7 mistakes i've learnt from life business

Making mistakes in business is often regarded as something negative. However, the mistakes entrepreneurs make are just opportunities to learn and grow. Yes, business mistakes can be costly and fatal for a company, but we can confidently say that there never existed an entrepreneur who hasn’t done at least one of the biggest business mistakes. 

Drowning in shame and guilt after making serious or even trivial business mistakes is unallowed in entrepreneurship.
The important thing about the mistakes entrepreneurs make is to rise above them and not fall in desperation.

The most common mistakes entrepreneurs make

Take the number of businesses in the world and multiply it by a million. The number you get is the number of possible business mistakes you can make throughout your entrepreneurial journey.

Nevertheless, there are several small business mistakes that almost every entrepreneur has made. Play it smart and learn how to avoid the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make before committing them.

Not having professionally drafted contracts

When I started running my business, I undertook various projects after a verbal go-ahead – one of the biggest business mistakes I could’ve made if you ask me. I would execute my design and branding work and send off my designs to the clients. When it came to paying my invoice, some clients did not pay! 

Once they had the work they needed, they did not respond to my demand for payment. They even ignored my emails and calls. I quickly learned to have a professionally drafted contract in place and ask for a 50% payment upfront and the 50% balance before handing over my files and artwork. These agreements need to be in place to avoid nasty surprises.

Not having your own niche/path

I spent almost the first 4 years of my business agreeing to everything and marketing to everyone. Ultimately, I ended up taking on cakes that I didn’t like, didn’t charge appropriately for, and resented. However, I realized this was one of the worst and biggest business mistakes entrepreneurs make.

Not seeking professional employment advice

In the early days of business, I hired my first member of the team and failed to consider looking into the necessary paperwork and contract in order to protect myself and my business if in the future I needed to make any changes to their position in the company. 

Having learned the hard way that this was not ideal and caused much stress, I’d say of all the small business mistakes I’ve made this is one of the worst.

Doubting ourself and our abilities

Over the years I have wasted far too much time double guessing myself, doubting my abilities, and comparing myself to other business owners. I would say this is mainly due to the significant rise we have seen over the past decade on social media where imposter syndrome really does sneak in.

Not being a good communicator

I am a self-confessed control freak, so it has taken me a while to learn that I cannot do it all, I need to delegate in my business in order to grow. But with delegation comes the need to be able to communicate with those you are delegating to, what you expect, what you need doing, and when you need it done.

So I found for a while that the tasks being completed by those I was delegating to were not being completed in a way I had hoped. After a bit of reflection and looking back at situations, I can see it wasn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, it was more the fact I hadn’t communicated exactly what my expectations were.

Not creating a brand from the start and merely setting up a business

I believe there is a big difference between ‘creating a brand’ and ‘setting up a business’ – the latter is what I did initially and saw me attracting the wrong client. 

When I set up I merely set up a blog, a company name, and documented my floristry work. I didn’t give too much thought to a brand, a sustainable business model or narrow down exactly who my ideal client was. As a result, early on I was attracting the wrong sort of clients.

Thinking your product is so good it’ll sell itself

One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is thinking a physical shop is the best way to start. We did that. Our organic spice company started as a store in a high-traffic area. We quickly learned that high traffic doesn’t instantly equate to people walking in and shopping and that the location is not good for our business. Hence, we closed the store after 2 years.

We needed to start smaller, take time to understand the market, and prove why our spices were superior. We shifted to farmer’s markets to talk to people about spices and cooking. We listened, learned, and then went 100% into online sales, which has proven to be very lucrative.