Are you making these rookie mistakes?

Since around seven out of every ten small businesses fail within their first two years of operation, it seems that there are a few rookie mistakes that you need to avoid if you wish to stay in the thirty percent who go on to grow and thrive. So, what do you need to do to avoid certain entrepreneurial blunders that just may sink your business?

• The first rookie mistake the failures always make is that they lack the certain skills to actually be an entrepreneur. Many make the mistake of thinking that because they sat in a cubicle for eight hours a day doing a certain job that doing that actually prepared them for life as an entrepreneur. Despite the fact that sitting in a cubicle for ten years likely means you have few, if any, people skills, entrepreneurism is a mindset, a discipline. You either have it or you don’t. Most people don’t.
• The failures also lack business knowledge but mistakenly believe that because they know how to do a thing that it will translate to business success. Goals are nice to have when you are starting out but most fail to turn those goals into an actual strategy and logistics that will lead them to success. Even if you think you have a strategy, it may not be the one you need.
• Trying to do everything yourself will lead to your doom. You can’t do everything yourself so you need to gather a team around you, whether internal or external, that will be strong where you are weak. Business these days is so fast and so complex that you can’t possibly do everything that needs to be done to be successful. You need to do what you do best and then find others too do what they do best to compliment you and grow your business.
• In the end, it takes more than just a dream. It takes desire, a serious plan, some serious funding and the knowledge that you need good people around you to succeed.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer