Over your lifetime, you are going to look back and think “Geeze, why did I do that?” about mistakes that you could have easily avoided if you had given them a lick of thought. It is not that you are gung-ho or thoughtless, it is just that life has a way of blinding you to the obvious from time-to-time. Allow this article to remove the blindfold to some of the most common millennial entrepreneur mistakes.
1 – Learning From Failure is a Mistake
Millennials have been brought up in the culture of “Everybody gets a trophy for attending,” which is why many Millennials think that advice such as “Studying your failures will help you succeed” is good advice. People quote how Edison took 3000 attempts to make the light bulb, and how he learned from his mistakes and succeeded. Nobody ever points out that maybe Edison was rubbish at making bulbs.
2 – Not Learning From Success
In a world where Millennials have been taught that they are unique and special, it is hardly surprising that they do not learn from their success. They think that their success occurred because they did everything right, but that is rarely the case. If you do not study your success at length, then how you will ever repeat it?
3 – Starting Big And Expecting Success
The company resumeble.com tracked the most common reasons for startup failures in their executive candidates, and they discovered that most start their business with massive debt because they start big and then fail. Start small and build your way up. Open up a lemonade stand first rather than buying the lemonade factory first.
4 – Creating And Then Selling
Young Josephine wanted to design shirts and wanted the money to buy shirt making and printing equipment. Her business adviser said, “Firstly, design a shirt, get ten pre-orders, outsource the creation/printing and see how well you do.” Josephine advertised her shirts aggressively and received no orders. Imagine what sort of trouble she would have been in if she had bought all the shirt-making/printing equipment and never made a sale.
5 – Treating Estimates Like Predictions
It isn't just Millennials who do this. If you have ever watched an episode of Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den, you will see people who treat profit estimates like profit projections. If you have any profit estimates, then you are probably wrong. Most companies lose money for years before they eventually make a profit, but this is not the version of events that students are taught in schools.
6 – Putting Learning Last
Somebody from a previous generation may say, “I am going to work in a frame store for 20 years and then open my own.” Millennials say, “I am going to open my own frame store and learn as I work.” Guess who fail and who succeed.
7 – Mistakenly Thinking That Starting Part-Time Is Not An Option
Millennials are told by the modern media that they need to jump in with both feet, to burn their bridges, and to succeed above all else. Yet, the only genuine way to ensure success is to run your business in your spare time away from your regular day job. To slowly start with nothing and then work your way up is the only way to build a foundation for success. When the business is successful enough and can only expand with more of your time, only then should you start thinking about running your business full-time.
8 – Trying To Be All Things
Again, when kids are brought up listening to songs from S-Club 7 about reaching the top because everybody is special, and by Eminem about how anybody can make it if they are angry enough, Millennials try to do it all alone without getting help, outsourcing, and especially without accepting advice. Then, when failure arrives, they blame everybody from their parents to the government.
9 – Picking A Poor Brand Name
Millennials are not the only perpetrators of this mistake. For example, the UK post office was renamed “Consignia” for 15 months before being changed to something more suitable, and that was named by baby boomers. Still, social media has made “Trendy” more important than substance, which is fine for social media, but in the real world a trendy brand name has no value.
10 – Ignoring Sales And Marketing
Anybody with a startup idea will almost exclusively concentrate on the invention, design, or production process, whereas the heaviest lifting within a business is always the sales and marketing process. You may be looking forwards to designing your own range of door knockers, but 90% of your business time will be spent selling and marketing those knockers.
Conclusion – Worried Yet?
It is not fun being lumped under a stereotype. Obviously, not all millennials act like they are special, entitled or unique. But ego is probably the biggest business killer of all, so ask yourself, can you be humble enough to point the finger at yourself and say, “I recognize the dumb mistakes in this article because the same ideas have crossed my mind.”
About the author:
Mary is a thriving perfectionist, genuine explorer and recruitment enthusiast at CV Service Resumeble. She likes to gather experiences and share them with everyone who is interested. Mary believes that a great career always starts with great passion.