home Instagram 10 typical entrepreneurial mistakes. The ten most common mistakes entrepreneurs make. The more formal the better.

10 typical entrepreneurial mistakes. The ten most common mistakes entrepreneurs make. The more formal the better.

Every second employee thinks about opening his own business, but a little more than 20% decide on real actions. Moreover, half of those who nevertheless started in business lose interest in their own business as soon as they encounter the first difficulties. We count ten common mistakes start-up entrepreneurs who prevent your dreams and ambitions from being realized.

Mistake One: Unjustified Expectations of Easy and Quick Success

It seems to many aspiring entrepreneurs that as soon as they start their business, everything should go like clockwork: sales will begin, suppliers will line up with tempting offers, all problems with government agencies will be resolved by an accountant or lawyer, and competitors will quietly disappear from the market. This is not at all the case, so a businessman must be prepared for difficulties and disappointments.

Practice shows that for some reason people are ready to make much more efforts to build a successful career in someone's business than to develop their business. Remember how much effort and time it took you to get your current position? Years of study at university and additional courses, internships, learning the rules of working in a team and communicating with superiors, continuous development of professional skills, etc. Why does owning a business seem easier?

But instead of one boss, an entrepreneur will have at least ten: buyers, clients, government bodies, suppliers, landlords, etc. You will need to be able to interact with all these people and structures, understand their goals and needs, and fulfill your obligations. So running your own business is no easier than working for someone, although the difficulties in it will be of a different order than in a hired job.

Mistake #2: Not having a plan of action

Business is like a car, by itself it only rolls downhill. If you have no idea what exactly you should do and what the client or buyer will pay you for, then it’s too early to start real actions. Study all available information related to your business: business plans, books and articles, franchisor offers, real cases, etc. If you have the opportunity to at least temporarily work in a company operating in the direction you have chosen or adjacent to it, then be sure to use it.

As a user, you can get our books on the development of various business areas: retail store, beauty saloon, wholesale, Cafe. Preparing to post a book on opening law firm and online store.

Common mistakes in business planning include:

lack of clear goals in the form of specific figures for sales and profits and the timing of their achievement;
unclear distribution of areas of responsibility between partners or employees;
understatement of estimated business expenses;
too optimistic figures of expected incomes;
choosing only one option for a business development strategy;
lack of plan "B", if the original plan "A" for some reason cannot be implemented;
underestimation of entrepreneurial risks and activities of competitors.

The other extreme is the desire to work out the plan to the smallest detail, in order to protect yourself from all possible difficulties. Unfortunately or fortunately, no one in business can guarantee you anything. You should become accustomed to working in unpredictable environments, but your competitors have to work in the same conditions. In addition, unpredictability is not always a bad thing, believe that life can present an entrepreneur with pleasant surprises.

Mistake three: misunderstanding your target audience

Another mistake of novice entrepreneurs is a misunderstanding of their target audience. There is a category of businessmen who want to do only what they like. For example, you are into slalom and want to open a mountain equipment shop. But think about it - are there enough solvent buyers in your locality who are interested in such goods? Maybe you should open a sporting goods store with a much wider audience, and sell mountain equipment, since you really like it so much, to order?

Ask yourself these questions:

Who are your customers and clients?
What are their needs and income levels?
How many customers and clients can you serve?
What is the average check your customer is willing to leave?
How often does a consumer need a similar product or service?
What is the saturation threshold in your niche?

Focus not on what you can sell or offer, but on what your consumer needs and is willing to pay for.

Mistake #4: Not Selling

Any business is sales. You will make a profit only after you can satisfy the needs of your customers or customers. But the benefits of your service or product must also be conveyed to the consumer. Think about what advertising channels you will use and what marketing techniques you will use. If you have opened a store in a popular mall or provide in-demand services, then advertising costs can be minimal. Nevertheless, it is necessary to think about how you will advance in the market.

Mistake five: inability to manage money

Experience shows that the easiest way to start a business is not to waste your own money, but someone else's investments or loans. If you have a solid start-up capital on hand, then there is a temptation to spend it "for the benefit of the cause." Some start-up entrepreneurs (although there are fewer of them every year) are too fond of business attributes: an office in a prestigious location, an expensive company car, a corporate website with an individual design, etc. As an excuse, the fact is given that such expenses are the formation of an image and reputation, without which there is nothing to do in a serious business. In fact, start-up capital should be spent on organizing the first sales, building a customer base, improving the quality of a product or service, establishing business relationships.

Experienced businessmen advise beginners to start with minimal or no capital. Do not immediately aim at some grandiose projects. Try to get at least modest amounts from the provision of services to start with, or integrate into the chain of wholesale and retail sales as an agent. Nothing can replace your own experience in earning income on your own.

The mistakes of novice entrepreneurs in the management of finances are not limited to inept spending. start-up capital. As soon as the first money from the business appears, there is a desire to spend it on personal needs. Still - after all, this is honestly and independently earned income, why not buy on them new car? It is especially easy to succumb to such a temptation for individual entrepreneurs, because for them there is no statutory restrictions on the use of money received from the case. As a result, working capital is spent on personal purposes, and further business development plans are not implemented due to lack of finance.

Mistake #6: Ignoring Your Competition

If you chose profitable direction business, then you will definitely have competitors. And, of course, a part of the market will be occupied by those who started before you, invested their money and efforts and expects a certain profit. The presence of competitors should not immediately stop you from starting a business, but you cannot ignore them either. To understand how competitive your chosen niche is and how you can stand out, you can order marketing research or conduct a quick analysis yourself. An example of such an analysis when opening a beauty salon can be found in our book, it is available at personal account user.

Mistake seven: lack of special legal knowledge

An entrepreneur should not only have a good knowledge of his product or service and the methods of its promotion, but also have at least a general idea of the laws governing business activities in Russia. To help you understand the basics of this knowledge, we have prepared a series of articles for you, which we highly recommend reading:

In the process of activity, you will gradually begin to understand these issues, but at the start of a business, the mistakes of novice entrepreneurs when choosing a legal form, tax regime, registration of employees and relationships with partners can lead to serious financial losses and even become fatal.

Mistake eight: inability to delegate authority

“If you want everything to be done well, do it yourself!” - this phrase has ruined more than one startup. What happens if an entrepreneur believes that no one can do anything better than him? He himself has to look for and serve customers and customers, negotiate with suppliers, accept goods, deal with accounting, documents and other routine. The workers are all, as if by choice, slow, irresponsible and stupid.

Perhaps it is so, but hiring the wrong employees is the mistake of the businessman himself. Remember Steve Jobs: "We hire smart people to tell us what to do." It is impossible to build a business without a well-coordinated team of professionals, so finding and attracting such people is one of the main tasks of a novice entrepreneur.

Define areas of responsibility and assign them to employees. Part of the functions, for example, accounting, can be given to Where possible, introduce a flexible wage system - a small fixed salary and percentages for meeting indicators (sales, services, production volume). And moderate your perfectionism a bit - even if something is not done as perfectly as you think, but the business is developing, then everything is in order.

Mistake nine: unwillingness to enter into a business partnership

About 70% of LLCs in Russia are registered sole founder, i.e. the partner business model is not taking root well with us. Moreover, partnerships are avoided even where it would be justified. Why? First of all, start-up entrepreneurs are unwilling to share the expected profit, although at the start of a business this is tantamount to sharing the skin of an unkilled bear. Other good reason- possible disagreements in the joint management of the business and personal problems in communication. To a certain extent, it can be recognized that the specificity of the Russian mentality is to mix personal and business relationships, and this is not always beneficial. But after all, many successful projects, especially in the West, are developing precisely according to the partnership model.

Let's see what a good business partner can offer you:

resources and investments;
an experience entrepreneurial activity;
business connections;
skills you don't have, such as sales;
unique business idea, invention, patent;
emotional support.

Yes, it is possible that it is not so easy to choose your business partner, but it is wrong to refuse profitable cooperation just because you are afraid of possible problems. Of course, all conditions joint business must be carefully discussed before the start of activities, be sure to fix them in writing. Also keep in mind that an equal partnership, when the shares in the company are distributed equally, can lead to a stalemate in case of disagreement. It is desirable that one of the partners be the main one and bear the main responsibility for business development.

Mistake #10: Giving up early

If you have read the inspiring success stories of famous entrepreneurs, you know that almost every one of them has had to go through a series of big and small failures. But only the one who gets up one time more than he falls wins. You don't have to look far for examples - the business portal you are on now also developed through crises. Learn firsthand - from team leader Alexander Raptovsky.

We would love to hear from you stories of overcoming difficulties and successes, and perhaps it will be you who someday will tell aspiring entrepreneurs about the mistakes to avoid when starting a business.

So, let's start with mistakes, and then move on to how novice entrepreneurs can avoid them and bring their project to a financial result...

Greetings to all readers of our blog, Alexander and Vitaly are in touch!

In this article, we will tell you about the mistakes of novice entrepreneurs who ruined the biggest and most promising ideas of great enthusiasts.

Having summarized our entrepreneurial experience and the experience of our friends, we understood what needs to be done and what is categorically contraindicated for novice entrepreneurs.

And now we will tell you about all this!

When beginners ask themselves the question “How to start a business”, immediately the mess begins in their heads. What to do first? Register? ? Take a loan? Find partners, clients, office? Let's talk about everything in order.

Your the main task at the start stage - not to earn a million, but to stay with "their own".

Consider the typical mistakes of novice entrepreneurs.

Mistake #1. Starting your own business with a big financial investment

We believe that this is one of the worst mistakes. Look, friends... All undertakings, when you immediately borrow a lot of money (if you do not have start-up capital), rent an office, give expensive advertising, recruit staff - these are all unnecessary costs at the start-up stage, just believe me!

World statistics says that during the first year 90% of start-up entrepreneurs go bankrupt. This, including those projects that are not even a few months old. The following year, another 50 percent of the "survivors" go bankrupt. Only 3-5 out of 100 live up to 5 years of existence!

About the need and effectiveness of large initial investments, read our article “How to open a business without investments? ". Just ask yourself: “What happens if I lose my investment?”. Okay, if you have your own, and if you also have borrowed them and interest is “dripping” on them, this is very scary! Perhaps then you will be more careful about investing each ruble.

Many people, when opening their own business, immediately begin to calculate how much they will earn in a month, a year, etc. And for some reason, a minority thinks differently, namely: "How much can I lose in a month, a year ...?" Statistics is an exact science... Dear readers, we don’t scare you at all, we just want to warn against the mistakes that we ourselves went through and saw such situations more than once.

We recently conducted a survey among our friends and acquaintances who are not entrepreneurs and have never been in business. They only asked two questions:

How would you start your business?
Is it possible to start a business without start-up capital or with its minimum availability (up to a thousand dollars)?

We will not give all the answers, but simply summarize them thesis:

I would buy such a product in bulk and start selling it at retail;
would make such and such a product at home and sell it;
I would register a company, then buy a product and advertise;
would rent an office, find wholesale suppliers and start selling goods;
would take off outlet(square), hung expensive glowing advertisements (in order to attract more attention), hired staff, bought shop equipment and began to sell components for computers.

Let me remind you once again that these were people who had never been engaged in business.

Friends, remember! It is very important!

All entrepreneurial projects that begin with the approach: “where to buy?”, “whom to borrow money from?”, “what to invest in?” (office, furniture, warehouse, counters, cash machine, goods), “whom to hire?” etc. most of the time it ends badly. Such businesses usually don't make it past their first anniversary.

So how do you start your own business then? most people ask. And here we fully agree with what he says about this. Vladimir Dovgan- famous Russian entrepreneur, coach of success:

“Think about what you have that you can give people so that they pay you money for it? What is your talent, what is your skill, experience, what is your skill, knowledge, and so on?”
Vladimir Dovgan

How to start a business the right way.

When you start - focus on effective marketing - analyze the market, try to understand the needs of your environment. Constantly ask yourself the question: “What do my friends, acquaintances or relatives lack? What product, service, skill can I offer them, what need can I satisfy?

Next tip: When you're working on the marketing part of your project, plan and think in writing! This will help you structure your ideas logically. Make a plan for the day and try to follow it as closely as possible without distractions.

We assure you that if you follow these tips, your chances of success will increase dramatically.

Mistake #2. "Where is more money?" or spontaneous choice of business direction

Let me explain with an example: “The neighbor keeps a car service, he succeeds, but why am I worse?” And you begin to copy the scheme of his business, consulting with him.

And it seems that you are doing everything like him - filmed a good place, hired a couple of auto mechanics, bought expendable materials and equipment. Then they advertised. And now several months have passed, and there is still no result and no. Your business works at best at "zero", barely beating off the periodic costs of its maintenance.

What is the reason? It turns out that your neighbor, before starting his own business, worked for 4 years as a mechanic in a car service, and, accordingly, has good experience like a specialist. It also turns out that this is interesting to him and corresponds to his abilities. And most importantly, he himself is directly involved in car repairs at his service and therefore earns the bulk of the money from his activities. You have most of the profit goes to salaries of employees.

Here our favorite example about the great chemist D.I. Mendeleev about his discovery of the periodic system. Many say that they say, well done, he came up with his periodic table of chemical elements in one night, and there are even people who say that he was lucky.

Guys, and at the same time, no one forgot to mention that he had been doing chemistry for years before this night?

Remember: the quantity at a certain stage always turns into quality!

Returning to a neighbor with a car service and drawing a parallel with Mendeleev, one can say for sure that a business should not be started spontaneously, but consciously, before that everything has been comprehended and analyzed.

Mistake #3. Trying to do everything alone, quickly and globally or an idea is not everything

Even if you have an amazing idea, a lot of enthusiasm and some resources, do not immediately take on global projects in the hope of earning a million rubles or dollars in a month. Imagine you are a beginner weightlifter and already at the first lesson you want to lift a barbell of 150 kg. What will happen in this case? Yes, you just overstrain and lose all interest in this sport. So it is in business.

Look around, have a few meetings with familiar business people who already have a positive experience in doing business. Chat with them. At this stage, it often happens that you are afraid that your idea will be stolen by acquaintances. Believe me, your idea is not at all interesting to most people from your environment. The idea is not everything. Each person gives birth to a great many of them every day. An idea is only valuable when it is put into practice. And it is very difficult to do, believe me!

There is a wonderful expression:

"Quickly only cats will be born"

And business is not just much more difficult, but also not as fast as many people think. This is why only a few people out of a hundred succeed in becoming successful entrepreneurs.

Who owns the information, owns the world!

Everyone knows this famous expression, but not everyone knows how to use it.

And this means that you need to fully know what the scope of the intended activity is. Read a couple of dozen books on it, watch video courses and seminars, go to trainings and master classes practitioners who already have sufficient experience in this business. And if necessary, get a job in the company of potential competitors as an employee and see this business from the inside. All these steps will greatly increase your chances of success when starting your own business.

Mistake #4. Irresponsible attitude towards business

Successful entrepreneurs keep saying that starting a business and keeping it in the early stages is much more difficult than managing it. big company with hundreds of workers and large volumes. Since, when opening your project, everything happens spontaneously for you - “the client refused to buy”, “they called from the tax office” - you urgently need to run there, suppliers let you down with deadlines, you need to pay bills, etc.

Many people think about how to open a business, but not everyone understands the responsibility it imposes on an entrepreneur ...

From all this, you have an “explosion of the brain”, a lot of stress appears, faith in yourself and your project disappears. You begin to take a break from current affairs, as you experience great emotional overload.

Friends, in this case, many entrepreneurs say that the business is “not going” and close it. If you find yourself in such a “tough” situation, on the one hand, you need to take a break, and on the other hand, work even harder so that the business does not go bankrupt.

In this case, take a short break. Take a walk, meditate, it is best to go with good friends to nature. It can be a park or a forest, talk to them on positive topics. We strongly do not recommend in such cases to rest very violently - with alcohol, late events, etc. It will only take away strength.

After resting and returning to your project, try to delegate some of the non-core functions to your friends or acquaintances, and if you have financial resources, to specialists in this particular field.

For example: you want to spend advertising campaign of your project and start writing, printing ads yourself, posting them, publishing them on the Internet. This is not entirely correct, since in this case the most valuable resource - time will be irretrievably lost.

Money can be earned. Appreciate time - it is an irreplaceable resource!

Always try to keep the promises you make to people. In your case, these will be clients and partners. If you know for sure that you will not be able to keep your word, do not promise. Be responsible! This is the main quality of a true entrepreneur.

Mistake #5. Quit your business at the first difficulties and failures

Go through life with the motto:

"No one can say that I have lost, if I do not admit myself defeated!"

Business is a big challenge. Such a quality of a real entrepreneur as stress resistance is on a par with responsibility, enterprise and the ability to think outside the box. Although, we know from our experience, in most cases, stress resistance comes to the fore.

More than 50% of businesses fail in the first five years. And I am sure that the main enemy of the entrepreneur is himself. Despite the fact that business owners have a huge motivation and desire to make a great product, entrepreneurs often make mistakes that could have been avoided.

Today we will look at 30 mistakes that entrepreneurs make and that destroy their business. Go!

They do not spend time on fundamental tasks

Have you heard stories of people spending huge amounts of money to create a website that is not popular? There are plenty of such stories. And they arise when the entrepreneur did not take care in time to identify a potential buyer, create the right content and make the site user-friendly.

Fundamental tasks cannot be skipped.

They expect fast results with little effort.

It is in human nature to hope for quick success. However, it doesn't exist. You have to pass long way, complete many tasks before you achieve impressive success.

They don't think long term

To succeed, you must not be distracted by trifles, but focus on the goal and follow the direction towards it. Don't clutter up your time with unnecessary tasks that lead you astray.

Lack of a mobile version of the site

If the site looks bad on mobile device, then he immediately scares off the audience. Nowadays, all sites should be optimized for mobile devices and look great on iPhone, iPad and any other gadget.

They believe that if they like something, they can successfully sell it.

A business needs a manager, a salesperson, and someone who will provide services or produce goods. The "Do what you love" mindset isn't always a winner. If a person enjoys working on web design, this does not mean that he will make a good studio director.

They don't have support

They don't keep track of time

Without basic time management skills, it is impossible to build a successful business. Therefore, every entrepreneur needs to learn how to properly allocate their time and effort.

They are too focused on competitors

If an entrepreneur sees business only in the form of his own victory, which means the defeat of competitors, then this does not lead to anything good. Such behavior always causes unnecessary stress.

They don't know their audience

To succeed, you need to find your niche and become the best in it. Don't try to work for everyone. Identify your ideal customer and serve them the best.

They don't ask the right questions

Success-minded people are focused on the new experiences that can be gained from any situation. And they are constantly asking questions that help open up new possibilities.

They don't test their hypotheses

Before you run New Product and build a business, you need to test your hypothesis. Analyze the market, talk to potential buyers and find out how interested they are in your product or service. Otherwise it will be too late.

They don't know how to style content

Buyers like a clear structure - readers pay attention to listings and highlights. Make sure your note is easy to read.

They think traffic will get them customers.

Some bloggers dream of increasing traffic to their resource, but questions immediately arise: Why? What for? How will this help your business?

A large number of visitors does not guarantee big sales. Therefore, before you take care of traffic, you should take care of your product and the mechanics with which it will be comfortable for the visitor to get to know him better and purchase your product or service.

They are too focused on tools

Have you seen articles about the release of a new WordPress plugin or the emergence of a social platform that will change the world? How do you usually react to them? Don't drop everything and dive into learning new tools. Focus on current goals.

They waste energy

Successful entrepreneurs put their actions through a test called “So what?”. For example:

This month we have 1000 new followers on Facebook

Indeed, without the collection of email addresses or active purchases, this indicator almost does not matter. Don't waste your time and energy. Focus on what matters.

They avoid criticism

Successful business people know that the only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, not compete with anyone, and be inconspicuous. Fear should not be caused by criticism, but by the possibility of going unnoticed.

They are waiting for permission

Nowadays, each of us has the opportunity to learn something new, start businesses and earn money. And you don't have to wait for permission to do it!

They mishandle money

Successful entrepreneurs know that investing in growing their business is the right move. At the same time, they don't waste money in vain. Try to approach spending more consciously.

They think they don't have to study

The most successful entrepreneurs are those who are constantly on the lookout for new knowledge. Therefore, always pay attention to new courses, communicate with more experienced people and enjoy learning in any form.

They focus on popularity metrics

The number of followers on Twitter will not help you pay off a loan or employee salaries. Focus on the metrics that really matter.

They think tactics are more important than convictions

If you have thought of a strategy, but you are worried that something will go wrong, then it will happen. Whatever the strategy, your beliefs play an important role in business.

They don't care about the human factor

Business is people. Salesmen, accountants, assistants, buyers. Each link must perform its function correctly so that everyone is satisfied and the business continues to develop.

They view networking as a sport

Successful entrepreneurs know that networking is about building relationships, not just finding useful contacts. Having your business card other people will not be successful.

They talk a lot on social media and don't pay attention to real customers.

Social media is a powerful tool. However, first of all, you must take care of your real customers.

They don't mark what works and what doesn't work.

Successful entrepreneurs know where they spend their time and energy and what they get in return. That is why you should carefully monitor the metrics and note what is good for your business, and what is better to refuse.

They don't follow their own path

New opportunities are constantly coming to entrepreneurs. Some of them lead to something good, others can destroy your business. Before making a decision, always ask yourself the question: “Does this fit in with my original plan?”

They listen to the wrong people

Now there are a huge number of "experts" who are ready to do anything to help your business. For a fee. And these people do not always know how to behave correctly in a given situation, deal with the crisis and increase the company's performance. Therefore, before asking for help from an outside expert, make sure that he has experience and really understands your topic.

They avoid email marketing

How many amazing sites have you seen, but then could not remember? This happens quite often. That is why in order to build successful business you need to periodically remind potential customers about yourself. And the best way to do this is by email.

Start collecting addresses as early as possible Email to remind potential customers of yourself.

They quickly recruit a team and rarely fire

Everyone got into a situation where they saw a person and believed that he would fit perfectly into the team. And then they were disappointed. In this case, it is necessary to get rid of such an employee as soon as possible. And next time, be more careful about the process of recruiting a team.

They ignore articles like this.

Don't let these mistakes show up in your entrepreneurial life. Invest in yourself and your business, develop and become better.

Inconsistency of the organizational and legal form with the goals and objectives

Many start-up entrepreneurs (society with limited liability): this is allegedly more solid than an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur). If you are a designer, a private developer, a photographer, or your small business is creative, IP status is optimal. To work in a team, and unite on the basis of a contract.

Today, large and serious organizations are actively resorting to outsourcing. No one will be embarrassed by the contract with the IP. Many companies take copywriters and photographers out of staff and conclude contracts with them as individual entrepreneurs. But last month, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a ruling, recognizing cooperation with individual entrepreneurs as a tax evasion scheme.

IP registration is not required founding documents, seal and authorized capital. But individual entrepreneurs are prohibited from certain types of licensed activities (for example, retail strong alcohol), and for obligations they are liable with all their property. If you want to open branches, subsidiaries or plan to merge with other companies, then register an LLC.

Study the issue in detail and choose the optimal reporting and taxation system in order to avoid problems in the future.

Read us at

Renat Batyrov
Founder of the Pilot Group of Companies, General Director of the Skolkovo Technopark

It's good when a startup is organized by a person who has business experience, reputation, connections, money, a team and everything else. But more often than not, startups are made by people who don’t have any of these things. There is not enough money, there are no business, personnel, production management skills. As a rule, there is no economic and managerial education. And in the case of student business projects, no completed education at all. Not surprisingly, the path to success lies through many mistakes. Even experienced managers and entrepreneurs make them with enviable regularity, and I am no exception. However, for me, a professional is just the person who made a lot of mistakes. The child falls a lot before starting to walk. Imagine if, after twenty attempts to get on his feet, he would say: "That's it, I'm tired, I won't do it anymore, it's better to crawl." I have made many mistakes in business, but fortunately right decisions there were more though. Almost all of the mistakes listed below are familiar to me firsthand: some I continue to make to this day, others I observe from the founders of many companies with whom I have worked. I hope these examples will help aspiring entrepreneurs to look at themselves from the outside.

Mistake 1. Wrong target selected

People decide to start their own business for a variety of reasons. When young entrepreneurs ask me for advice, I usually start by asking “Why do you need this?” Here are some typical responses:

"I want to make money." The truth is that in business it is much easier to lose money than to make money. The press loves to write about success stories, but in the graveyard of losers - silence. Even if you are among the lucky ones whose business becomes successful, you will first need to achieve operational efficiency, then return the investment, then return all the debts that have accumulated, and then reinvest, because the growing business needs it. Only after that you can start paying yourself something.

"I want to be free." In reality, you become a slave to your business for several years. We'll have to work hard without days off, holidays. Your hired employees can get up and go to another company at any time. Shareholders can sell their share. But the captain will sink along with the ship and all the debts.

"I want respect." If you succeed, strangers will probably respect you more, which is not the case with your family and friends. After all, the time to communicate with them will be significantly less.

“I want to fulfill myself – to grow and learn.” You can also learn while working in a corporation. AT own business you have to do it at your own expense, on your own mistakes. Do not forget that the price of self-realization is high here - this is time, health, missed opportunities.

"I want to be a business owner." Even if at some point it seemed to you that you have your own business, in fact it is not yours. You are highly dependent - on the supplier, distributor, inspection bodies, employees. For example, in consulting, in law firms, along with the employee, his client base also leaves. So in 99% of cases your business does not belong to you.

"I want it to be fun." The life of a businessman, unfortunately, does not consist of secular receptions. Unpleasant conversations with the tax authorities, banks, creditors, laid-off employees are an essential part of the life of an entrepreneur.

"I want to secure my old age." I have to disappoint you - your business will most likely die before you. In most cases, you need to strive to ensure that a growing business is profitable to sell. Today less and less fewer companies that would have outlived their founders.

So why is it really worth becoming an entrepreneur? When I started my business, of course, I did not think about high matters and developed more or less in accordance with Maslow's pyramid. I needed money to meet my basic needs as a student, then to provide for the financial well-being of the family, then I enjoyed helping others. But the further I go, the more I am convinced that many prominent businessmen today are seriously aiming to change the world.

Mistake 2. If you want to do well, do it yourself

At first, I did everything myself and tried to concentrate as many processes as possible around myself. The result is low efficiency, burnout and demotivation of employees. Rule number one for me today is to delegate everything that can be delegated. You can re-educate yourself in a rather unusual way - by cultivating laziness in yourself.

Of course, at the first stage you will have to do a lot with your own hands, but the main thing is to stop in time. In my first company - "Pilot" - we, the three founders, at first wrote the code ourselves, installed networks, set up servers. Earning opportunities were limited for us by our own time. Then we started hiring technical specialists. However, financial, legal issues, business development remained in the hands of the founders for quite a long time, about five years. As a result, the current work took almost all the time, and there were no opportunities for the development of new directions. The company began to develop much more dynamically when the heads of individual areas appeared, to whom it was possible to transfer 99% of the work. All that was needed was to find these people, train and motivate them. This process took several more years. Real life began when I found a person for the position of executive director. Five years ago, I completely stepped back from operations management.

Mistake 3. We are playing for time

Fast decision, even not very correct, is better than the correct one taken for a long, long time. It is better to understand later that you are doing something wrong and correct the course, or even turn around 180 degrees, than to waste time and the pace of development. I consider the speed of decision-making one of my most valuable qualities. Though it hasn't always been with me. Once I was offered to invest $100,000 in a development company mobile applications. I thought for a long time whether and where to get the money. I ended up investing in something else. After 2 years, 50% of this company was worth about $3 million.

Mistake 4. Forget the business plan

The inability to count money brings even large companies that are over-credited to such an extent that their obligations at some point exceed their ability to pay them. I once (despite my financial education) paid a high price for not being able to keep proper records in my investment projects. Until you have a reliable financier, you will have to figure out how financial accounting and bookkeeping work.

Mistake 5. Fans of a business plan

The other side of the business plan situation is blindly following it. The situation is changing so quickly that at some point the plan must be adjusted, try new things, take risks. A few years ago, when we created Fabrika IT Park, financial director said: “Renat, the payback period for this project is 248 years. I don't recommend you invest in it. Not because he is bad, but because a lot has changed in 248 years.” I decided to create an IT park after all. As a result, we reached payback much earlier than planned. Although the investment is still not returned, in this project I discovered hundreds of new people, the opportunity to create my own technology business and take part in it, got an incredible experience. If we had followed the plan, this would not have happened.

Mistake 6: Security gaps

Information, legal, industrial security is not what entrepreneurs think about in the first place. And at some point they fall into a trap. You definitely don’t need to focus on this maniacally, but you shouldn’t forget either. The very idea of a business is not a secret. But your technology, your customer base is confidential information that should be protected.

Mistake 7. We believe in the word

All agreements must be recorded in writing. First of all, of course, we are talking about partners and the team. I still make this mistake today, but less and less. It would seem that there is no discovery in this - we talked, agreed, fixed. But in reality, it turns out that we talked, parted, and after two weeks it turned out that you understood everything differently. Once, following the results of negotiations, I decided that my share in the business was 40%, and then I discovered that the company had already been sold to other people and I was not in it.

Mistake 8. It's just a job

If you do not like what you are doing, if there is no passion for the business, then the chances of success are much less. Yes, and productivity suffers, including the speed of the brain. If you perceive business only as a source of money, then this money can not wait. Passion for business not only increases your own motivation, but also helps to “ignite” other people, your team.

Mistake 9. Money is everything

Many startups today are ready to immediately sell themselves to the investor who will pay the most, and the ideal investor for them is the one who will not interfere in the business yet. And in vain. The real value of an investor is his connections, opportunities, experience, advantages: distribution channels, technologies, reputation. Some money is not enough.

Mistake 10. Life on loan

I thought for a long time and, to be honest, I continue to think that while you can work for your own money, you need to work for your own. Maximum for loans. The longer you go without an investor, the more thoughtful and efficient your business will be. Often, the investor's money, and especially grants, go to the detriment of the project. An investor is needed when other sources for development have already been exhausted, and this negatively affects the speed of the company's development.

Before attracting an investor, take a close look at these three dimensions of your business:
— technological maturity of the project
- Developed team business skills
- mental maturity, "adulthood", the ability to take responsibility for one's actions, to clearly analyze them.

Mistake 11. Money doesn't smell

It happens that a person comes to you and offers a fantastic way to get rich at lightning speed. Something very fast, light, but not very legal and generally smelly. The temptation of money is great, but all such stories that I have seen have ended sadly. Around you and your business should be only those people whose value system matches yours. How to understand that your value systems are identical? This means that you have the same idea of what is good and what is bad.

Mistake 12. Dumb and dumber

Hiring employees who are dumber than themselves are more likely to be hired managers, but founders also have this weakness. It is usually dictated by the fear of competition - too strong an employee can bypass his leader. However, a team where the participants do not have enough knowledge and experience, leadership qualities, desire to grow and develop, will not go far. The caravan moves at the speed of the slowest camel. Your company is growing at the speed of the most mediocre employee.

Mistake 13. I will make all the money in the world.

This, of course, is a personal choice of everyone, but thinking only about business, you risk losing a lot of other things - family, health, friends, passion. This option doesn't work for me. Finding yourself a lonely sick old man with nothing to remember but the World Cup of money making is not something worth starting a business for and taking daily risks.

Recorded by Marina Sipatova