13 Most Common Entrepreneurial Pitfalls

It seems that everyone on Instagram is an Entrepreneur or a CEO. What used to be a high risk and scary choice, has now been glamorized into fast money, luxurious lifestyles and ready-set-go businesses. A picture is worth a thousand words, but the stories behind the glossy pictures is anything but fancy. I know the true stories of self-doubt, self-sabotage, and business burnout.

I hear from so many of my clients about how easy it looks for other people. They think they just need to follow a five-step program and all of their business woes will be resolved. There has been a recent surge in “experts” and DIY business, which can be an amazing asset if you know exactly what you’re looking for. What tends to happen is business owners are searching for tactics to band-aid their business. They want an easy or quick fix to solve the immediate issue.

More often than not, the issues business owners are experiencing are related to what’s going within them. Whether it’s a rocky relationship, an unhealthy environment or an internal self-doubt dialogue, businesses become the mirror and amplification of the issue.

Below are the most common challenges and pitfalls I’ve seen in myself, my clients and other entrepreneurs.

The 13 Most Common Entrepreneurial Pitfalls

1. Not Having a Clear Focus/Mission
2. Trying to Be All Things to All People
3. Lack of Revenue Diversity — Relying on One Client
4. Imposter Syndrome
5. DIYitis
6. Isolation
7. Burning the Candle at Both Ends/Lack of Self-care
8. Taking it Personal and Not Making it About the Client/Customer
9. Not Going All In/ Not showing up at 100%
10. Not Charging the Appropriate Amount (usually too little)
11. Investing in Tactics and Not Self or Business
12. Not Taking/Accepting Help
13. Expecting Success to Come Easy with Minimal Effort

Now that we’ve got it all on the table, what do we do about it? We start a new conversation. We get honest. We get real and we get to the root of the issue. Business Owner Coaching helps you understand your pitfalls and give you a roadmap to acknowledge your issues, address the root cause, and achieve your goals.

Don’t believe me?

My graphic designer client went from being hyper-focused on doing everything for everyone else to making herself a priority, increasing her rates by 50% and more than doubling her revenue. By understanding her pattern of piling up obligations and why she was doing it, she was able to pause, assess and make a better decision for her. Her value continues to increase in her work, with her clients and most importantly within herself.

With a coach, she doesn’t take her initial response at face value. She learns and understand her past patterns and shifts to behaviors and actions that support her goals.

Whether you work with a coach, a friend, a mentor or your dog, the best first step is to get outside of your head and start reaching out. If you’d like to learn more about coaching, I have a ton of free resources for you to check out at www.laurenlemunyan.com