Ahmed Bakran - Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid
Running a business is hard. There are many components; finances, growth, customer acquisition, human capital, and much more. One of those is not taking the time to go out and meet your clients. According to Ahmed Bakran, it is important to meet your customers, to spend time with them to understand their needs and wants, and how you can adapt to make them happy. Many businesses fail because of a lack of customer service, adaptation, and communication The customer remains the best source of information to establish and refine the business model and evolve your value proposition. Thinking there is no competition by Ahmed Bakran One mistake that an entrepreneur thinks is he has no competition. There is always a form of competition, direct or indirect, notes If there is no identified competition, then it is important to ask the question: Is there a market?
Competitors are not just those who have a similar product or service. They are also the ones that respond to the targeted issues, potentially with a very different solution. It is important for business owners to demonstrate how the proposed solution differentiates from their competitors. Omit the Assumptions that Justify the Projections Behind each forecast, it is necessary to be able to explain the formula on how you are making your projections. Is it based on hard data, or based on empirical information? There are certain facts that you can collect (i.e. customer base, market opportunity, demographics). Just remember to balance your facts and be realistic with your growth projects. For example, an entrepreneur thinks about signing 5 clients in year 1. Maybe he will only sign 3 but possibly 7 as well. Understand why th projection of 5 customers was chosen and what is the strategy put in place to achieve it, Ahmed Bakran suggests.
Thinking that the Project will Generate Cash Immediately All businesses at the time of creation lose money. Some are longer than others due to the nature of the activity which requires more time to generate money. The creation and development of a business are time-consuming. It is often necessary to go through the stages of a roadmap, business model, business plan, and funding. In addition, customers are generally not going to jump in en masse and instantly on your product or solution. You have to build traction and credibility, generate references, not to mention a good product, it takes time and costs.
Don’t Worry About the Different Personalities in your Team In my opinion, the team is the crucial aspect because an entrepreneurial adventure remains above all a human story. A business requires 3 primary skills: being able to sell, produce and manage the business, which no entrepreneur has at the same time. He must therefore demonstrate how he will surround himself to compensate for these shortcomings: recruitment of experts, build partner relationships, and subcontracting. By building out a team, he can complement his skill set and get the breath of knowledge he or she will need to expand the business. Thus, helping to take a step back and make the right decisions. Follow Ahmed Bakran advice to Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Must Avoid.