which is important for any business to have.
Outsourcing Doesn't Work Unless you spend sleepless nights
There is a negative impression about outsourcing among many businesses owners and entrepreneurs. This is often premature and preconceived without any real experience. Managerial effectiveness is one of the positive aspects of Outsourcing, however, you may have to invest considerable time to build a well oiled machine at an offshore location. This is almost the same when you are creating a new team back home.
A great manager is the key to outsourcing success, that is all it takes to have a great outsourcing relationship. But when the team actually becomes productive you can actually reap the benefits like low cost, superior quality and 24 X 7 turn around times etc.
There are many other factors that might work against outsourcing, including Intellectual Property Rights and Non Disclosure Agreements. However, there are ways that you can work around to avoid such hassles. Finding the "Right Outsourcing Partner" is also important when it comes to successful outsourcing.
Not Being able to Handle Risks
There are not many business schools that would teach an entrepreneur how to handle and take risks. This is really important while business is all about taking risks. There are many types of risks that an entrepreneur will come to face during an endeavor. This includes Technical risks, marketing risks, financial risks etc. But the trick is to take the most challenging risk of all, marketing risk, out of the way as fast as possible. Risk handling is a personality trait that can be acquired.
The truth is that every idea is proposed repeatedly over and over again. This may be in different form, with a different technology, in a different context. However, the key to a successful idea is the implementation. Successful entrepreneur is the one who implemented an idea better than others. I hope this article helps you with better implementation.
So, there are many a quirky little things that you have to keep in mind if you are an entrepreneur or aspire to be. There will be multiple instances in an entrepreneurial life when you have to come across on one or all or more of these mistakes ready to be committed. The key is avoiding them and tackling them to the best of your abilities.
http://www.phykon.com Phykon Solutions (P) Ltd is one of the best performing BPO in India for the last 5 years. They have achieved remarkable quality and is doing back office jobs for clients in 5 countries in 3 different continents.