Pitfalls to Avoid When Starting a Business

by Startacus Admin

If you're thinking about starting a business, here are a few of the basic things you'll need to consider and avoid too!

As a new business owner, your head may be cluttered with stale ideas. Nowadays, you don’t need bundles of cash to set up a work-from-home business. The power of modern-day computing, replete with video-conferencing, multimedia functionality, and IoT tech, makes it relatively easy to get set up.

The real challenges are really internal. Drive and determination are sacrosanct. Many of the world’s pre-eminent enterprises began in somebody’s basement, but the sky is the limit. And, so it is with many burgeoning business ventures nowadays. The prohibitive costs of renting office space, hiring full-time employees, purchasing machinery, equipment, and furniture serve as a disincentive to new business owners. 

Love What You Do and Do What You Love

There has to be a certain passion for what you are about to do, failing which, it’s all business – that’s no fun. Many examples abound of entrepreneurs who shaped their ideas into wonderful, thriving realities. 

It wouldn’t be surprising if someone involved in the gaming industry had a passion for slots online like Reel Rush and then decided to build a consortium of investors to create a Vegas-esque online casino. Or perhaps a foodie with a passion for gluten-free, dairy-free foodstuffs became disenchanted with the lack of high-quality options available and decided to go into this niche market—the point being, passion fuels performance with new business ventures. The objective is to leverage your skills and abilities as an entrepreneur for maximum benefit. Minimal cost outlay and maximum traction with stakeholders is where it’s at. 

The process of establishing oneself in a business venture is a complex one; it is the sum total of seemingly disparate elements such as business strategy, budgeting, business savvy, good fortune, common sense, and an ability to strike while the proverbial iron is hot. When all the stars align, a new business can blossom into a thriving enterprise.

What to Avoid When Starting a New Business?

Failure to Budget

New business owners routinely fall victim to the mentality that they are already spending lots of money, perhaps through crowdfunding campaigns,  so more expenditure is easily justified. This is a strategic failure. A budget, by its very definition, entails close control over the purse strings. Wanton expenditure serves no purpose other than to break the proverbial bank. It is the surest recipe for disaster. Successful businesses plan for expense items. The ‘spending spree’ should not be allowed to gather momentum unchecked.

Failure to Plan

What is the raison d'être for a new business’s creation? What needs or wants does the new business attempt to fill in society? These are important questions that need to be answered from the outset. While tactical goals and strategic objectives can shift, depending on macro variables, companies typically form on the proviso that they have a specific purpose to fulfil. By shifting the goalposts and failing to plan, a new business invariably plans to fail.

Failure to Recognise

New business owners need to recognise many different things. For starters, a new business requires nurturing, investment, and commitment. If any of those ingredients are missing, the venture may be doomed to failure. Failure to recognise these intractable realities comes at great cost. 

As a new business owner, chances are you have left a stable job, or the prospect thereof, for something you believe in. Maybe it’s your passion to launch a fashion label? Regardless, now is not the time to take your foot off the pedal. It’s time to step up your game and recognise that you are in charge of your own destiny. It’s make or break time. Put in the hours and reap the rewards.

 

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Published on: 25th June 2021