In this article, we are going to talk about the top 10 mistakes by entrepreneurs. No, I am not an entrepreneur so certainly I don’t have enough knowledge about the business field or entrepreneurship. But, the below-mentioned points and advice are by Guy Kawasaki, as an evangelist of popular brands such as Apple, Google, and Canva, he has seen enough failures to give suggestions on what not to do as an entrepreneur.
Top 10 Mistakes By Entrepreneurs:
Forming Partnership
We all want to achieve success and gain a lot of money and in these wants entrepreneurs to tend to form partnerships to reach their peak as soon as possible. But, how about you take a moment and replace the word partnership with revenue and sales. How about you focus on those things rather than partnerships? Think about it.
Befriending Investors
At last, Guy Kawasaki said that for some strange cause businessmen or entrepreneurs thought that their investors are their friends and had it good on a personal level. If you ever think that again, no matter how good the conversation goes or how easy it is to connect to the investor, they are not an entrepreneur’s friend. The purpose of an investor is just to gain 20 dollars by giving 1 to you. That does not mean you are supposed to hate your investor, but business and personal life are different and not a loyal field for friendship. The best way to build a connection is to increase their expectation.
Concentration on Domination
When you are going to start a business you are most likely to think that you are going to rule or dominate this market. But, pause, do you think that’s what Bill Gates thought when he was starting his work? Or did he just concentrate on his niches? I mean, we all know he became a billionaire and a known personality much later.
Focusing on the Pitch
Mostly the pitch or presentation happens through PowerPoint. But, truthfully PowerPoint is easy and boring. Your investor would much rather prefer a prototype because he can see the product he is going to invest in and that will give him assurance about his decision. So, the focus of the pitch should be on a prototype, not PowerPoint.
Utilizing Too Many Slides
In this world where each one of us is a perfectionist and a procrastinator simultaneously – it is hard to concentrate. You cannot expect your investor to sit and watch 30 slides and read each word written on it to understand what exactly your presentation is. Kawasaki has come up with this astonishing 10-20-30 rule, which will help every entrepreneur if they apply it. 10 slides will have to present within 20 minutes and then after that, you can present 30 point fonts.
Belief in Patents
What for real defends your company is the size, not the patent or IP. Honestly, one might not even have the wealth or time to secure the patents if it comes down to defending the company. You could never win a trial if ever a large or popular company copy your product or process. The only thing that can defend your company is its success, popularity and the market.
Multiplication of Large Number By 1%
It is a common saying when we are talking about a large amount or percentage that ‘if we can reach that 1%’. Firstly, it is not easy to crack that 1% of the share and secondly, would you invest in a company that is stuck with a 1% gain. I don’t think so.
Maintaining Control
It is a fantasy to maintain 51% and have the ultimate control over the company, according to Kawasaki. Just the moment you take money from the outside, you are working for the outsider, it is not entirely yours. According to him, entrepreneurs should focus on growing the pie instead of the share of the pie. At the end of the day, it is more practical and wise to own 0.5% of Google than to own 51% of a business that goes broke.
Scaling Rapidly
Companies don’t die if they don’t scale fast enough, rather when you are just a start-up take baby steps and create an infrastructure that is well thought out and considered. The company can die in their want to scale fast because they lack a lot of things, especially experience in the business field and scaling process.
Proceeding Serially
In the entrepreneurship field, one cannot afford to go serially, one has to go parallel. You can’t choose to complete one project first, and then go on with another one. It always has to be 10 projects or products altogether, that’s how you reach and maintain success. If you fail to comprehend this aspect of business you are going to have a hard time in here.
Also Read: 10 Books About Journeys That You Should Read
