10 Beginner Business Mistakes You Must Avoid

As a beginner in running a business, there are several mistakes that can hinder the speed of business development. 

Worse yet, these beginner business mistakes can lead to huge losses resulting in the business going out of business. 

These business mistakes can include a lack of thorough business planning, poor financial management, or not implementing tax compliance.

Beginner Business Mistakes

What are the mistakes beginner businesses make that cause the business not to develop or even go bankrupt? 

If you want or are in the process of building a business, it’s a good idea to find out the mistakes that can disrupt the development of your business. Let’s discuss it together in the following article.

Beginner Business Mistakes in Running Their Business

Anyone can start a business, but not everyone can run it and maintain it until it becomes a large company. 

There are many challenges and obstacles that business people will face in running their business. Not all steps lead to the right choice, causing the business to fail, even prone to failure. 

However, this mistake can be the best lesson that can lead you to become a reliable businessman.

There are several mistakes that novice business people often make when managing their business. 

Starting from not having a thorough business plan, choosing the wrong work partner, to being negligent in carrying out tax compliance. 

1. There is no thorough business planning

Starting a business without careful planning can cause the business to fail. You don’t know the target market for the product or service being offered, don’t have the right marketing strategy, or don’t have a backup plan when your business faces the biggest challenges that cause business development to stall. 

Therefore, it is highly recommended to have a thorough business plan, even before you actually start it.

Determine the products and/services you want to offer, choose the right sales and marketing method, determine if you want to sell offline or online or both, carry out capital calculations to prepare for starting a business, and even have a backup plan to avoid losses or bankruptcy.

2. Doesn’t have a business goal

Business goals are very important for the sustainability of the business itself. Without a goal, you can easily feel lazy or bored to continue your business, which can result in your business reaching its end. 

Therefore, you need to have a strong purpose for starting the business, and a reason to maintain the business for the long term.

3. Late entry into the market

Another beginner business mistake is entering the market too late or taking a long time in deciding to start a business. 

After you have made a thorough business plan and have a strong foundation of goals, it’s a good idea to start immediately and make your business idea a reality. 

Waiting for time because you feel you are not ready or it is not the right time can lead your business to failure. Because, you give competitors time to start a business with the same idea before they dominate the market, or take the right moment out of your hands.

When it starts later, the potential customers you have targeted may have turned to your competitors.

4. Poor financial management

Maybe your business is small scale so you don’t feel the need to manage your finances. But in fact, no matter how small your business is, it is important to carry out financial management. 

Because with good financial management, you can see the ongoing financial condition of the business, see if the business is experiencing a profit or loss, and can determine the next steps for making capital and other business decisions. 

5. Doesn’t have relationships or business networks

In reality, you need extensive business relationships or networks to help your business grow. These relationships can be in the form of consumers, industry experts, suppliers , or influencers. 

Having the help of a wide business network can help your business become known to many people so that it can grow rapidly.

6. Cannot accept criticism and suggestions

Criticism and suggestions are very important in business because you can use them to improve the products and/or services you provide to consumers. 

Not listening to it indicates that you are an arrogant businessman and don’t want to try to improve your product/service according to market demand. 

However, receiving too much input can also cause your business to falter because it doesn’t have a strong stance.

Therefore, be selective in choosing criticism and suggestions. Simply taking and listening to feedback that suits your business can help you build your business. Avoid or ignore criticism that is destructive or not in line with your business path.

7. Wrong choice of employees or work partners  

A fairly fatal start-up business mistake is when you choose the wrong employees to work for you, or choose your work partners. 

Employees or partners who are dishonest or unable to contribute good work to the business can be the main reason the business cannot develop. 

Business capital that should have been processed is actually taken away, operations that should be running well are running slowly and are not in accordance with work operational standards, consumers who should be satisfied are actually giving bad reviews to your products and/or services.

Be careful in choosing people who will be your partners in business, as well as people who will work for you. The best human resources will help bring the business to develop well.

8. Not implementing tax compliance

No matter how small the business is, you are obliged to pay taxes. If you deliver taxable goods or taxable services, you are obliged to collect and pay VAT. 

If you have not reached the specified turnover, you are obliged to collect and pay Final Income Tax 0.5% PP 23 of 2018.

If you have employees, don’t forget to pay PPh 21 on your employees’ salaries. If you rent a building, don’t forget to pay taxes on the rental of the building.

9. Want to be successful quickly and make a profit

The bitter reality in business is that success and business profits require a lot of capital and time. 

Many start-up businesses tend to want quick success and profits, which ultimately leads them to go through various processes that actually have a negative impact on their business. 

For example, employing only a few people to carry out many tasks, paying avoiding taxes, raising prices above market prices, and so on.

10. Not paying attention to consumer needs

In fact, your products and/services exist for consumers. So, you must clearly know the figure of your consumer. Starting from habits and behavior, trends that are currently in demand, to consumer needs. 

Making products or services only according to your wishes will not attract consumers because the goods/services do not necessarily meet their needs. This can result in products or services not selling well, and lead the business to bankruptcy.

Do you want to start a business? Try to avoid these beginner business mistakes. 

Even though it doesn’t happen during your business journey, avoiding these mistakes can help you start your business on a more mature foot and ready to bring your business to growth in the long term.

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