Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops

Stupid Mistakes and Lessons Learned

By

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.

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.

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. NICE STUFF AND WEBSITE DESIGN

    I TOO HAVE A SIMILAR BLOG

    adityabiz.blogspot.com

    regards
    Aditya

Trackbacks

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

More of the best of Small Biz Survival