Three fatal mistakes for fledgling entrepreneurs starting out

Note: sign up to our B2B Community here if you like this post.

Do you ever find you’re so busy with your fledgling company? Maybe you don’t work normal hours, take holidays or even have time to attend your own birthday party? If so, it’s a symptom of a bigger problem. But it’s fixable.

The launch of any new business is bound to make life unusual for a while. In those early months, you probably work later and sleep far less than the 7-9 hours that adults should really be getting.

However, if this becomes “the norm” after several years, then something is going badly wrong. You may pay the price in terms of your personal life and harm to your business too. The good news is that you can do something to solve the issue.

Here are three common mistakes that small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can make during the first three years of business — and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Waiting too long before seeking external help

As a business grows and evolves, new challenges crop up. Although business founders usually have a broad skillset, it’s unrealistic to expect you can handle everything. Press on regardless, and you could start making poor decisions in areas where you lack expertise, or you could become a bottleneck for the business.

Solution: Focus on your core skills and managing the company. It’s essential to seek outside expertise in areas that will help your business to develop and run smoothly — from strategy and marketing to operations and accounts. Get recommendations, set a budget and then trust people to do a good job for you.

Mistake #2: Forgetting you need an evolving business plan

There are two extremes for SMEs to avoid:

Please read the full article on SME Web.

Eggcelerate