8 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Bypass Early Business Problems

In business, mistakes happen to even the most seasoned of entrepreneurs. As a new entrepreneur, you will be faced with business challenges on a daily basis, and not every decision made will go as well as you might like. Some missteps are small enough that you are left with just a little regret, while others can be monumental in how they affect your total operations.

While these mistakes shape you as an entrepreneur, a lot can be learned from those that have forged ahead of you, things that can help you reach the pinnacle of success at a faster rate. To be successful in business, you need a little moxie, a lot of luck, and, of course, some determination. This can pull you through the tough times and make those potential mistakes easier to bear.

To help you along, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared the biggest mistake that they’ve ever made as an entrepreneur in an attempt to save a newbie from make the same mistake. Here is what they recommend:

1. Stay Focused
Not staying focused is the biggest mistake I’ve made as an entrepreneur. It can cause you to lose your relationships, friends, family and business as spreading your attention across multiple ventures decreases the full potential across them all. Focus on one key-value driver and grow that to full saturation before starting on something new. Learning to say “no” is key to ensuring your success. – Monty Elsabbagh, Boss Revenue

2. Surround Yourself With People Who Motivate You
You need to surround yourself with people who are more intelligent than you and more experienced than you, as well as people who have a positive outlook on life. These types of people will push you to be the best you can be without dragging you down. – Albert Swantner, Bohemian Innovation

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
The biggest mistake I made was being afraid to fail. I wish I could have gotten my biggest screw-ups out of the way earlier on in my career. Also, I didn’t reach out for help enough early in my career. I didn’t know what peer groups were, I wasn’t seeking out mentoring and I didn’t read much. It was a mistake not to take what I was doing at the time seriously, just because I was young. – Adam Dailey, FunLy Events

4. Start Sooner and Figure It Out as You Go
The biggest mistake I’ve made as an entrepreneur was not starting sooner. The truth is there will never be a perfect moment, and you’ll never have all the answers. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said it best: “An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.” Just start and figure the rest out later! Just start, the rest will fall into place. – Johnathan Solorzano, Solo Media Inc

5. Admit What You Don’t Know
One of the biggest mistakes you could ever make as an entrepreneur is saying you understand or know something when asked, when you really do not. In admitting there are gaps in your knowledge or abilities, you allow others an opportunity to help you and showcase their talents. No one likes a know-it-all. – Paul Ford, OrchestraRx LLC

6. Choose Your Partners Wisely
Finding the right partners occurs at the beginning of the journey, but if you choose incorrectly, you start heading in the wrong direction, and you will have to start over from the same place. Vet your co-founders, and make sure you share a vision and strategy. – Eddie Le, Lumos Partners

7. Embrace All Learning Opportunities
I thought that I had to know all of the answers for my company as the founder and CEO. Because of this, I neglected networking events and opportunities to grow my business with more established organizations. I feared that my lack of experience and knowledge would show. Now, as I have gained experience, I realize that I should’ve embraced the opportunities to learn from others by working with them. – RJ Bates III, Titanium Investments, LLC

8. Make Sure Your SEO Efforts Are Good
Don’t sleep on SEO. We did and it takes a long time to recover from it. At the same time, a lot of so-called SEO and marketing experts are great at marketing themselves but not your business. Choose an SEO consultant wisely and definitely get first-hand referrals.- Ron Justin, GroupGets LLC

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