When you start a business it can be both the best and worst period of your life, as there are a lot of joys and despair to be found. Obviously, more often than not, you want to be the one avoiding the despair. To do that you need to avoid a lot of the common mistakes that typically come with starting your first business. So many people have made these mistakes over the years, so why shouldn’t you learn and avoid them in your own business?
As such, here are six of the most important things to avoid when starting a business – though this is by no means an exhaustive list, there are plenty of other things to avoid too!
1 – Spending Too Much Money
When starting a business, the art of spending money is all too easy. Spending money is both necessary for business growth as it is harmful to your pocket. Spend too much or too little could affect your business either way, so it’s important to find the right balance and move forward steadily.
2 – Working with Friends
Don’t ever work with friends, at least not when you’re starting your own business. If you fall out, the repercussions can be personal, legal and even financial in the long term. In the long term, you want to do business with someone who you can break off with completely and not have to deal with outside of work. It may sound like a harsh philosophy, but it will help to protect you for the foreseeable future.
3 – Only Planning for Success
Okay, so you have a Plan A and it’s going reasonably well. But, then… it doesn’t go as well. In fact, it slowly but surely shifts into being a little bit of a precarious situation. If you are prepared, this is when Plan B through Z needs to kick in and take over whatever is going wrong for Plan A.
Only a badly thought out business doesn’t have a backup plan when it comes to the way they operate and they often fail during hard times. In such times, it is always best to have the opinion of experienced commercial law Manchester counsel in order to ensure you protect your business however possible.
4 – Pursuing Dead Ends
As a first-time entrepreneur, it can be easy to fall in love with what you’re doing. However, just because you love something does not necessarily mean that it works. Knowing when to let go of something, in business, is often as valuable as skill as pursuing it in the first place. Though the dead end may be bittersweet, it can often open new doors and opportunities that you may never have even noticed had you not let this one thing go.
5 – Moving Against Your Current Employer
When starting a business, you are often starting something that you know a lot about and, as such, it is likely to be an industry you work or have worked in. This means that starting your business could actually be frowned upon or even seen as an aggressive move by your current employer (if you have not quite to follow this venture).
If you are starting a business which is similar to or the same as your current or very recent past employer, then it may be best to receive professional advice on the matter from commercial litigation solicitors Manchester. Such a solicitor can help you to understand the legal side and whether or not you are crossing any lines. If you are, then they can also help you to navigate how to best avoid any legal issues or problems that may result from starting a business.
6 – Eggs and Hatching
Have you ever heard of the expression ‘counting your chickens before they’ve hatch’? The same logic can be applied to business, both new and old. The fact is that until the money is in the bank, the dotted line is signed and so on, you can’t rely on anything. Doing so could potentially put your new business at risk and leave you open to financial and legal hardships.
At the end of the day, starting a new business can be very difficult and there are a number of pitfalls you will need to learn to avoid. If you successfully manage to navigate these issues, then you could find yourself with a great deal of success without as many harsh lessons along the way. Which is not only beneficial for you but also the long-term viability of your business.