Common Mistakes to Avoid Before Opening for Business

If you’re eager to start a business, here are common mistakes to avoid before opening for business. You’ve established your business, so what’s next? Maybe you are thinking about opening your doors?

Understand how you can avoid these costly pitfalls faced by many new entrepreneurs. Be smart as we highlight what you need to know — from sales, human resources, to running your business to success.

Below are 25 common mistakes to avoid before opening for businesses. We have included also the 25 corrective activities on how you can avoid these common mistakes.

25 Common Mistakes to Avoid Before Opening for Business

• Lack of proper business planning and projections
• Not sitting a business at the ideal location
• Being in a hurry to open. Slow down and prepare yourself for success
• Lack of focus: specialize, specialize, specialize
• Lack of on-the-job experience
• Inadequate research and testing: test your market first
• Lack of a well thought-out, written business plan
• Lack of working capital
• Not opening quietly to work out the shortcomings
• Poor advertising signs: make them big, clear and readable – simple is good
• Employing untrained staff
• Poor relationship (partnerships) with vendors or suppliers
• Unfocused marketing plan
• Not using the advertising media that works best for your specific business
• Not considering legal business registrations and  insurance
• Ignoring possible problems, and related health, safety and security issues
• Not recognizing your limitations (SWOT Analysis)
• Ordering from a vendor without a written purchase order outlining all terms.
• Launching a new product or service without test marketing it first.
• Being satisfied with unprofessional logo designs, company name, website, attire, packaging or advertising.
• Opening while your cash flow projection is not positive for the first 12-month period.
• Competing with discount chains without efficiently serving a specialized need.
• Failing to meet federal or state rules regarding standards and approved business practices.
• Being afraid to say “no” to poor credit risks.
• Depending on your customers to complain; they won’t just come back.

Related: 40 Small Business Ideas You Can Start With Little or No Money

25 Suggested Activities on How to Avoid These Mistakes

• Use a “before you start” checklist. Shop around for cheap materials.
• Now, before you start, develop a database of future customers (email and mailing list).
• Evaluate growth possibilities and plan growth direction.
• Continue to review, develop and update your business plan, stating how you will raise money and market your product or service.
• Don’t be everything for everybody. Specialize. Specialists outperform non-specialists.
• Continue to develop your budget, including proposed expenses for displays, advertising, promotions and online marketing.
• Prepare a plan for growth possibilities. List potential problems and possible solutions.
• Funding, real estate, transportation, office equipment, internet access, and uninterrupted power supply are going to be the most important part of your business; so you want them to be as reliable as possible?
• Start with your personal savings. Consider your suppliers as a source of financing. Ask for credit sales.
• Attend seminars and classes. Use our premium tools and resources to revamp your merchandising and marketing skills and ideas.
• Stay current: read current trade magazines, newspapers and books. And subscribe to trade newsletters.
• Minimize inventories by ordering system and a just-in-time delivery.
• Network: join the local chamber of commerce, a business association or a local charity. Talk to anyone and everyone in your field and collect business cards.
• Attend openings and promotions of businesses like yours.
• Hire slowly, develop and maintain an employee handbook. Don’t be afraid to let employees go if they are harming the business.
• Train your employees thoroughly in marketing skills.
• To start out, become personally involved in selling your product or service. Keep your skills and knowledge current.
• Keep careful financial records on what items were sold and amount paid. Keep records for your business experiences.
• Open quietly to work out the key challenges before you schedule the grand opening promotion.
• Have a ground opening and offer discounts to attract your first set of customers.  Focus on selling a great product or service at a fair price.
• Branding is everything. Don’t just focus on the interior: paintings, wall portraits, landscaping, signature and general appearance.
• Design and print good business logo, letterhead, branded T-shirts, rollup banners, flyers, invoice/receipt, business cards, etc.
• Include the Internet in your marketing plans with a well designed website viewable across different devices.

Wrapping up: Common Mistakes to Avoid Before Opening for Business

Developing a small or large business idea into a workable project is a matter of creating a vision,
leveraging your strengths and determining what the market needs.

Before you proceed further in your business, get completely qualified! The best way to become qualified is to go to work for someone in the same business. Attend all classes you can on the skills you need: for example, accounting, computing and selling, etc.

Read the entire “How To” books and eBooks you can. Seek help from the most successful people in your intended business. Ask questions and seek solutions from experts.

With free access to resources available on our platform, you can now assemble your business plan simply by
using the Microsoft Word template we provided.

Our free Business Plan Template provides a wealth of information to help you document you business model, visualizing your capital expenditure budgets and projected return on investments (ROI).

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