[CIsaac]

I say poor or no planning.

[jayrobinson15]

Originally Posted by donnapacheco

I completely agree. As a venture capitalist, it really boils down to "What's in it for me?" Will it make me money? Or is it a fantastic product that takes millions of dollars to make with no one who can afford it? If it's the latter one, don't bother.

Exactly, there are many cases of this, where a product is so amazing but it costs so much to manufacture that only the upper class can afford it and your market is not sufficient enough to support a business built around that product. What you want is a quality product that doesn't cost that much to make and can be distributed rather easily, while the average consumer can afford it.

[escentre]

I think the real evil in business is procrastination. Decide to take actions immediately -
make it a habit

[nocci01]

Not having enough knowledge about being in business

Not knowing how to market the business

Not having the tenacity to see it through...most people give up the moment before they were just about to break through.

A start up business is just the one step of a journey of a thousand miles. Not starting up a business is a much bigger mistake than starting one that fails. I know many people who are extremely successful that will say...they are so glad they made a lot of mistakes before they finally made it. A lot of the personal develepment and motivational speakers even say that you must double your rate of failure if you want to become successful. What I'm saying is...maybe they're not mistakes...they're just little obstacles that you must overcome to make you a better person and a better entrepreneur. They're obstacles that weed out the businesses that maybe weren't meant to be. You will never know unless you give it a shot!

[Warranties-For-Less]

Good point,

In my experience, it always comes down to being undercapitalized. You can have the best product in the market and if you don't have the money to properly promote it, you are lost. Raising capital is always tough for new start ups, and nearly impossible to get funding from banks and venture capitalists, especially in a recession, so having a well written business plan is essential if going the traditional route.

For those who think out of the box, there are other choices, one which I have used is working quite nicely to fund one of my new businesses. If anyone wants the link to check it out, PM me, it costs next to nothing to get software to get started, as in only $4.99, refundable as well. Talk about cost effective means to raise capital, this is it.

Good luck to all, Mike

[blumcorey]

Top Business Mistakes:

1. Not focusing on the most important few versus the trivial many
2. Not understanding your ideal client profile - Demographic and Pyschographic characteristics

[Aqeel]

Before starting his/her own business, entrepreneur should do job to get experience. In this way, he/she has experience and can avoid some general mistakes in his/her business.

[Bhalos]

My biggest business mistake would definitely be not taking enough actions on business ideas that I come up with.

A close 2nd, is focusing all my concentration on one project until it is done.

[RandRFinance]

Originally Posted by matt_15

In most cases, a business plan is vital, when setting up a large company. Maybe not for a small business. But if you are going into a big venture, you may need to get investors for capital. If you want capital from an investor, you NEED a business plan with weight behind it. otherwise they wont think twice about backing you. But I agree, you dont need a business plan necessarily.

Yeah, I agree. If you are trying to get money from investors or banks, they s usually want a business plan to see what the business entails and projections of what the business should make. I know with our company we require a business plan, but we offer a different kind of service than most banks or financial insitutions.

[AngelRS]

Great.... These are all the very simple things which will every internet marketer do and finally becomes unsuccessful in his business.... But I think with all the above, even starting an internet business without having knowledge is one of the bis mistake everyone will do...

[jiogoal]

Start Up Mistake # 1: First, being a “carpenter” is too general. There are a million carpenters in the world, but the only successful ones have something to concentrate on. Wood carving, house renovation, specialized pieces. Like the old saying goes, “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

Start Up Mistake # 2: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. An idea is not a business plan, or a marketing plan, or even just a goal. It is simply an idea. Although the planning process may seem long and tedious now, it will benefit you more than you could imagine in the future. For example, when you are seeking funding, when you are joining an association of professionals, when your goals change, when your business changes, or if you take on a partner or investor. Your plan should guide you, but not constrain you. If something in your plan doesn’t fit just right, change it. Your business plan will never have a final draft.

Start Up Mistake # 3: Brochures and business cards are garbage to start-up businesses! You will spend far more producing them than they will produce for you. Ignoring the high cost of printing these materials, and the costs associated in designing them if you aren’t proficient yourself, most start-up businesses change too quickly for these materials to be effective for more than a short period, sometimes as little as days.

If it costs $1000 to print these the first time, and $1000 to design them the first time, imagine how much you will pay if your brochures beat statistics and last two months. If alterations to design cost $500, it costs $1500 every time your business changes. If your business changes every two months, you can expect to spend at least $9000 that year on brochures and business cards. Yes, that is NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS in lost revenue, over something that is less effective than graffiti. Don’t waste your time, or your money, on brochures and business cards until you can keep your typical sales presentation the same for at least 6 months. Otherwise, for start-up businesses, these things aren’t worth the trouble.

Start Up Mistake # 4: Okay, the Yellow Pages. Let’s take a look in the Yellow Pages and see how many other trillions of carpenters there are. Which ones stand out? Definitely not the tiny ad in the corner. Probably not the one-liner. And as a start-up, that is all you would be able to afford. For the one or two clients per year this would bring you, it is better to wait until your marketing budget can afford to buy large, extravagant and eye-catching ads.

Start Up Mistake # 5: $600 for a website and domain name? A website and domain name before a marketing plan? This scenario is already causing headaches for those of you “in the know”. Best idea for start-up businesses, design your own website for free if you can. Second best, get a friend or relative to design it for free. Third best, pay a minimal fee for the complicated stuff and the rest can be done by yourself and a relative.

[cdeneire]

not understanding yourself.

Too many people say "Not enough money". Learn to create a business without money at all... and if you suck at managing it (money) yourself, hire someone who can.

[custronadems]

Yeah, This the one of certain things which comes in business.You guessed good matter.

[sandersr]

I feel a business plan, or at least a sense of some sort of plan is always important. I have and am still in the process of setting up a few things. I have made some early mistakes of not being thourough and it created more work in the long run.

[Jessica-FrankTeam]

Top Mistakes.....
- Not researching their idea enough to truly understand the needs of the customer
- Giving up too soon and not backing themselves and their abilities
- Not planning for it to be at least 20% tougher than what you expect
- Thinking their product/service "is the best thing to hit the market and everyone is going to want it so much" and so not thinking of planning enough start up and ongoing marketing
- Not Delegating and getting help
- Not setting up systems so business "runs" without them
BIGGEST ONE: Lack of ongoing and consistent marketing throughout the life of the customer in the business.

But these are all avoidable!!!