How can you overcome common entrepreneurial pitfalls?

Before launching my construction services business for retail chains, I worked as a project manager for a development company at a shopping center. My role involved expediting retailers' store openings, which was crucial in determining the shopping center's launch date. During this time, I witnessed the challenges retailers faced when dealing with construction work on their premises, as it wasn't their core expertise. I recognized this pain point and formulated my value proposition: "I'll relieve you of the complexities with a single contract," which contrasted with their typical engagement with numerous contractors and suppliers.

If you're another 'me-too' product/service, feel free to define your value proposition early on. But if you're an innovative product/service, defining it early on itself is a pitfall. (a) you must do things that don't scale and (b) have strong opinions, but weakly held. Regardless, it takes time (years) to arrive at a compelling value proposition. This is because you'll have multiple customer segments use your product and each of them will define your value proposition in different ways. So my advice would be to define your customer segment first. Understand who needs your product the most and THEN define your value proposition. Good luck out there!

Prior to embarking on the entrepreneurial journey you need to understand your goals and manage expectations (that's before you get to the idea). - Understand what a good outcome looks like for you. Do you want to create a lifestyle revenue for you personally, or do you want to build something of substantial scale. These are very different routes. - Know that irrespective of the route you choose to take, your journey will be just that - a journey. You will have difficult lows and amazing highs, often in the same day. - Whichever route you choose get connected to people early. Mentors, investors, other entrepreneurs. Learn from those that have gone before you.

As I was building my business, I realized that finding other people with whom I could unpack the issues and proposed strategies with, was a game changer for me. I found this in the Women President's Organization (WPO) where I had access to other entrepreneurs, who were also looking to scale and grow their businesses. It was the best education I have ever received. Find a group of like-minded peers to share with, you then get diverse perspective, which then enables far better decision making and risk aversion.

One of the things that helped me was getting a coach. The entrepreneurial journey can be lonely and you need to surround yourself with people who can be brutally honest with you and people who want to see you win. The coach also keeps me accountable and focused. It is so easy to get excited by the latest opportunity and to forget about existing clients. Another thing is to be unapologetic about your time. Know what you can say 'yes' to and what you say 'no' to.

Every successful product in my portfolio went through rigorous validation. Some strategies that worked well for us were: Prototype Fast: Create MVPs to get quick, actionable feedback. Engage with Your Audience: Use social proof and early adopters to refine your offering. Iterate Relentlessly: Each piece of feedback is gold; use it to iterate until you hit the mark. and ... "Build not just what you can but what you should"

Its very important to build a Proof of Concept to your business idea. A POC would be an integral part to your business which would help you understand demand, customer needs, market size, & in return would reduce wastage of resources, & make you understand proper pain points of the customer. There are 101 ways to validate your idea. A recent example: A founder building a product for a market where his target audience were college students, went in front of every college in BLR for 2months consistently & asked questions to the students to define detailed pain points & properly validate his idea.

Build publicly by mastering the art of a web development. Using codeless web development techniques anyone can turn their pitch deck into a website and add a contact me button. This alone is 10x better than simply creating a pitchdeck as a slide show. Reason being you opening up your idea to nearly the entire planet. If someone thinks about the problem as you have, they might be inclined to search the internet to find someone offering the solution. You validate your idea by putting it out there and seeing if anyone bites. They might be your first customer, good feedback, a co-founder or an investor who comes knocking

Harsh truth - most ideas suck! We need to test our idea as quickly and cheaply as possible with real customers. Focus groups and market research may give us some insights. But these are all opinions - people telling us what they WOULD do….not necessarily what they ACTUALLY do. This is why putting our idea out in the world in front of real customers, and measuring how they behave with it, is the best way to collect evidence of whether our idea is any good or not. Building a POC is OK, but depending on the idea, this could take significant time and resources. It’s almost 2024, we can pretty much build anything we want. The question isn’t whether we CAN build something. The question is whether we SHOULD build something.

Embrace lean testing principles during your validation process. This approach emphasizes efficiency and resource optimization. Instead of fully developing a product or service, focus on creating a minimal yet functional version, often referred to as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Having a cash buffer is an important way to manage your finances for the business. Also, it is important not to take financial bets with this excess cash. Park it in a bank deposit than in a risky instrument.

Create a financial contingency plan that accounts for potential setbacks or downturns in your business. Set aside a portion of your budget as a financial buffer to cover unexpected expenses or periods of low revenue.

Managing your finances is a lesson that's hard to teach. More often than not, it's learned through painful mistakes. Startups don't die because they run out of capital. They die because they invest their limited resources (money, time, effort, etc) on things that don't contribute to the validation or growth of the company.

A huge financial mistake many entrepreneurs make is spending way too much money acquiring customers. It seems logical – the more money you spend getting customers, the more customers you will get. Unfortunately, that's not usually the case. Entrepreneurs often target too broad of a customer base. Spending more time researching your target market helps you focus, and spend less money acquiring them.

Without effective cashflow management, startups cant survive. P&L is very different than a cashflow statement and once founders start planning for cash flows effectively, it can help them scale. One thumb rule we always use for cash flow planning is to underestimate revenue and over estimate expenses - and not the other way around.

A startup is as good as the team thats driving it. The culture that is built around it and ability to continue bringing in the right talent without diluting culture is at the heart of scaling up a startup

In my experience the only way to scale is to delegate. It’s frightening at times to “let go” but done is better than perfect. Shifting your mindset to understand the value of your time will allow you to expand your reach and grow. The most critical step in team management? Hire properly. Take a while to hire and if they are not saving you time within six weeks, fire quickly.

Absolutely, building a strong team is key. But, it's also vital to remember that diversity in a team can bring invaluable perspectives and ideas. While it's comforting to surround yourself with like-minded individuals, differing viewpoints can often lead to more innovative solutions and a broader understanding of your market. I believe in encouraging a culture of open dialogue and constructive criticism. This approach can enhance creativity and problem-solving, leading to a more dynamic and successful business environment!

At the beginning of your journey, you do not need the best professionals, but people who can cope with the unknown and know how to work independently. Another factor is maintaining sincerity. Don't try to count everyone's contributions.

One of the important steps to remember before hiring is to define the roles & responsibilities. ✅ Set a Clear Organisation structure Where they are now & where they can be ✅ Outline the Benefits Not just monetary benefits, Learnings, stock options, freedom level & networking possibilities ✅ Performance Metrics Simple metrics so that they can measure themselves. Also it reduces lots of fights.

I used to say, I don't see failure as an alien thing. I love to democratize failures. Because failures are inevitable for growth Failures are directional guides Failures are experience boosters, Failures helpto rethink, relearn, unlearn &;-3

While it's true that failure is a part of the entrepreneurial journey, it's also important not to romanticise it. Learning from failures is vital, but it's just as crucial to set up proactive strategies to minimize them!!

I like the explanation that ‘failure’ is compost for future success, providing the nutrients for the next project to succeed. Very few founders are successful the first time, they learnt from the first attempts - it’s an attitude!

In all my time as someone else's employee - 15 years - I was fortunate to never be fired or laid off. In less than 2 years as an entrepreneur, I've been fired or let go by 4 clients. At first, I saw this as a failure. But what I've realized is that in those instances, there was a mismatch between my expectations and the client's. Even with the clearest communication, these disconnects can happen. And sometimes, reasons you lose a job or client are truly out of your control (such as macroeconomic conditions and forces). From all of these "failures" we learn a lot. To be resilient, to become better communicators, and to establish standards and boundaries.

Failure isn't something you can avoid but yes one can surely learn from it. With perseverance and resilience one can turn failure into success.

This is a good place to have a steering committee in that can help you on the path that mostly aligns with your opportunities and your corporation's core values.

It might sound silly, but participating in an improv-training (whether comedy, dance, music, or other) is an excellent way to prime your neurological pathways to better handle change, uncertainty, and pressure.

We started with building a community for professional Women @LeadHers. When we achieved a critical mass and engagement levels, we came up with various ways of monetisation. In a couple of years, we realised the revenue potential for B2C is limited and not repeatable in certain instances because of our niche focus. We pivoted to B2B to expand our reach and now we work with global organisations who engage with us. We are in a unique position to do this because of the insights gained from our B2C days. Net net: be adaptable to changes and please don't get hung up on your idea and product.

Be fluid! Adaptability is a skill that not only helps you overcome pitfalls, but keeps you thriving in a dynamic business environment. You'll need to stay informed on trends in your industry, embrace changes in customer needs and global economy, leverage technology, and learn from failures and experiences.

In a rapidly evolving business landscape, adaptability is a key trait for success. Entrepreneurs must remain vigilant to industry trends and shifts, ready to adapt their strategies and products to maintain relevance and competitiveness.

As an entrepreneur you’ll always have too many balls up in the air, but above all you’ll need to nail three things at all costs: - cash flow: this is where it all begins and also where it all ends; don’t follow in the footsteps of great visionaries who went bankrupt from a missed payroll - customer: this is your North Star, you exist because they want the value that you provide; make sure that you nail your product-market fit every day - culture: this is how you win because if you build a winning culture customers will flock to win with you; walk your talk and take care of your people, so they can in turn take care of your customers

Entrepreneurial success begins with a clear business plan, setting realistic goals, and prioritizing tasks to maintain focus and direction. Financial acumen is also crucial; vigilant management of cash flow and expenses, coupled with seeking financial expertise, helps avoid monetary pitfalls. A capable and diverse team is the backbone of any enterprise, necessitating effective delegation and leveraging of diverse skills to enhance productivity and innovation. Throughout this process, developing a positive outlook is vital, as challenges and setbacks are integral to the entrepreneurial journey, all while maintaining a customer-centric approach to ensure the business stays relevant and successful.

Understand that long-lasting businesses take time to build, so stay committed to your goals through all of the noise. Take shortcuts when necessary and accessible, but remember that doing the right work is hard and you will be rewarded for mastering difficult processes which will truly give you an edge.

In my experience, you overcome common entrepreneurial pitfalls by avoiding following mainstream narratives. Every venture is unique, and so is every entrepreneur. Scaling, financial leverage, and grinding are not the holy grail of entrepreneurship. You will fail, learn to recover fast and you will be successful.

Make time for mental maintenance! Being an entrepreneur is a tough lifestyle - it can be lonely, intimidating & overwhelming at times. When there are so many hats to wear and so many people to deliver for, the first thing to go out the window is often self-care. A mentally strong & healthy leader is the key to a high-performing team! Connect with others in your network to talk about the mental health challenges of being an entrepreneur - I promise you won't be alone.