Starting a business is usually an exciting and scary time for any entrepreneur – there’s the joy of creating the company that you’ve always wanted and the anxiety of not knowing whether it will succeed or not. The lack of experience emerging entrepreneurs have undoubtedly leads to mistakes, but Manny Garcia, a vetted serial entrepreneur, has a list of mistakes that you should avoid as you begin building your business.
Garcia was born in New York but moved to the Dominican Republic as a child. At the age of 14, his family relocate to Miami. Watching his mother work three jobs in order to put food on the table is what pushed Garcia to find a job to help her, and at 14, he started doing small jobs in his neighborhood such as washing cars and mowing lawns. Coming from poverty and barely speaking English, Garcia struggled to find his footing but failure wasn’t an option and led to him building multiple 8-figure businesses. According to Manny, here are some of the mistakes that emerging entrepreneurs must avoid:
Not setting attainable goals
While every entrepreneur has a big dream they want to achieve, it’s imperative for them to set realistic and attainable goals. Getting into business with a vague grand idea and no concrete plan is setting yourself up for failure. Set specific long-term and short-term goals, with steps on how to achieve each goal.
Poor hiring strategy
As an entrepreneur, you should be very selective when hiring employees for your new business. Poor hiring strategies can result in disrupted projects and wasted money; therefore, ensure that you hire skilled people for each role.
Rushing things and wanting to expand too quickly
Every entrepreneur’s goal is to grow and scale their business, but this only happens over time. It’s very tempting to want to expand as soon as you see your first profits, but patience in combination with strategy is crucial before attempting to scale.
Failing to focus
As an entrepreneur, you should set clear goals and objectives and stick to them. You may come across ideas that look great, but if they do not align with your goals, don’t pursue them at the risk of losing focus.
Not thinking about marketing
Marketing is an integral part of a business that’s often overlooked by emerging entrepreneurs. It’s not enough to just have a good product or service if your target audience doesn’t know you exist. Invest in SEO, PR, paid advertising and content creation to build brand awareness.
Manny Garcia’s tips on mistakes to avoid will undoubtedly help any entrepreneur as they embark on their own journey.
