Stupid Mistakes and Lessons Learned

Two posts came together this week. Steve Pavlina outlines 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed, and Justin’s Blog shares What I learned from my startup. It’s not enough to make mistakes, we have to learn, too.

Steve’s mistake list is long. He breaks it up with his own perspective and stories. Of course, not all of it applies to any one start up, but some of it is deadly accurate.

This advice is geared towards small business owners, particularly people who are just starting (or about to start) their own business.

1. Selling to the wrong people.

2. Spending too much money.

3. Spending too little money.

4. Putting on a fake front.

5. Assuming a signed contract will be honored.

6. Going against your intuition.

7. Being too formal.

8. Sacrificing your personality quirks.

9. Failing to focus on value creation.

10. Failing to optimize.

Read the whole article, 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed, for more detail on each item.

Justin is a new entrepreneur, turning a new eye on his startup.

I wish someone had told me these things ten months ago.

• Don’t hire/co-found-with your friends just because they are your friends.
• Things take longer than you think. A lot longer.
• You’d better be able to get along with your co-founders.
• Start simple, then go complex.
• Don’t forget to have fun.

Read the whole thing, What I learned from my startup.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

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