7 Entrepreneurial traps you should avoid right now
By: Midhun Areeckal
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Business Risk, Entrepreneur, Business Strategy, Business

Being an entrepreneur has several pitfalls; it’s not a smooth road to travel. Millennials tend to focus on abundant wealth and fame these successful entrepreneurs acquire and then try to change their career paths to pursue entrepreneurship. But wait, if you’re someone like that, stop it. It’s not advisable to move forward!. Unless you’re ready to take the risk of financial insecurity and long hours of work and dedication. It’s just a waste of time.

If you’re serious about your journey, here are some traps you should avoid as you’re taking the path of entrepreneurship.

Expecting quick results

Media loves stories of entrepreneurs who achieved success overnight but looking close into each of their lives. It’s a bunch of hard work and dedication piled up before their so-called “overnight success story.” Starting a business and taking it to a profitable level could take time and effort. If you’re expecting a quick result for all your efforts, then I’m sorry to disappoint you, it’s not possible here.

Be sure to dedicate yourself to your idea and develop it to the best possible form if you have that passion for moving forward. Time wouldn’t be a constraint; it’s about your execution. So, don’t expect a quick result but, try to be smart while working on your goals.

Doing things just for money

Entrepreneurship indeed has great potential. It’s possible to make millions of dollars by increasing your customers and selling more products. But, having just focusing on making money could hit you in various ways. As money should be a byproduct of how you serve your audience, if you fail in that, all your efforts will be destroyed without even spending a dime.

So, be in business to serve your stakeholders and pursue your passion; money shouldn’t be your primary focus because it can negatively hit you on the way.

Losing focus

It’s easy to develop new ideas and work on them. But, if you want to succeed, be sure to focus on one idea or business that you can work on and create progress in. It’s not about “how many,” it’s about “how well.” Traditionally, it’s been evident that people who have made their way to success have focused on their single idea and made it flourish. Later, if they had time and interest, they would start another venture but make sure their first business had been automatized.

Losing focus on multiple things can adversely affect you.

Not charging enough

Your business can’t survive if you can’t make any profit. Indeed, money shouldn’t be your primary focus. But, altogether, avoiding it could kick you out of business. So, understand how much your competitors are charging for the service/ product and align your price with that. And make sure your expenses are lesser than your returns. Because at the end of the day, if you’re not there in the business, none of your missions or visions would see the daylight.

Understand what you and your business worth, and don’t be hesitant to charge for it.

No Business plan

It’s not just about doing some market research; you got to have an idea about what your strategies should be, how much your products should cost, who all are your competitors, and much more about your business’s future. A business plan does help you to track all of it. It’s not like you have to blindly follow a written plan, but having a dedicated plan for your business could help you keep track of your progress.

Procrastination

If you have a plan, If you know what is needed, and If you know how to do it, what are you waiting for? Procrastination is a mental trap into which most entrepreneurs tend to fall at every stage of their journey. Understanding how to deal with it could help you to contain the habit, well, if you don’t try to do it. No one else would. Your success is down to you, and you alone. As entrepreneurs, we are responsible for the success, or otherwise, of our business.

Ignorance

It’s easy to Ignore things in life. Let it be a get together by your entrepreneur friends, or would that be advice given by your mentor. It’s just a matter of not giving any importance to anything. But, Ignorance seems to be a frequent problem with many entrepreneurs, who think they could do everything by themselves. It’s not always like that; you need assistance or mentorship for getting many things done in your journey. You should know how to get it done, as with Ignorance in your character, you could end up losing all of your progress within a fraction of time.

Letting go of your ignorant character could help you value every opinion and advice you’re getting, and with an open mind, you could find things that can help you move forward.