10 fatal mistakes starting a business on the Internet. The ten most common mistakes entrepreneurs make. No test plan

20.07.2021


Renat Batyrov
Founder of the Pilot Group of Companies, General Director of the Skolkovo Technopark

It's good when a startup is organized by a person who has business experience, reputation, connections, money, a team and everything else. But more often than not, startups are made by people who don’t have any of these things. There is not enough money, there are no business, personnel, production management skills. As a rule, there is no economic and managerial education. And in the case of student business projects, no completed education at all. Not surprisingly, the path to success lies through many mistakes. Even experienced managers and entrepreneurs make them with enviable regularity, and I am no exception. However, for me, a professional is just the person who made a lot of mistakes. The child falls a lot before starting to walk. Imagine if, after twenty attempts to get on his feet, he would say: "That's it, I'm tired, I won't do it anymore, it's better to crawl." I made many mistakes in business, but, fortunately, there were more correct decisions. Almost all of the mistakes listed below are familiar to me firsthand: some I continue to make to this day, others I observe from the founders of many companies with whom I have worked. I hope these examples will help aspiring entrepreneurs to look at themselves from the outside.

Mistake 1. Wrong target selected

People decide to start their own business for a variety of reasons. When young entrepreneurs ask me for advice, I usually start by asking “Why do you need this?” Here are some typical responses:

"I want to make money." The truth is that in business it is much easier to lose money than to make money. The press loves to write about success stories, but in the graveyard of losers - silence. Even if you are among the lucky ones whose business becomes successful, you will first need to achieve operational efficiency, then return the investment, then return all the debts that have accumulated, and then reinvest, because the growing business needs it. Only after that you can start paying yourself something.

"I want to be free." In reality, you become a slave to your business for several years. We'll have to work hard without days off, holidays. Your hired employees can get up and go to another company at any time. Shareholders can sell their share. But the captain will sink along with the ship and all the debts.

"I want respect." If you succeed, strangers will probably respect you more, which is not the case with your family and friends. After all, the time to communicate with them will be significantly less.

“I want to fulfill myself – to grow and learn.” You can also learn while working in a corporation. AT own business you have to do it at your own expense, on your own mistakes. Do not forget that the price of self-realization is high here - this is time, health, missed opportunities.

"I want to be a business owner." Even if at some point it seemed to you that you have your own business, in fact it is not yours. You are highly dependent - on the supplier, distributor, inspection bodies, employees. For example, in consulting law firms leaves with the employee client base. So in 99% of cases your business does not belong to you.

"I want it to be fun." The life of a businessman, unfortunately, does not consist of secular receptions. Unpleasant conversations with the tax authorities, banks, creditors, laid-off employees are an essential part of the life of an entrepreneur.

"I want to secure my old age." I have to disappoint you - your business will most likely die before you. In most cases, you need to strive to ensure that a growing business is profitable to sell. Today, there are fewer and fewer companies that outlive their founders.

So why is it really worth becoming an entrepreneur? When I started my business, of course, I did not think about high matters and developed more or less in accordance with Maslow's pyramid. I needed money to meet my basic needs as a student, then to provide for the financial well-being of the family, then I enjoyed helping others. But the further I go, the more I am convinced that many prominent businessmen today are seriously aiming to change the world.

Mistake 2. If you want to do well, do it yourself

At first, I did everything myself and tried to concentrate as many processes as possible around myself. The result is low efficiency, burnout and demotivation of employees. Rule number one for me today is to delegate everything that can be delegated. You can re-educate yourself in a rather unusual way - by cultivating laziness in yourself.

Of course, at the first stage you will have to do a lot with your own hands, but the main thing is to stop in time. In my first company - "Pilot" - we, the three founders, at first wrote the code ourselves, installed networks, set up servers. Earning opportunities were limited for us by our own time. Then we started hiring technical specialists. However, financial, legal issues, business development remained in the hands of the founders for quite a long time, about five years. As a result, the current work took almost all the time, and there were no opportunities for the development of new directions. The company began to develop much more dynamically when the heads of individual areas appeared, to whom it was possible to transfer 99% of the work. All that was needed was to find these people, train and motivate them. This process took several more years. Real life began when I found a person for the position of executive director. Five years ago, I completely stepped back from operations management.

Mistake 3. We are playing for time

A quick decision, even one that is not very correct, is better than a decision that takes a long, long time to make the right one. It is better to understand later that you are doing something wrong and correct the course, or even turn around 180 degrees, than to waste time and the pace of development. I consider the speed of decision-making one of my most valuable qualities. Though it hasn't always been with me. I was once offered to invest $100,000 in a mobile app development company. I thought for a long time whether and where to get the money. I ended up investing in something else. After 2 years, 50% of this company was worth about $3 million.

Mistake 4. Forget the business plan

The inability to count money fails even large companies that are over-credited to such an extent that their obligations at some point exceed their ability to pay them. I once (despite my financial education) paid a high price for not being able to keep proper records in my investment projects. Until you have a reliable financier, you will have to figure out how financial accounting and bookkeeping work.

Mistake 5. Fans of a business plan

The other side of the business plan situation is blindly following it. The situation is changing so quickly that at some point the plan must be adjusted, try new things, take risks. A few years ago, when we created Fabrika IT Park, financial director said: “Renat, the payback period for this project is 248 years. I don't recommend you invest in it. Not because he is bad, but because a lot has changed in 248 years.” I decided to create an IT park after all. As a result, we reached payback much earlier than planned. Although the investment is still not returned, in this project I discovered hundreds of new people, the opportunity to create and participate in my own technology business was an incredible experience. If we had followed the plan, this would not have happened.

Mistake 6: Security gaps

Information, legal, industrial security is not what entrepreneurs think about in the first place. And at some point they fall into a trap. You definitely don’t need to focus on this maniacally, but you shouldn’t forget either. The very idea of ​​a business is not a secret. But your technology, your customer base is confidential information that should be protected.

Mistake 7. We believe in the word

All agreements must be recorded in writing. First of all, of course, we are talking about partners and the team. I still make this mistake today, but less and less. It would seem that there is no discovery in this - we talked, agreed, fixed. But in reality, it turns out that we talked, parted, and after two weeks it turned out that you understood everything differently. Once, following the results of negotiations, I decided that my share in the business was 40%, and then I discovered that the company had already been sold to other people and I was not in it.

Mistake 8. It's just a job

If you do not like what you are doing, if there is no passion for the business, then the chances of success are much less. Yes, and productivity suffers, including the speed of the brain. If you perceive business only as a source of money, then this money can not wait. Passion for business not only increases your own motivation, but also helps to “ignite” other people, your team.

Mistake 9. Money is everything

Many startups today are ready to immediately sell themselves to the investor who will pay the most, and the ideal investor for them is the one who will not interfere in the business yet. And in vain. The real value of an investor is his connections, opportunities, experience, advantages: distribution channels, technologies, reputation. Some money is not enough.

Mistake 10. Life on loan

I thought for a long time and, to be honest, I continue to think that while you can work for your own money, you need to work for your own. Maximum for loans. The longer you go without an investor, the more thoughtful and efficient your business will be. Often, the investor's money, and especially grants, go to the detriment of the project. An investor is needed when other sources for development have already been exhausted, and this negatively affects the speed of the company's development.

Before attracting an investor, take a close look at these three dimensions of your business:
— technological maturity of the project
- Developed team business skills
- mental maturity, "adulthood", the ability to take responsibility for one's actions, to clearly analyze them.

Mistake 11. Money doesn't smell

It happens that a person comes to you and offers a fantastic way to get rich at lightning speed. Something very fast, light, but not very legal and generally smelly. The temptation of money is great, but all such stories that I have seen have ended sadly. Around you and your business should be only those people whose value system matches yours. How to understand that your value systems are identical? This means that you have the same idea of ​​what is good and what is bad.

Mistake 12. Dumb and dumber

Hiring employees who are dumber than themselves are more likely to be hired managers, but founders also have this weakness. It is usually dictated by the fear of competition - too strong an employee can bypass his leader. However, a team where the participants do not have enough knowledge and experience, leadership qualities, desire to grow and develop, will not go far. The caravan moves at the speed of the slowest camel. Your company is growing at the speed of the most mediocre employee.

Mistake 13. I will make all the money in the world.

This, of course, is a personal choice of everyone, but thinking only about business, you risk losing a lot of other things - family, health, friends, passion. This option doesn't work for me. Finding yourself a lonely, sick old man with nothing to remember but the World Cup of money making is not something worth starting a business for and taking daily risks.

Recorded by Marina Sipatova

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Talking about what a novice entrepreneur should do is not entirely correct. There is neither a general law of success for, nor separate recipes for each of its possible areas that would always work flawlessly. But the experience accumulated over the years and empirical material allow us to talk about what definitely cannot be done by those who decide to open their own business. Of course, you can acquire wisdom by stepping on all the rakes yourself, but it’s better to use O. von Bismarck’s formula: “Only fools learn from own experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others."

Underestimating the experience of others

Often how it turns out: a person reads the biographies of great businessmen (J. Rockefeller, H. Ford, S. Jobs) and is inspired by their successes. It is interesting to read about takeoffs, moreover, they are. The reverse side - overcoming failures, mistakes made play the role of episodes and often go unnoticed. We forget how things really are - that success is months, or even years of preparation behind a screen, and only an hour in the spotlight. Based on this, it is worth remembering that it is always necessary to analyze someone else's experience in two planes - “worked” and “failed”. The second is often even more useful, although much less is written about it.

Hope to sell an idea

Investors very rarely invest in ideas. Investing is as much a business as what you do. Would you yourself invest in a product that does not yet exist? Therefore, when trying to find funding, you should at least have several hundred pre-orders for it. And even better - a working model has already been sold to a certain number of people. It is clear that this is just an example, the essence of which boils down to the fact that it is very difficult to sell something that does not exist. To do this, you must have at least strong evidence that the idea is needed at all.

Trying to make everything perfect

In other words, the notorious perfectionism. Briefly this mistake is described by the well-known saying: "The best is the enemy of the good." Many startups are stuck in their first project because they have been trying to “smooth corners” for too long. As a result, it either failed, because it was impossible, and they lost a lot of time, or competitors from among other enthusiasts did it, albeit worse, but faster. And remember only the one who was the first. In our time, this statement is especially true. Therefore, it is very important to understand that it is impossible to make an ideal product in all respects. As good as the iPad is, it doesn't change the fact that millions of people prefer tablets from Samsung and many other manufacturers.

Start a business to make money

In any case, this will be your goal, otherwise opening your own business loses all meaning. But here we are talking about creating a business not with the sole purpose of making a profit, but also with the goal of solving a problem. In other words, as experts note, it is very difficult to build a long-term strong business on trying to make money “on the wave”, on trendy items and phenomena. More successful are those companies that are not driven by the search for a niche where you can quickly earn money, but think of the product as a tool, passion, hobby. Often it is they who create something that turns the view of the world.

Create the product or service you want

Today it is no secret to anyone that the market lives according to its own objective principles and laws. Therefore, taking on the implementation of your idea, think about how the buyer will react to it. Will he be interested in your offer? Are you doing exactly what the market needs? Otherwise, doing what you want and what only you like, you run the risk of "burning out." Even the giants of the industry spend millions annually on marketing research. It is clear that at the stage of creating a business you will not have such money at your disposal, but you will certainly have the opportunity to use the Internet. This is already enough to determine, with a skillful approach, how potential buyers will react to your product or service.

All focus on money

"Where to get money?" is a global issue that worries all start-up entrepreneurs. Spending points can be different: hiring specialists, renting production space, purchasing, logistics, and much more. This is all very important. But focusing on money alone is wrong. In business, the ability to find and use other resources is not the least important. When renowned entrepreneur MJ Gottlieb became a licensed partner of Samsung America, he didn't get a dime from the Korean company. But at his disposal were production facilities, the best accountants, a distribution network and everything else belonging to the technology giant.

Personnel policy and cooperation

Finding good specialists for a project that is at the beginning of its journey is not an easy task. Not everyone will share your ideals and approach work with the same enthusiasm as you. You should be prepared for this. But in no case should you approach this issue without the due degree of attention. Check the people with whom you have to work. Choose partners, suppliers, not only based on the price of their services. One more thing. It is very common for us to recruit relatives and friends into the business. This is bad practice. D. Ogilvie wrote that only by stepping on a rake several times on his own, he was convinced that it was impossible to hire his relatives or relatives of clients to work. First, it is harder to fire them if they fail to do their job. Secondly, even if they are better than everyone else, you will not get rid of the talk about what exactly their bosses are promoting up the career ladder and forgiving everything. In such conditions, it is difficult to create. Thirdly, by firing such an employee, you will jeopardize the relationship with him or the client.

Underestimation of competition

Young projects often tend to describe their idea as one that has no analogues, and, therefore, has no competitors. This is mistake. Something truly unique is created very rarely. Even if the market today has nothing in common with what you plan to produce, it is not a fact that it will not appear tomorrow. Market analysis will also help in this regard if someone has already tried to implement a similar idea before, but failed for various reasons. In other words, you should ask yourself the question not only about how strong the competitors are, but also to figure out what is the reason, if there are practically none.

Lack of focus

It often happens that in search of their place in the market, a young entrepreneur grabs several ideas at once and works on their development in parallel. Dmitry Alimov, a Russian entrepreneur and managing partner at Frontier Ventures, says this approach is unacceptable. “In the eyes of an investor, the lack of focus suggests that the team doesn't really believe in any of these projects. People waste their time and effort by chasing a few rabbits, which significantly reduces the chances of success, as focused teams tend to win. As someone who has built several businesses myself as an entrepreneur, I am sure that a truly serious opportunity cannot be tackled half-heartedly.

Sacrificing a customer for profit

Having reached a certain level of development, the question arises of further expansion of the business. The main thing here is to avoid a number of mistakes. A radical change in the positioning of a product or an improvement in service, associated with a sharp increase in prices, can turn your loyal audience away from you. Similar mistakes were made even famous companies. For example, "Oldsmobile", a manufacturer of cars that were positioned as cars for middle-aged and elderly people. In the wake of interest in retro, this division of GM produced an advertisement for young people that was supposed to present their cars as "cool". Failed - advertising remained misunderstood by young people. Even worse, some of the previous customers left, which caused sales among the target audience to fall.

Bymaterials

    Inconsistency of the organizational and legal form with the goals and objectives

    Many start-up entrepreneurs (limited liability company): this is supposedly more solid than an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur). If you are a designer, a private developer, a photographer, or your small business is creative, IP status is optimal. To work in a team, and unite on the basis of a contract.

    Today, large and serious organizations are actively resorting to outsourcing. No one will be embarrassed by the contract with the IP. Many companies outsource copywriters and photographers and enter into contracts with them as with individual entrepreneurs. But last month, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a ruling, recognizing cooperation with individual entrepreneurs as a tax evasion scheme.

    To register an individual entrepreneur, constituent documents, a seal and an authorized capital are not required. But individual entrepreneurs are prohibited from certain types of licensed activities (for example, retail strong alcohol), and for obligations they are liable with all their property. If you want to open branches, subsidiaries or plan to merge with other companies, then register an LLC.

    Study the issue in detail and choose the optimal reporting and taxation system in order to avoid problems in the future.

  1. Incorrect definition of activities in the charter

    LLC and JSC ( joint-stock company) in their charter sometimes incorrectly define the types of activities. The firm sold stationery, and then began to provide legal services.

    Violation is punishable under Art. 14.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation “Violation of the legislation on state registration legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. The prosecutor's office will turn a blind eye for the first time, but for a repeated offense they can be disqualified for a period of one to three years.

    Children's institutions (camps, clubs, etc.) are strictly checked. If your organization is engaged in educational or medical activities without a license, there will be serious problems.

  2. No license

    Sometimes entrepreneurs shift the profile of unlicensed activities and work in the direction of an adjacent, but licensed one. For advocacy, it is enough to obtain the appropriate status, and for a detective, a license is needed.

    Educational activities in the play center or children's section are educational, licensed activities. Some IT services are licensed. So, Cisco received a license from the FSB for encryption. Computer equipment that cannot be operated without a license is determined by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 313 of 04/16/2012.

    Article 12 of the federal law "On Licensing Certain Types of Activities" contains a corresponding list: the production of medicines, aviation equipment, weapons, fire safety, communication services, educational and much more - more than 50 positions in total.

    The activity specified in the list without a license and causing damage to third parties threatens with a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or arrest for up to six months (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

    Illustration: istockphoto.com

  3. Confidence in your own legal competence

    Small businesses often save on legal services. Experienced entrepreneurs believe that they do not need help and conclude contracts themselves. The result is litigation costs.
    Aspiring entrepreneurs handle marketing, advertising, bookkeeping, and legal paperwork themselves to control all business processes. Solving all issues alone is difficult. In good companies, all processes take place with the participation, and sometimes under the guidance of a lawyer.

  4. Inattention to reporting when participating in tenders

    According to many, public procurement tenders are a direct way to enrichment. But the companies whose goods and services they buy budget organizations are subject to counter tax audits. Your accounting and legal documentation must be in perfect condition, all taxes and fees have been paid, and debts to the budget have been closed. Otherwise, problems cannot be avoided.

  5. Non-Compliance with Advertising Laws

    In advertising, the use of images of children is limited. If you manufacture goods and provide services to minors, you must comply with the law "On the protection of children from information that is harmful to their health and development."

    Any word in an advertisement must be documented, and in the first place - "the most", "best", "No. 1", "leader", "absolute", "only" and the like. In order to avoid FAS claims, many companies add: “probably”, “possibly”. “Probably the best coffee in the world,” is how they write.

  6. Violation of labor law

    Companies violate the regime of work and rest, wage rates, conclusions, changes and termination employment contract, including upon dismissal, do not comply with the law when hiring foreign workers. Violation Labor Code entails not only large fines (for improper storage work books- a fine of 50 thousand rubles), but also criminal liability.

    With individuals who are not individual entrepreneurs, instead of a labor contract, a civil law contract is often concluded that exempts the employer from contributions to the social insurance fund. Payment for work under such an agreement is made at the end of them; basic and educational leave, sick leave, night and overtime work, etc. are not paid. The fine for such a violation can reach up to 100 thousand rubles - if the labor relations are proven in court.

  7. Working with an unverified partner

    Products or services can be sold on credit (sometimes without a contract). It is also necessary at the preparatory stage: check the extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities / EGRIP on the website of the Federal Tax Service. The partner may change management or liquidate the firm, which is not reflected in the register. Therefore, you need to find out from the filing cabinet of arbitration cases, whether the partner is going bankrupt, and check the status of the company on the website of the Federal Bailiff Service.

    The FAS also maintains a "black list" of unscrupulous service providers. Perhaps in public procurement your partner has shown himself with negative side. You should be alerted by the company's zero tax reporting. In the contract with the partner, provide for interim measures: forfeit, surety, pledge, retention of the debtor's property. Then the probability of sueing at least part of the debt increases.

  8. Solving problems through "trusted" people

    Many entrepreneurs turn to lawyers and go to court when they have been robbed by "tested" people. "To negotiate" is illegal, short-lived and dangerous. The well-being of business is built not on bribes, bribery and false documents, but on the law.

  9. Ignorance of their rights and freedoms

    If inspection bodies, police, investigators came to your office - no checks without relevant documents. Seizure of your documentation is possible, on the basis of a decision of the investigator, interrogating officer or with the approval of the court.

    According to Art. 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, no one is obliged to testify against himself. According to Art. 48 of the Constitution, everyone is guaranteed the right to receive qualified legal assistance. Remember: silence is not only golden, but also your freedom.

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Those who believe that the main thing in business is to start, and then everything will go by itself - they are deeply mistaken. Many entrepreneurs are forced to close the business they started after a short time, as the business did not even bring in a minimum income.

It's not so bad when the enterprise simply does not bring the income that you expected. It is much sadder when, due to the mistakes made by the entrepreneur at the start, the enterprise simply cannot continue to exist.

We have formulated the most common mistakes in business, which are inherent in almost any field of activity. To prevent the failure of your business, you need to know your enemy by sight!

The desire to rent a room at the lowest price

Many aspiring entrepreneurs think that in order for a business to flourish, it is necessary to strive to reduce costs as much as possible in everything. It's a delusion. You need to be able to correctly prioritize and understand where you can save money, and where such savings can be fatal.

If renting a more expensive space (for an office or for placing equipment for production) will bring any advantages, then you should definitely do it.

Hiring your friends and relatives

When you are just starting your own business, especially if it is the first one, it is always difficult to let strangers into your business and immediately begin to trust them. In this regard, many make a big mistake - they hire their relatives, friends and acquaintances in their company, arguing that "I know these people well, trust them, and they will not let you down."

In some cases, this strategy may work for you. However, more often it happens otherwise, and after a while you already begin to regret that the accountant in your company is your aunt, and the sales manager is a close friend. First, by prioritizing friends and family as your employees, you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to hire truly professional people who could bring much more value to your business.

Secondly, working together with your loved ones is always a potential enemy for your relationship. And when you act as the boss for your relative or friend, then the danger begins to hang over your business. After all, people with whom you have family or friendly ties are far from always professionals in your business. And pointing out their mistakes, and even more so firing them, is morally difficult.

Purchase of used equipment

Yes, in some areas of activity such a step would be reasonable and justified. However, it's worth considering carefully - won't you spend much more money on the repair and maintenance of used equipment than on buying a new one? This is where the famous English proverb comes in handy: "We are not rich enough to buy cheap things." Apply this principle wisely to your business as well. And this applies not only to the purchase of used equipment, but also to the purchase of new, but cheap and low-quality equipment.

Having invested a considerable amount in equipment at the start, you will later save more than buying cheap or used equipment. Why? Because it will serve you longer and will not require frequent repairs and replacement of individual parts.

Setting low prices for services or goods

Most often, this is done in pursuit of more customers and they argue like this: “I will put a small price on my services or products, and customers will immediately pour in to me.” Customers may fall down (although this is also far from a fact, since an unreasonably low price raises doubts about the quality of the product), however, with such a strategy, your business risks becoming bankrupt.

When setting your pricing policy, consider what you will need to pay wages employees, maintain equipment performance (repair, replacement), pay rent, etc. Adequately estimate the cost of your product, and consciously underestimate it is the lot of inexperienced and not very smart entrepreneurs.

Refusal of professional services and neglect of consultations

Do not rejoice if you managed to hire an accountant or lawyer who asked for low wages. Usually, professional work you are unlikely to wait for such an employee, and subsequently he will simply “sink” your business. The knowledge and skills possessed by true professionals in their field should be paid accordingly.

Also, if you need a one-time consultation on a business issue from an expert, it is better to use it if you feel that you are not able to solve the problem yourself. Yes, such consultations can be expensive, but they can be a decisive moment in the success or failure of your business.

Denial of any loans

This issue is quite controversial. With regard to loans, a large number of both "for" and "against" can be cited. But imagine this situation: one businessman took out a loan for a certain amount of money for two years, and immediately invested it in the business. And another businessman decided to accumulate the same amount of money on his own in the same two years. What do we get as a result? The first businessman has already started his business and is actively developing it, winning customers, establishing relationships with partners and suppliers, etc. And the second businessman will be able to do all this only in two years, and when he enters the market, he will immediately face a serious competitor who has been “in business” for two years already.

Of course, obtaining a loan is associated with certain ones, but no business can exist without risks. The main thing is to analyze them correctly and wisely approach everything that could potentially cause any losses.

Curtailing an Ad Campaign That Didn't Deliver Instant Profits

Undoubtedly, it is important to track the results that your advertising campaign has given and to study its effectiveness. If it is ineffective, it is worth switching to another type of advertising or combining several types at once.

However, it is not always worth waiting for an instant result from a promotional event. You may have several clients in the first days of starting advertising campaign, and in a month / six months / a year - a whole customer base will appear.

Excessive nobility towards employees

Treating your employees fairly is the right thing to do. But what is justice? If you hired an employee who does not cope with his duties already in the first month, what will be more fair: fire him or give him another chance, since he has not had time to prove himself yet, and he has small children at home and a car loan ?

Being kind to people is great, but why should you turn other people's problems (in this case, the employee's problem is the lack of knowledge and skills) into your own problems?

Endless love for your product

We will not argue that every entrepreneur should love what he does. If you don't believe in your product or service, chances are you shouldn't be doing it. But "blind" love for your product can also be a fatal mistake in business. In addition, no matter how great and perfect your product is, it will not solve problems with poor management or illiterate advertising campaigns.

Not admitting your own mistakes

Perhaps the biggest and most unforgivable mistake of entrepreneurs is that they do not know how to learn from their own mistakes. As one experienced businessman said, “in sports you are a student for no more than a year, but in business you are a student for life”. You should not assume that having twisted quite a bit in the business environment, you already know everything and are able to do everything. Continuous improvement of oneself and one's enterprise is an indispensable condition for a successful businessman.

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