Nigerian Entrepreneur

That online business is easy to start and cost little capital to kick off does not mean you can just start one and achieve success without proper approach. Just as easy as it is to start, so it is easy to pack-up.  Experts claim that about 90% small scale businesses fail within the first five years. The failure rate for the online home based business is worse. Too many home based online entrepreneurs get confused and frustrated within the first six months and they end up packing-up.

If you are really serious about starting a home based online business and making success of it, then you need to learn from the pitfall of others so that you do not end up like them.

1. No written Goal and Plan

If you don’t know where you are heading to, you will end up arriving nowhere. Starting an online home based business without having a proper written Goal and drawing up a blueprint of how you intend to arrive at the goal is sure road to business failure! If you write out your goal and spend time developing a blueprint you will discover potential pitfalls and hurdles that you are likely to meet on the way. Also, it will be easy to evaluate your progress by comparing result with expectation.

I know you want to ask, is it necessary? Are those stuff not for big entrepreneurs? Well, you want your home-business to be as successful as that being run by those big entrepreneurs, don’t you? If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, then you must think and act like a successful entrepreneur. If you think and act like a mediocre entrepreneur, you will end up failing. Don’t join the millions that pack-up their business within the first year because they failed to follow tested business principles that ensures success. If you are into a hobby and don’t care about establishing a business that will outlive you, then this point can be neglected.

2. Failure to Learn from Successful Entrepreneurs

Why will you embark on a journey into the unknown without a guide? Why will you put your business at risk when you can safely learn what it takes to be successful? To be a successful home based entrepreneur, you must be prepared to learn from those who are already successful. The learning process is continuous and cannot be boycotted.

You can be rest assured that more than 90% of successful entrepreneurs were not born with special skills or as genius. They all learned the skills that make for success. Now, you have two options to choose from. You can either learn everything from scratch all by yourself, or you learn from those who have already paid the price!

If you ask for my opinion, I can assure you that you will save yourself a lot of heartache by learning from the mistakes and success of others. You will make better progress if you take time to research and identify those who have achieved success in the area of business that you are interested in. Gather as much information as you can about their experience. Then go ahead and replicate what they have done.

The fastest way to achieve success in any endeavor is to get a mentor who has already achieved the kind of goal that you are aiming for. That way, you can cut down the amount of time you need to learn the vital principles that produce success. So, I will recommend that you get a business mentor to guide you.
It is not a difficult thing to do. Simply approach one or two successful home based business owner and politely request that you want them to be your business mentor. Hey, will a successful entrepreneur be willing to share his secret? I used to think that successful entrepreneurs won’t be willing to share their success secrets. Well I know better now. Quite a good number of them are willing to teach their home based business secrets free of charge.

You also need to learn from your peers. Get at least two other newbies like yourself and network with them. It doesn’t matter if you are in competing in the same niche (market), the opportunity available is more than you all can exhaust. So instead of hoarding information from each other, you can share tips and tricks and offer help to one another. Such business networking will provide you will much needed resources.

Here is a practical example. There is this set of online entrepreneurs that I admire so much, they are commonly known as WAHM (Work At Home Mums). They make good use of the principle of networking and mentoring. If you happen to be a WAHM newbie, I suggest you join one of the WAHM communities by visiting http://www.wahm.com . Just ask for help in the communities and you will be surprised at the kind of warm responses you will get.

3. Attempting to Build Successful Business Empires overnight

If you want to achieve success overnight, I suggest you stop right here because  reading further will be a waste of your time. Patience is a virtue you must learn as a newbie entrepreneur. Irrespective of how well prepared you are and the kind of opportunity you get, you will need to spend some good quality time in growing your business. If you want to build a business enterprise that will outlive you, then you must be ready to work hard and delay gratification.

You will be better off if you view your business as an empire being built instead of a get rich overnight venture. Too many newbie entrepreneurs have fallen victim to scammers because they wanted to become millionaires overnight. If you are looking for “Get Rich Quick Magic Formula” you will simply get scammed!

4. Failure to Make Budget and Keep to It

One of the temptations small business owners faces is that of wanting to launch their home business with the latest business gadgets and tools. This usually is the first step in a wrong direction. Since you are new in business, you are better off keeping your home business budget very low.

While I encourage you to think big like well established home based business owners, I don’t advice that you spend big like them. Why must you insist on starting your business with the latest Apple Mac when you can use your old desktop PC? Nobody will know what I used in typing this article if I don’t tell them.

You will need to make several financial decisions. For example, you may need to buy office equipment/tools, purchase software, pay for internet connection, set up a website and pay for advertisement. As a new entrepreneur, you must be wise enough to distinguish between necessities and luxury. I suggest you make optimal use of available free resource first before spending money on commercial products. Always avoid embarking on a spending spree that will send your budget into deficit. Why must you spend several dollars for the latest Microsoft Office Suite when you can make do with Open Office for now? Nobody will know what word processing software you use in typing a letter or email if you don’t tell them!

5. Failure to Study The Market and Keep Close Watch on Competition
The business world is dynamic and not static. You must keep yourself updated on what is currently working, what is in vogue and what the consumers are doing. There is no room for vague assumptions. If you don’t know what the consumers want, then you won’t be able to satisfy their need and they sure will go elsewhere. So, always keep a close watch on the market and the trends.

Also, you need to study what your competitors are doing. If you study what they are doing and relate it with the current trend in the market, you will be better informed to offer quality products and services.

6. Jumping From One Business Idea to Another

Several home based business owners lack focus and commitment to their vision. After working on an idea for few months, they abandon it for another idea that looks more appealing. This is not the right attitude to business.

Be prepared to work on your goal until it becomes a reality, or you discover beyond all doubt that it is not feasible. Jumping from one half-completed project to another cannot make you a successful entrepreneur.

It is natural to feel discouraged at some point, but you must remember that Quitter’s don’t win, and Winners don’t quit. Hurdles are natural part of the entrepreneur’s journey. So, don’t give up.

7. Failure to Keep Proper Business Record

Successful Entrepreneurs keep proper records. Not just of financial transaction, but of every issue around their business. If you keep records, it will help you during periodic review of your business performance.
Also, it will enable you to know over time, methods and principles that work and those that leads to failure. It is compulsory that you keep a journal (hard-copy or digital) where you record the day to day happenings in your business. This can be very valuable later in life.

Of course, proper financial record keeping is a must. Your financials will tell if your business is healthy or not. There are free resources you can use to keep financial records; however, it is advisable to employ the service of a professional accountant for this aspect of the business. If you look hard enough, you can get a professional accountant that will be willing to offer charges that are negotiable instead of the normal professional fees. Please note that if you fail to keep proper records and pay your taxes as at when due, you can either lose your business or even end-up with a lawsuit initiated by tax authorities.

This post is pretty long, so I will stop here. Your feedback will be much appreciated. You can get future updates on 7 Mistakes Home Based Online Entrepreneurs Should Avoid by subscribing to my RSS Feeds, Cheers.

Tags: Business Ideas, Business Startup, Business Tips, Entrepreneur, Home Business, Online Home Business, small business

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur, Investing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.