ARE you thinking of starting a business.
If you are – avoid these silly mistakes, otherwise your business will fail.
Slow and steady doesn’t win the race
Most new businesses fail because they don’t have enough money. If you move slowly it will take that much longer before you make your first buck and even if you are already bringing in some cash, that’s not enough you have to be profitable. Time is not on your side, so do whatever you can to get your business out there and making money. I know you probably don’t want to cut any corners, but the reality is you will have to cut a lot of corners to survive.
Emotions and businesses don’t mix
Let’s face it – you think with your emotions, whether you like it or not. Don’t worry, it is not just you, we all do it. You will have to train yourself to make decisions based on logic, even if your emotions are telling you to do something else. You need to make logical decisions. Emotions don’t mix with business, because they force you to do what will fix your hurt feelings, instead of what is best for the business.
Don’t hire too quickly
Doesn’t  it sound nice to kick back, relax and just watch all your employees do all the work for you, while the money rolls in? You know you want to do all this, so how do you make this dream come true? Well, it isn’t by hiring people, right when you are starting your business, you will have to do more work than you would want to.
Hiring is a great idea, but if you don’t understand what the employee’s duties are, how they are going to accomplish their tasks, and what road blocks are – it won’t work. You will just end up hiring employees who don’t meet your expectations. Before you hire someone for a new position, make sure you first put yourself in their shoes. Once you understand what that employee is going to face, or go through, you can then hire someone to fill the position.
It doesn’t matter what you want, what matters is what the customer wants
Do you have a cool idea for your business? Maybe it’s a revolutionary product that will change the world or better yet it’s something you dreamed about since your childhood days. I hate to say this, but it does not matter what you want, you should be doing what your customers want, as they are the ones paying you. So before you invest much time and money into a cool idea. Find out if your customers want it. You can do it through servicing them and by trying to understand what type of problems they are facing.
Money doesn’t grow on trees
I know, it technically it doesn’t grow on trees, but you know what I mean. Because capital is one thing that new businesses lack the most. You have to be cautious with your spending. Save every penny you get, because you never know when you are going to need it. This may mean that you have to pay your employees less than they need to survive or bargain down your supplier price even though your supplier is your best friend.
Do whatever you can to save a buck
And don’t be shy because if you never ask, you will never receive.
There is nothing wrong with being in the trenches
Being a CEO sounds good, but it really isn’t. Being a CEO doesn’t mean that you get to boss people around and tell them what to do. It means that you are responsible for the well being of the company. The only way you can ensure that the company is going to do well. When you first start out. Is by being the trenches.You should be talking to your customers, understanding their pain point with your product or service and even dealing with customer service issues. By being in the trenches you will be able to determine what steps your business needs to take to cut profitability
The best partner is a business partner
There is only so much you can do on your own. When you start, you won’t have a tone of cash to hire employees, so how do you get work done without paying people. You find a business partner.
A business partner will not only work harder than most of your employees, but he or she won’t cost you a dime. Well other than equality in your business
There is nothing wrong with asking for help
You are not a sack of all trades. You will always have a lot of questions, and let’s hope you will always be learning how to answer them. In the meantime, if you are looking for questions to your problems, make sure you ask other entrepreneurs. There is nothing wrong in having a few mentors you can rely on for advice.
The best part about it is that most mentors will do it for free. It is their way of giving back to the entrepreneur community, so go out and look for a mentor because if you think you already have all  the answers you need, you will be in for a treat.
All work will make you a dull person
If all you are doing, you need to take a break or else working throughout will burn you out. Take a break occasionally, this will give you time to have a good look of your investment and make fresh plans.
The author is women in business consultant under the name Morvac Business Consultancy. For contributions to this article. Email: mulozwimwangala@yahoo.com or contact number 0977705884