8 Mistakes That Can Bury Your Entrepreneur Career and How to Avoid Them

In the world of business, success can't be emulated. Every entrepreneur started their business in specific market conditions and played the moves with different hands. However, the mistakes are all the same. They can be made regardless of industries and current circumstances. That is why, if you want to start a successful business, you should try to avoid common pitfalls rather than try to follow the footsteps in shifting sands.
Let’s take a look at a couple of mistakes successful entrepreneurs never make twice.

Over-promising and under-delivering

Finding investors and stakeholders that will be willing to financially back up your small enterprise is harder than you think. It is understandable that you need to “sweeten the pot” during the initial pitch and present your company in a positive light. What you should avoid is to constantly make unrealistic promises to stakeholders and fail to pass milestones afterward. Keep your expectations realistic and be honest about them or you will quickly lose the confidence of all involved parties.

Believing in perfection

In the world of business, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Falling for perfect product gaps, untapped markets, and charismatic presentations is incredibly easy. You should be smarter than that and keep your feet firmly on the ground when you feel you might be swept away. On the other hand, seeking the unachievable level of perfection within your company and products can slow down your business and make you hesitant. So, forget about the word perfect altogether.

Playing too safe

Playing safe definitely has its merits. It works for Apple, it works for Disney, why wouldn’t it work for you? Well, these companies have rock-solid business models. Take a look at their history and you will discover their founders took huge risks in the moment of their inception. The startup landscape is much more dynamic and volatile than the “big league.” You won’t be able to grow unless you take a couple of risks and use small windows of opportunities opening all around you.

Refusing to change

On the other end of the business ignorance spectrum is the belief that you have a fail-proof business model and don’t need to change it even though you're failing. What makes this situation even worse is the fact that you might be right, but only need slight adjustments to be successful. Let’s take location for example. New Zealand presents a scaled down and less competitive version of the western economy with easy access to Oceania and Greater Asia. If you are constantly failing, why wouldn't you simply relocate?

Indulging themselves in comfort

Speaking of New Zealand, it is hard not to notice that one of the reasons local startups are so successful is the frugal atmosphere in which the whole startup community operates. For instance, a lot of newfound businesses choose to hire companies like Avis Car Rental that offer various discounts and benefits to corporate clients rather than burn their funds trying to build their own parks. Remember you are working to produce working capital, not amenities. The time for them will come down the road.

Lying to yourself

This is the only thing worse than lying to others. Why? Well, if you constantly seek the causes of your failures in others and avoid accountability for your actions, you won't only crash-land your startup into the ground. You will gradually adopt a victim mentality and completely lose the ability to cope with difficult situations. Growing means learning from your mistakes. And in order to learn something from mistakes, you first need to identify them and be brave enough to take responsibility for them.

Spreading too thin

It is easy very easy to look at people like Elon Musk and think that developing several business projects at the same time is easy. However, not even Musk could do that in the early stages of his career. Before he built his Tesla empire and started exploring space, the man worked on a small project called X.com which later evolved into PayPal. Only after cashing in on this chip was he able to plant the seeds for these other ventures. So, stay focused on one project and put all of your efforts into it – at least for a start.

Trying to change others

We talked a lot about the importance of adaptability and self-growth on this list. The sad thing about the business world is that, in order to stay competitive, you must force these things upon yourself, but don't expect to find them in other people. It's just the way the world goes round. Every one of us grows and changes their mind in a unique pace. That is why you should stay open-minded and eager to learn, embrace the bitter-sweet inevitability of Murphy's Law and brace yourself for a lot of tough people in the future.
This list could go on forever, but you get the gist. If you ever want to succeed in the world of startups, you should leave your emotions home, and stay with two feet firmly on the ground but be brave enough to explore new ventures and think out of the box.
No one said it’s going to be easy. But it’s definitely possible.