When you start a business, you don’t know what you don’t know, especially if it’s your first one. New entrepreneurs miss out on a lot of regulatory, ethical and practical details of an enterprise. From managing staff to finances to compliance, either the entrepreneur is oblivion to these necessities or is not well-skilled to handle them.
The three most common yet camouflaged traits that many entrepreneurs forget/mishandle are
1. Not igniting the sense of ownership among the employees.
A lot of ventures start with a small team of even 3-4 people. These small teams register exponential growth as the team members work thinking of the company as their own.
People take care of their things very passionately. The difference between the keeping of a rented house and an owned one is huge. The difference in work efficiency, ethics and dedication of an employee is drastic when he/she works for salary or company’s overall profit (not only monetary). Only the proprietors can spread the ‘Sense of ownership’ among their employees. Doing so would enable others to think about the organization’s growth along with their own, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity as people won’t be working just for their salary but for ‘their company’s growth’.
Many prominent firms have started given an extraordinary incentive to their employees, i.e. employee shareholding. Employee shareholding is the ideal method to give employees a stake in the company and a share in the results of it.
2. Seeking funding at the wrong time.
New ideas of a product or service get a lot of attention, from the ‘tested’ public to the first customers and the investors. Before seeking funding, make sure you have growing customer traction. Not every start-up needs funding from external sources. A lot of businesses have thrived and exited the year with millions of dollar profit.
Delimit from looking for investors if your business can be ‘customer-funded’ and still growing exponentially.
Mismanaging your finances is also a camouflaged parasite to your business. Non-sensible salary packages, unwanted assets, illogical marketing and many other financial decisions are slow poison to the business.
3. Giving up when the loss is not your fault
Internal and external factors, both affect business. External factors include government policies, laws and reforms, natural/sudden calamities. If your business face hurdles because of any of these factors or something you have no control over – don’t shut it. No matter how severe are the losses, if it’s not the business’s fault, try and keep it afloat. And this time, be ready for uncertainties as well. A lot of firms with future potential are mopped by losses and are shut down. Don’t let your dream be one of those.
As you turn your idea into reality, making it happen and selling it to people, trust me you have it in you to reach the unimagined levels of success. Keep hustling and improving!
