Being a mompreneur myself, I know that starting and building a successful business can be very challenging. It requires time, effort, a good work ethic, creativity, time management, consistency, a bomb marketing strategy, and the discipline to act on it all. Because a lot goes into building a successful business, sometimes mistakes prevent your business from obtaining the success and recognition you want. Figuring out these entrepreneur mistakes early on and how to avoid them [at all costs] will be most beneficial for your brand – especially in the long run.
Entrepreneur Mistakes That You're Probably Making Right Now
1 - Not knowing your target market
When you start a business, the first thing that has to happen is market research. You need to identify your target customer to know what types of products or services they are interested in. That’s where a buyer persona comes into play! A “buyer persona” helps you better understand your ideal customer and their behaviors.
Marketers worldwide love using the term “avatar” to describe the ideal customer in the world of entrepreneurship. An avatar represents a single person who personifies your perfect customer — it’s who you are creating your products and/or services for.
Defining who your ideal customer avatar is may seem like a daunting task at first glance (I know that it was for me). However, it doesn’t have to be if you take the time upfront to plan. You want to focus on how they would behave as customers. From there, developing content with your target audiences’ specific needs & wants in mind becomes much easier later down the line.
How to identify and find your ideal customer/client avatar
Creating a buyer persona is a good start to defining your target market. This worksheet will help you obtain everything you need when creating your ideal customer avatar.
- What are their pain points?
- What problems does your customer have, and how will your product solve them?
Once you figure out who your ideal customer or avatar is and learn what they need, you’ll have an easier time figuring out which products and services to offer.
2 - Thinking About Want You Want Instead of What Your Customer/Audience Wants
There is nothing worse than creating your vision, brand, and marketing for a product or service to find out you’re offering the wrong product – or to the wrong audience (in some cases). This is a huge entrepreneur mistake and is probably the most common issue most of us have experienced.
It’s so easy to get caught up in what YOU want and then realize your audience doesn’t have the same interest. Save yourself time and money by not doing what so many of us have done in the beginning.
Offer content, products, and/or services that your target audience REALLY wants
Creating your ideal customer can be difficult at first. Still, it will make the decisions you have to face in business much easier. It not only allows for a better understanding of their needs but also allows you to focus on what’s important.
While it’s true that people start businesses with the hope of earning a good living, you should prioritize your customers’ needs. When you put them first and think more about their wants before making money, they’ll be happier to buy from you and become loyal to your brand.
Trust me . . . Having satisfied and loyal customers are way better than having someone buy from you once and then never show up again.
Most Common Entrepreneur Mistakes Businesses Make
3 - A Lack of Planning
Not having a strategy for your business is one of the worst mistakes any entrepreneur can make. A new business must cover all aspects of growth. Key elements are a must when running a business successfully (ie. a good marketing strategy, defining your target market, etc.).
How to avoid losing time and money due to bad or no strategy
The bottom line is . . .
You have to know what and how you’re gonna do something before actually doing it.
Create a task list of everything you need to do to start, build and scale your business. You will then want to rearrange those tasks in order of importance. Start working towards completing each task individually while setting new tasks as you learn more about your business, audience, and marketing.
Creating and working with a task list may seem too simplistic. Still, the people who ignore the importance of planning usually take much longer to achieve their goals or never get there.
Now, when it comes to creating and implementing a marketing plan or strategy, I can’t stress how important it really is!
If you do not have a clear idea of how you’ll market your content, products, and/or services, it’s gonna cost you (with time and definitely money).
4 - Not Creating and Building an Email List
An email list is basically a list of your target audience who subscribe to receive valuable content updates and/or resources. Many new small business owners do not realize the importance of establishing an email list. An engaged email list can make a massive difference with your revenue – not as much with traffic (which is a misconception of how an email list works).
In fact, according to the Direct Marketing Association, businesses, and brands can increase their ROI by 4300% on average with tactical, intelligent email marketing campaigns. Every single dollar spent on email marketing offers a great return of over $40, says SalesForce.
These statistics show how creating an email list, spending time and money on email marketing to grow your business is essential.
This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I’ve recommended – at no extra cost to you, of course. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can check out my disclosures here.
How to create and build a engaged email list
A lot goes into it, but you need to know your audience and goal. Secondly, create and promote high-quality lead magnets. Then, implement sequences that keep you connected to your audience.
It does not matter what your niche is. . . . If you are a business owner and want to turn your ideal audience into actual customers, you need to get them on your email list.
Don't Let it Happen To You . . . Avoid These New Entrepreneur Mistakes
5 - Getting Overwhelmed Because There's So Much To Do
As a new entrepreneur, it is common to think that no one knows how to run your brand the way you do. You know how you want things done and have the passion and commitment to make the business succeed, right?
Well, this could actually lead to being burned out. You want to evaluate your situation and budget, then make the best decision for you and your brand.
In fact, many women already struggle with burnout even without owning a business. According to an exclusive study published by the Meredith Corporation, in partnership with The Harris Poll, women across generations feel more tired, stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, and burned out across every aspect of their lives.
Almost half of the women surveyed said that the burnout they feel is so intense that it keeps them up at night.
Burnout is a real thing and should be taken lightly. It can exhaust you from your work because you may not have the mental or physical energy to build and grow your business – along with other things.
How to avoid being overwhelmed and get things done like a BOSS
Once you get busy and can’t manage, hiring out some tasks will help keep your sanity while increasing productivity (for what matters in your business and personal life).
Doing everything yourself is a lot of work! While it’s cost-effective, it becomes much less effective as time goes on. It’s different for everyone -some business owners won’t have any difficulty with the time commitment. For me, I don’t mind hiring out tasks because being able to focus on things that are more important in life makes up for it.
6 - Hiring the Wrong Help
As a new entrepreneur, you may have little money for marketing [or any at all]. As an inexperienced small business owner, trying to save money as much as possible is tempting. You may want to cut back on costs by hiring freelancers offering lower prices; however, this can cost more down the line.
Low-cost freelancers are “low-cost” for a reason—they’re usually likely because they are unskilled, inexperienced, unreliable, lack motivation, etc., which will eventually lead to less productivity for you, ultimately affecting production. You’ll create a situation where you will have to spend more time and/or money to complete the same task.
How to hire the 'right' help:
The best way to find a good freelancer is by word of mouth. But you can also use Facebook groups, LinkedIn connections, or social media posts to find potential candidates for your projects. You should always get at least three quotes and compare them based on the scope and cost before hiring someone!
Keep in mind . . . higher rates don’t always mean better work!
So, just a quick recap:
- Don’t invest in hiring until your budget can handle it.
- Until it does, make a plan and stick to it.
- Be resourceful and use apps and widgets to help you with certain things.
7 - Experiencing Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is an internal feeling of personal incompetence and self-doubt that hangs on despite your education, skills, accomplishments, work background, or experience. This basically means you feel like you’re being a fraud even though you’re not.
Some common signs of imposter syndrome are:
- Self-doubt
- Heavily criticize your work performance
- Inability to accept your skills and competence
- Not giving yourself credit when credit is due
- Accrediting your success to other factors
- Fear that you’re a fraud and do not belong
- Setting unrealistic goals and feeling unworthy when you fall short
How avoid imposter syndrome:
You’re wrong if you feel like you are not good enough! These are some strategies that can help you with the feelings associated with imposter syndrome:
- Challenge your doubts about yourself – When you feel like a fraud or do not deserve what you have, ask yourself whether any actual facts support those feelings.
- Stop comparing yourself to others – Everyone has their own unique qualities, and so do you. Stop comparing yourself to others and improve yourself to be better than you were yesterday.
- Give your feelings acknowledgment – Recognize you have feelings associated with being a fraud and give yourself grace. Talk to your peers and/or a close friend about emotions, as this can help you feel less overwhelmed.
- Make connections – Stop thinking you’re alone and have to do everything yourself. Accept help from colleagues, family, and friends to create a system of mutual support.
You do not need to be perfect when chasing success, as true perfection is never found. Allow yourself to fail (if you do), and learn from those failures to be better. Remember, there is always room for growth.
8 - Not spending enough or spending too much money
Not spending enough money results in things taking much longer to get done. While spending too much money can cause you to spend money on things you don’t need at a certain point in your journey.
How to find a balance of how to spend your budget
There are so many options for the tools that are available to help run your business easier. Some tools are free, and others come with a monthly or annual fee.
Before your business earns income, you may want to utilize the free tools and minimize the use of paid tools and resources. Lately, it seems like there is a charge for every single thing that you look to use to create content. The cost for some of these tools is minimal, but $5-$20 per program/app adds up quickly.
You’ll have to decide which tools provide your brand with the most value and when you should commit to an investment. Once you get established and your business grows, you can consider investing in other programs and apps that help you create awesome content.
9 - Not working with coaches, mentors, and/or consultants
Ultimately, many women don’t invest in themselves from the start—they tend to put other people’s wants and needs before their own (especially moms).
However, this can be costly when running a new business. The quickest way to expand your business is by learning from people who have been there and done what you want to do. They can guide you, show you mistakes you can avoid, and help you follow strategies to build a successful business in a shorter amount of time.
While you can do it all on your own, it will take much longer. As it turns out, many small businesses don’t get off the ground without some guidance or coaching when they need it most!
How to fix not having any help
Having the right business mentor, strategist or coach can assure your business is on track for growth. This is likely to avoid mistakes that most other small business owners make.
Final Thoughts
Think of entrepreneurship as a marathon. At this stage, it’s not about how fast you can run but how far and well-prepared you are for the race ahead. The good news is that if we get better at anticipating these common mistakes, you’ll be ready when it comes time for your business to shine!
