I hate to break it
to you, but if you're starting a business, you're going to make mistakes.
The truth is that entrepreneurship involves a lot of trial and error
and experimentation, so it's inevitable that you'll mess up along the way.
The good news
is that while you can't avoid all errors, you can learn from the mistakes of others
and hopefully make fewer of them in your own business.
In today's video, I'm going to be sharing the ten big mistakes
that many entrepreneurs make when it comes to growing a business.
These mistakes can lead to huge issues,
but luckily they are totally preventable if you know how to plan for them.
I'll also be sharing some tips and resources
to help you tackle each of these problems.
Head on.
By the end of this video, you'll know what to focus on while you build
your own business to have the best possible chance of finding success.
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Learn with Shopify.
I'm your host, Stephanie Pellet, and I'm a coach for creative entrepreneurs.
Every week on this channel,
we bring you new content to help you build a better online business.
Our videos cover everything from email marketing to e store
design to customer retention, so if you're not already subscribed,
be sure to hit that button below to be notified about upcoming episodes.
Contrary to popular belief, growing a successful business
is not a straightforward, linear, predictable journey,
the way it can look from the outside.
Ask any successful entrepreneur and they'll tell you about all the times
when product flopped or when they launched a campaign to crickets
or when they lost money because of a bad decision.
Mistakes are a normal part of the process, and rather than seeing them as signs,
we should quit, we can treat them as the important learning opportunities
that they really are.
Mistakes give us data that can help us make better choices in the future.
As Henry Ford once said, "The only real mistake is the one
from which we learn nothing." That being said, there are some common mistakes
that are totally avoidable with just a little preparation and foresight.
So today I'm going to be sharing some of the biggest pitfalls for new entrepreneurs
and how you can avoid them in your own business.
Of course, you'll still make plenty of mistakes of your own,
but you can rest easy knowing that you're doing everything you can
to proactively address these common issues and help your business succeed.
And make sure you stick around until the end of the episode,
because I'll be sharing a free video series full of advice for new business
owners from some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.
Number one.
Not writing a business plan.
Here's what will probably happen if you don't take the time to write out
your business plan.
First, you won't have a clear sense of your target market or the forces
affecting it.
You also won't necessarily understand your ideal customer
or how best to reach them.
You won't know what your priorities
are for the business or what you should focus on first.
And worst of all, you probably won't have a good understanding
of your financials or your cash flow.
The result is that you may end up making a lot of reactive decisions
that may not necessarily be in the best long term interests of your company.
Your business could suffer simply because you didn't properly
anticipate all the risks you might face.
A business plan is what allows you to see the big picture
and make better choices that are strategic and intentional based on your goals.
When you write everything down,
you'll be forced to carefully examine every aspect of your business
and make a plan for any gaps or unknowns that you uncover.
Obviously, you'll still run into roadblocks
you never could have predicted, but with a business plan in hand,
you'll be a lot more prepared for the road ahead.
And if you need help writing your business plan,
we have a free template that can walk you through the process from start to finish.
Click the link in our description box below to access your free copy
of the template.
Number two,
not focusing on cash flow and profits.
If you aren't making money, you don't have a business,
but if you're not making a profit on the income you earn,
then your business will not be healthy for long.
Many entrepreneurs focus all their attention on the income
they're generating without being mindful enough of their cash flow,
expenses or profits to figure out how profitable your business can be.
You need to do a bit of simple math: profit equals
demand times revenue minus expenses.
That means that if your expenses are too high
or your demand is too low, your business will end up in the red.
So make sure that your accounting for your true expenses
in all areas of your business, such as your operating costs,
your shipping materials, your online presence, and paying for your team.
Make a point of looking at your numbers every day, or at least every week,
and be ruthless about cutting costs wherever you can.
All the customers in the world won't matter if your expenses
outstrip your revenue and your operating at a consistent loss.
Now, if you're new to the concept
of cash flow management, we have a whole video devoted to the topic
that will teach you
how to keep track of your numbers and prepare cash flow statements.
Be sure to check that out using the link below.
Number three, not assessing your business idea.
It is so important to figure out if you have a viable, realistic business
idea before you spend time, money, and energy launching it into the world.
Now, if you've written your business plan, as we mentioned in mistake number one,
then you will probably be covered here.
But it's such an important factor that we're giving it its own section.
When you're assessing your business idea, you need to be thinking about more
than just the product or the service itself,
because let's face it,
if you think selling something is a good idea, chances are
there are a lot of other people who think so, too.
This shouldn't discourage you from trying, but assessing your competition
and your niche are very important
steps to take before you invest a penny of your own money.
If your chosen niche is crowded with other sellers
without a lot of demand from buyers, it might not be the easy
money or low hanging fruit that you imagined.
So do your research, determine whether your chosen niche
is just a short lived fad or if it's likely to grow over time.
Pay attention to how much buzz this niche is currently getting and what its
customers are complaining about and take note of your major competitors
to figure out some smart ways to differentiate yourself from them.
Most importantly, do not be afraid to walk away at the idea stage.
It is a lot less expensive to quit now
rather than after investing in a business that just won't work.
And if you decide that your business idea isn't quite right, don't worry.
There are a lot more great businesses where that one came from.
In fact, if you're looking for inspiration,
check out our big list of over a hundred in demand
business ideas broken down by category.
Grab your copy using the link below.
Number four spreading yourself thin with products
If your initial products aren't selling.
It can be easy to think that the solution is simply to sell more products
so that you can attract more customers This is risky for a few reasons.
Mostly, it can be expensive to invest in new inventory,
especially if you're still carrying products that you can't sell.
But even if you're running a drop shipping or print on demand store,
where the financial cost to add new products is relatively low,
the cost to your brand could still be high.
When you clutter up your store with lots of disparate products,
you run the risk of diluting your brand values and your messaging,
which can be confusing and off putting for your customers.
Remember that your brand is an extremely important element of your business.
It's what sets you apart and keeps your customers coming back for more.
So while it's totally normal to add new products to your store over time,
be sure that you're
evaluating each new product idea in terms of how it supports your business
and your brand as a whole, and not just whether you think it can sell
every product or service you offer should feel aligned
with your business values and speak directly to your ideal customer.
Number five not investing in organic marketing.
Paid marketing can be a great tool for entrepreneurs
who are just starting out
and may be struggling to grow their audience and their reach.
On this channel, we have several tutorials for how to start
your own paid ad campaigns on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.
But while paid marketing can be great, it's also important
that you invest in organic marketing through creating content
like valuable articles, email newsletters and helpful videos.
Unlike paid ads, which will only be seen as long as you put money behind
them, organic content can last for years on the Internet,
bringing traffic to your website through referrals and search.
In fact, more than 70% of clicks on Google search results go to organic results
rather than ads, and the first five organic results
get more than 67% of all clicks for any given search.
Translation.
Overwhelmingly, customers don't really click on ads.
Instead, they're looking for helpful content
that fits their interests or solves their problems.
So when it comes to creating content, the key is to build your strategy
around your ideal customer, rather than only writing articles
about the benefits of your product or your service.
Focus on what would be useful or interesting to your clients.
Think about what kinds of things they might be searching for,
and then create content that meets that need.
The more that you can connect to your audience in this way,
the more free, ongoing traffic you'll be building in your business
for years to come.
Number six, not thinking through freebies and contests.
As we mentioned before, focusing on profit
is one of the most important things that a new entrepreneur can do.
Which is why it can be dangerous to your bottom line
if you rely too heavily on the popular practices
of offering freebies, contests and giveaways.
These marketing techniques are often recommended to business owners
who are just starting out because they can be a great way to grow
your brand awareness and your audience size.
But they can also be expensive, especially if you're
regularly donating your valuable inventory.
Not only that, but if your customers see that you are constantly
offering giveaways,
they could become less motivated to purchase your product themselves.
So rather than overspending on contests and freebies, be strategic.
Make sure that you can afford it by choosing to give away products
or services that are inexpensive for you to provide or ship.
Instead of going it alone, try to partner with a larger business
to take advantage of their increased reach and bigger audience.
Or you could skip the contest altogether and instead offer
your freebies as a bonus gift with purchase, which drives sales
rather than one off giveaways, which don't typically lead to customer conversions.
Whatever you choose, make sure that your contest or freebie
is a good fit for your niche, your ideal customer, and your brand values.
Number seven, not hiring help when you're bootstrapping your own business.
It can be hard to decide
when to stop going it alone and start bringing in people to help you.
As I mentioned a few times today, profit is key in business,
so it can be scary to think about adding to your expenses in order to hire help.
But on the other hand, most entrepreneurs quickly reach a point where it is
no longer possible to manage the business all by themselves.
You may not have enough time or energy for everything that needs to get done.
Or maybe you just have other priorities like spending time with your family
or taking time off.
Either way, don't wait too long to get yourself some support.
If you're nervous to spend the money to hire, help just start small.
One tip to remember is that when it comes to automating or eliminating tasks,
hiring systems can be a lot less expensive than hiring people.
For example, most CRM and eCommerce software solutions
cost less each month than just a few hours of a worker's time.
So they can be a worthwhile and relatively inexpensive investment.
And when you are ready to hire a human, prioritize
offloading the necessary but tedious tasks
that take up your time but don't require your specific expertize.
For example, things like inventory, uploading, doing your bookkeeping or data
entry over time, you can continue to grow your team
by filling in knowledge gaps with contractors,
freelancers, or employees who can help you grow your business even further.
Number
eight, not knowing your target audience
while not assessing your business idea is pretty bad.
Not knowing your target audience is arguably worse
because while it's possible to build
multiple useful businesses for just one ideal client,
it's a lot harder to start with a product and then go searching for customers.
You might have the coolest new invention on the market,
but if nobody is interested in it, your business won't succeed.
So when you're starting a business,
make sure that you know your ideal customer inside and out.
You'll want to figure out things like what their pain points are,
what they're interested in, the kinds of topics they care about.
What other kinds of brands
they love or what their goals and dreams are for themselves.
The easiest and cheapest way to do this is to talk directly to your customers
or to the kinds of people you hope will become customers one day
as you get to know them.
Put together a customer profile that can start to act as a compass
for you to better serve your target audience and meet your customers needs.
Number nine, not Having a Solid Marketing Plan.
Here's a startling fact: marketers with a documented strategy
are 313% more likely to report success in their campaigns.
Clearly, it pays to plan, especially when it comes to marketing.
And the good news
is that a great marketing plan starts with understanding your ideal customer,
which you've already taken care of thanks to this video.
When you have a good
understanding of your clients, you'll know the right language, visuals
and incentives to use to entice them to learn more about your business.
Knowing your target audience also helps you figure out which marketing channels
will be the most effective for selling your products and services.
For example, if you sell beautiful jewelry and accessories
you might have more success on a visual platform like Instagram
than you would on LinkedIn.
So while there is no one size fits all strategy for marketing
there is a strategy
that will be perfectly tailored to your business and your clients.
And if you take the time
to make sure that this plan is in place from when you start your business,
you're much more likely to find steady and sustainable growth.
Number ten, not securing intellectual property.
Last but not least, make sure that you're fully protecting yourself
and your intellectual property as you grow your business.
Intellectual property is any work or invention that is the result
of your own creativity or original ideas.
This could be your marketing slogans and branding materials
or the content of your online course or even your product idea itself.
This tip won't be relevant to all business owners, but if you create
intellectual property, it's important to take steps to protect it.
Using tools like copyrights, trademarks and patents.
That way, if your intellectual property is ever stolen,
you will have the right to defend it in a court of law.
And if you aren't sure where to start, be sure to check out our blog post
all about protecting your intellectual property, which outlines
tips and information on getting legal advice for your business.
And share some links to helpful resources.
Click the link in our description box below to read more
about this important aspect of entrepreneurship.
So there you have it the top ten things that new
entrepreneurs often neglect when starting a business.
By tackling these common issues up front,
you'll be avoiding some of the biggest factors
that have the potential to sink a business in its early stages.
You'll still inevitably make some mistakes along the way,
but you can take comfort in knowing that you're doing everything you can
to help your business grow and thrive.
To get even more support on your business journey,
be sure to check out our free video series E Commerce Inspiration.
Inside, you'll find interviews with some of the world's most successful
entrepreneurs, sharing their best advice for new business owners.
If you learn from the best, you're more likely to be the best.
So click below to hear what these entrepreneurs
would have loved to know when they were just starting their own businesses.
As I mentioned before, one common mistake that new entrepreneurs
make is not investing in the right tools to help them grow their business.
We are a little biased, but we think Shopify is the world's
best ecommerce solution for business owners at all stages of growth.
Whether you're just starting out or have grown many successful brands
already, Shopify provides tons of tools and features
to help you create a beautiful store that stands out,
showcases your products, and helps you connect with your customers.
Plus, it's totally free to try out the platform for 14 days
if you're ready to start growing the business of your dreams.
Come, start your free trial using the link in our description box below
Now I know it can be tempting
to just jump in to running a business and figure it out as you go.
But taking the time to work through each of the steps I covered today
can make a huge difference in terms of building a more sustainable business
for the long term.
So I'd love to hear in the comments below.
Which of these mistakes are you going to tackle first in your own business?
And if you've been a business owner before, what is the biggest mistake
you've ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it?
And before you go.
Be sure to check out our video all about validating your product ideas.
By doing so, you can save yourself tons of time and money
by not investing in products that just won't sell.
Another common mistake that entrepreneurs often make.
For now, I want to thank you so much for watching.
I'm Stephanie Pellet, and I'll see you next time.