Entrepreneur
The Biggest Mistake a Young Entrepreneur Can Make
5:48 PM
Its a common question: What is the biggest mistake young entrepreneurs are making? What are the top entrepreneurial mistakes?
They’re building businesses that only work during the best-case market scenarios.
Let me back up and explain a bit.
But I do want to make sure young entrepreneurs have
everything they need to succeed. And for that, we need to talk about the
“biggest mistake” you are all currently making.
Quite simply, market conditions right now are not allowing for young entrepreneurs of today to cultivate strong business discipline.
So I guess in a sense, it’s more about what they’re not doing, rather than what they are doing.
The fact that it is so easy to create a startup right now
and raise money to get it started is, in part, an enormous cause of
this. Think about it. When you are twenty-one years old today, the last
real hardcore economic issue was in 2008… when you were fourteen. That,
to me, is insane.
This is the reality of the market right now.
But you can be on the offense with this. I always preach
that being defensive in business is the wrong way to go; you need to
pinpoint this issue of business discipline now, and work on it before it
affects you.
Because when you get down to it, the weakness is this: you
are all peace-time generals. This is a great time to be starting a
business and trying to sell it, but what happens when the bad times
eventually roll around again? To be a great business person, you can’t just be a peace-time general. You need to be a wartime general too.
Look forward in time to all the possibilities of what
could happen: stock market collapse. Money is not flowing and some geo
political event is changing the landscape. In those situations, a huge
amount of people aren’t thinking about investing in the next Facebook
and Uber. They want to be more careful with investments. Without all the
opportunities, only the true entrepreneurs with the grit and ability to
build businesses will rise to the top.
So what is my advice? Well, there are three key things young entrepreneurs should focus on to weather every storm. Read this Rules to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur.
1: Building teams.
This should be a no-brainer, but you may not realize in the
middle of rapid growth that a team isn’t being formed for longevity. Set
up your team for success by listening and taking the time to celebrate
victories. I wrote more on how to be a good boss and build your team
successfully in this article here and another article here. Check them out.
2: Building good products.
The question I ask young entrepreneurs: are you building a business or a toy?
3: Salesmanship.
You can make the best cup of coffee in the world, but if you
can’t sell it, you’re out of luck. Cash is oxygen. Money is what will
take you to the next level, so if you can’t get it, you won’t move on.
Be a good salesperson and curate your sales department with great care.
These three things that have been thematic for a long time
now. They may sound very familiar, but really evaluate where you are
with each of them. Really self-audit.
Also read: 10 Financial Tips for Startup Entrepreneurs
Young entrepreneurs need to come out this mistake by
realizing that they are currently operating in a very specific moment of
time. Don’t let your skillset be limited by it.
Because bad times are coming. Then there will be
good times again. Then bad. Then good. Get it? Be ready for every
possible outcome. Don’t lose sight of what is ahead.
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