Many desire to establish a business by themselves, but only very few take the initiative for it. Also, six out of ten of those who take entrepreneurial initiative tend to fail over their business’s first five years. So, why businesses are failing? Let us try to expose three of the most dangerous mistakes to avoid if you want to establish a sustainable business model.
Mistake #1: Simply doing what you wish to do without a documented plan
Many aspiring entrepreneurs jump into starting a business in a field in which they are experts. But, even when they have in-depth knowledge in the craft, they attempt, most, unfortunately, fail to establish a successful business model as they start to do what they know and ignore the rest of the aspects to ensure sustainability. The fundamental mistakes here are that:
- These businesses tend to operate as per the owner’s wants rather than addressing the needs of the market.
- Owners have no vision as to where the business is progressing and what strategies to be used.
So, along with knowing the business process, it is equally important to have a compelling vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies for the business to have clarity for yourself and others involved in the success track.
Mistake #2: Running a business from the owner’s perspective
Initially, it may be okay as you can do more of what you like to do, but you will find yourself doing more than what you know to do well over time. Going further, you will realize that there is more work than you can do by yourself. So, it is good to be an expert in your craft, but what goes wrong, as pointed out by Eric J Dalius, keeps an upside-down focus as seeing things from an entrepreneur’s view. You need to see a business from the bottom up from an employee’s or a customer’s perspective.
If you do not want to work yourself to death, but instead want to establish a viable business model to work by itself, you should try to make the growth more predictable and systematic. Think of your business as a series of events with specific milestones to achieve for step-by-step growth.
Mistake #3: Keeping a tactical view than a strategic approach as explained by Eric J Dalius
When business owners tend to work inside their business, they fail to identify the priorities and use different tactics to bring in profits they are desperate about. They run around and try the latest trends and techniques to hope these may be working for them.
Instead of this approach, you have to maintain a vision-based framework to clarify the direction of your business better and focus on business needs. This will help you filter out any distractions and implement the right strategies that are well aligned with your business plan’s visions and objectives.
Knowing about these three dangerous thought patterns and avoiding them mindfully will help you have a better perspective to operate a thriving business.
