The 7 Biggest Mistakes Solopreneurs Make in Business

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur and start your own business is huge! Entrepreneurship is a rewarding journey that comes with its challenges. However, if you’re not careful, being a solopreneur can become an exhausting experience. I’ve identified 7 of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen new solopreneurs make (even myself!). After reading, you’ll be able to consciously avoid these mistakes and continue your entrepreneurial journey more equipped!

Undervaluing Their Time

Whenever I speak with a woman interested in my Girl, You Got This intensive mastermind program, I’m almost always right that they’re undervaluing their time. Your time is precious and it’s crucial that you manage it properly. Some people think they’re handling their calendars correctly because they’re always busy. The thing is, being busy does not mean you’re being productive. If you were productive, you’d find yourself with more free time. See how that works? Which is essentially why we all take the leap in entrepreneurship, right? For more free time to do the things we enjoy.

Additionally, most solopreneurs who undervalue their time are not making as much money as they could be. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “time equals money,” that saying is absolutely true. Typically when solopreneurs first get started, they’ll undervalue their time by charging significantly less than they should. Delivering an amazing product and/or service for a quarter of what the true value is. Add this onto being busy and you’ll find yourself quickly burnt out with no money to sustain your growing business.

Never Turning Off

Never turning off is the most common mistake I see solopreneurs make. When I first got started, I would feel bad if I was in bed watching TV enjoying my free time. I felt like I had to be doing something all the time or else I was being lazy and unproductive. This is bad thinking at its core because we all need a moment to unwind and turn off our minds. I partially blame the media for this kind of thinking; that in order to be successful we must work around the clock and be exhausted. That kind of thinking is dangerous and can have physical effects on our health. There’s a reason why our bodies need at least 7 hours of sleep each day.

If you’re like most solopreneurs who are building their businesses while working a 9 – 5, then I urge you more to turn off. It’s hard on the body and mind to be alert/critically thinking for 8 hours at work, then again for at least 4 hours after work. This is why it’s imperative to be productive and gain your time back so you can take a break to turn off.

Over-Promising and Under Delivering

Over promising and under delivering is the reason why so many people have lost trust in small businesses. It’s important not to lie to your audience about what your product can do for them or how your service will help them. Be open and honest on the terms and what to expect from you.

For example, if you’re an up and coming designer that sews all the garments yourself, it’s a great idea to educate your audience on that. Additionally, let them know when purchasing from you, that the turnaround time can be at least a week prior to delivery. This way, they’re not disappointed and sideswiped by the outcome. Lastly, if you cannot deliver what your client is asking for, simply say that. People will respect you more for being honest rather than promising them something that you can’t truly deliver.

No Streamlined Process

Streamlining processes is the only way to scale therefore, it’s good to begin that when you’re first starting. As you grow, you can continue to tweak the process and streamline it even more. There has to be a process put in place when going into business. This gets things done quicker and more efficiently because it’s the same process over and over again. If you have no set process in place, your deliverable and results will vary each time. You do not want to have varying results each quarter; you want predictably and stability.

If your results are varying every quarter, how will you know what to expect within the next few months? How will you know whether your business will financially support you in the future? You simply won’t! This is why having a streamlined process is key so you know what to expect. Additionally, you can tweak that process to increase sales and predict what your profit margin will be for that following quarter.

RELATED: 4 Quick Ways to Balance Your Job While Growing Your Business

Not Setting Expectations

Not setting expectations goes hand in hand with over promising and under delivering. You need to let your target audience know what they can expect by purchasing and/or working with you. I can almost say without a doubt that a person most likely will not work with you if they don’t know what to expect! By setting your expectations as a solopreneur, you’re giving your audience upfront and honest knowledge. You do not want to have an angry customer on your hands because they assumed/expected one thing and you delivered another. Negativity spreads like wildfire and you can soon find yourself with irate customers by not setting expectations beforehand.

Doing Everything Themselves

Solopreneurs love to do everything themselves because 1. It saves money and 2. They’re control freaks. I too did everything by myself for awhile until I realized the flaw in my ways. For starters, it’s a disservice to you and your business to do something you simply aren’t good at. Please, pay an expert to do the things you’re still learning. Next up, if you’re good at a task but hate doing it, then you need to outsource that to someone who loves doing it. We have little time… so doing things we hate makes absolutely no sense.

Lastly, accept the fact that you cannot efficiently do everything on your own. When you try to do all things within your business, you’ll find that nothing is getting your 100% effort. At this point, you’re just trying to get the task done so you can move onto the next task. Your business will suffer all around by doing this. Make the small investment and hire someone to help you!

Unnecessary Overhead Expenses

Unnecessary overhead expenses is nothing but throwing your money out of the window. You do not need to have the latest and greatest to become successful. The only overhead expenses you should have is for the things you actually need. Take note of the programs and/or things you’ve bought simply because the industry leader has it. This would be another example of money spent that’s unnecessary for your business right now. Don’t get pulled into the vortex of shiny object syndrome.

I hope these tips help you to avoid the many mistakes I’ve seen and personally made when I first started my business. It’s easy to fall into these mistakes with the media constantly impacting our thinking. Keep your business in mind before you make any decisions and utilize your time wisely!

Until next time ASSASSINS. . . Stay Disciplined!

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