Looking to become an entrepreneur? Make sure you have a thick skin. You’ll need technical skills as well as judgement and communication skills in order to make it. You also have to learn from the mistakes other entrepreneurs have made in your industry.

Let’s take a look at three common blunders new entrepreneurs make.

1. Over-Spending Without the Income to Back it Up

Financial mistakes can be fatal for entrepreneurs. It’s one thing if you quit your day job and have no income and only a dream, but it’s quite another to invest all your life savings into product design with no long-term plan on how you’re going to sell, market or distribute it. It’s this shot-in-the-dark mentality that can put your entire financial future at risk.
That’s why you need to do market research and conduct product reviews before investing in manufacturing. Also, stay away from incurring debt and investors until you absolutely can’t grow anymore without help. And instead of buying equipment and hiring employees, why not pay third-party manufacturers to make your product?

2. Following the Crowd

Another big mistake entrepreneurs make is to try and copy what everyone else is doing. Not only are you competing against more established companies, you’ll also have a harder time securing funding because you won’t be on the cutting edge anymore. If you saturate the market, interest will shift and you will have a much higher risk of failing. Instead, seek out untapped markets, under-served communities and needs of consumers that aren’t being satisfied.

3. Failure to Deliver on Need

You may have the best product idea in your head, but if no one finds it useful, you will fail. Software or a smart phone app that doesn’t meet its target market’s needs won’t make it very far. Invest your time and energy into products that solve a problem for people. Do your research into what your audience really wants and make it happen. Figure out what works and then improve it.
Follow the above tips and you will increase your chances of success. For information on financing your new small business, contact Flipside Capital today!