“Top 10 Critical Mistakes of the Modern Entrepreneur” by Erica Duran

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Erica Duran, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.

We’ve all heard by now the modern-day surface level “no-no’s” of being an entrepreneur like stop checking your email so often, don’t schedule more than three top priorities for the day, and you can’t sell to everyone, so pick a niche.

But what about the deeper issues? The ones that make you feel like you are doing a good thing, but in reality, you end up stressed, overworked, overwhelmed and spinning your wheels?

Most of my clients first find me through social media. It saves me a ton of time and allows me to work with people all around the globe.

But in the last few weeks, I’ve been contributing less to the “noise” online and have been fascinated by just observing what people are doing and what they are then saying they are struggling with.

I’ve Observed These Top 10 Critical Mistakes That, At First Glance, Could Be Considered A Good Activity or Practice For the Modern Entrepreneur:

1 . Trying to Follow a Bunch of Different Teachers and Coaches at One Time

I believe in having a coach or mentor for every area of your life that you are trying to evolve in.
And I believe that just one coach or mentor probably isn’t going to be the expert for every area you need support in…

But, only work with one at a time.
Following too many systems or philosophies can be so overwhelming when they start overlapping or conflicting.

You spend money for this support, but are easily distracted by the next new awesome course that is offered, leaving the first course you signed up for to get “dusty” on your laptop’s hard drive.
Complete your work with one mentor or in one course until it is part of you and then move on to your next level.

2. Trying to Be Visible On Too Many Social Media Networks

Social media is an amazing tool!

But there is a new one out each day.

Hey are you guys on Periscope yet? LOL! I’m @EricaDuran on there.

To avoid overwhelm with social media I have a few suggestions.

Yes, I am on almost all of them, but not when they first come out.

When they first come out, I only register my name on that particular platform so I am sure to have what I want for the future.

Then, I sit back and watch.

Is my ideal client spending time on this platform?

Are the link backs from this site going to be good for SEO?

Do I even like the look and feel of the user interface?

Then, if I see the value, I’ll start reaching out building relationships or posting to see what I attract.

So, reserve your name everywhere, choose one platform that you like and get good at that before you branch out.

3. Trying to Piece Together a Bunch of Free Stuff Resources Online

Piecing together a bunch of free option offers or free videos online is confusing and exhausting.
Most only tell you the “why” and “what” but not the “how.”

This leaves you to try to fill in the blanks yourself or go on an endless search for more free stuff.
Decide what you’d like to learn or get better at, then choose someone who is achieving good results in that area and go all in.

4. Not Investing in Support

Support can be anything from the premium version of an app, to templates that you can buy instead of create yourself, to a housekeeper.

It cracks me up how long someone will fuss with something before they pay for the upgraded version that would solve the problem.

Or, that they will spend over $200 on a dinner out, but won’t spend that same amount on a housekeeper that could save them over TEN hours per month!

Take a look at where your time and frustration leaks are and invest in the support.

5. Being Too Attached to the Outcome

I encounter a lot of entrepreneurs not moving forward with an idea because they are too attached to the outcome.

What if I have a webinar and only one person shows up?

Well, if you don’t have the webinar, zero will show up for sure and you won’t get the practice you need to attract more guests the next time.

And, that one person that did show up could really need your support that day and they could be a great source for some invaluable market research for you.

Don’t be so attached to the outcome, and put out into the world what your gut is telling you to do.

6. Wearing Busy as a Status Symbol

I’ve written about this several times, including my article “Busy Is A Four Letter Word.” But, I still see it far too often online and in networking groups.

People trying to outdo each other on how busy they are.

When did “busy” become a status symbol?

If you get a bunch of check marks on your to-do list, it doesn’t mean that you’ve been productive necessarily… it might mean that you’ve done a good job at making yourself busy.

I would like you to look at your calendar and/or to-do lists to see if you feel anxiety by the white space as much as the reserved space.

If you do, you probably have an issue with needing to be busy all the time.
What can you cut out?

Or, if it makes you feel better, what leisure or healthy activities can you write in so at least there is more balance represented.

7. Learning Things That Are Not Relevant to Your Goals RIGHT NOW

Yes, learning how to edit your own videos or how to market in Pinterest would be something you are interested in, but what do you need to learn RIGHT NOW to move to the next step?

Unsubscribe from everything else or have it automatically go to another email folder.

Focus on one thing at a time.

Don’t spend money or energy or time on something that isn’t relevant to you now.

Plan out what you’d like to work on, don’t react to what is floating down your Facebook feed as an offer… unless you see exactly the help you’ve been looking for, of course.

8. Reacting Instead of Planning and/or Creating

I see many reacting to what they see other people doing online instead of looking to how they could use what they already know to be of service and help the most people.

Or, they react to email or social media posts rather than working on their top priorities for the day.
When you are in reaction mode, you feel anxious, busy, and out of control.

And in the end, you don’t get what you want anyway.

I work with people to figure out what the heck they want and then streamline how to get it.

When was the last time you gave any thought to what you want your life to look like and how you spend your days?

I am sure you didn’t sign up to be an entrepreneur to be at your computer all day!

You probably wanted more freedom in your life, in time, location and financially.

If you are not getting these results from what you are doing day in and day out, it is probably because you are still reacting to your life and not planning it.

This is the one critical thing that must be nipped in the bud for you to get off that hamster wheel.

9. Constantly Changing What You Are Doing/Bright Shiny Object Syndrome

I’m mentioning “Bright Shiny Object Syndrome” in a little different way than just the constant distraction and lack of focus that most think of when this term is used.

What I am talking about is the constant changing up of what you are offering to the world and the strategies and systems you use in your business.

Now, I am not talking about trying something out for a few months, learning from the actions and reactions and just pivoting in your business.

What I am talking about here is making drastic changes to what you offer and how you do your marketing out of nowhere because you are so hungry for SOMETHING, ANYTHING to work.

Be aware of when you are just making little changes to pivot in your business to improve it and when you are “jumping ship” because you get bored or frustrated.

You’ll always feel stress and feel like you are in “start-up” mode if you don’t catch yourself doing this and stop it!

10. Thinking that if you follow a Step-By-Step Plan, You’ll get the Same Results

Five steps to grow your email list, a blueprint massive weight loss, or a master class for using Facebook Ads are all great starting points of information.

Yes, these are all great things to learn for a better lifestyle or successful online business, but from what I’ve seen, there is no “one-five-steps-fits-all” or blueprint for anything.

Just because the mentor or coach has achieved results with these steps doesn’t mean that you will get the same.

You have different gifts, a different style, a different niche, a different audience – it is really hard to replicate this magic.

This can be very frustrating and depressing!

We want fast, easy actions with our great results tied up with a bow.

This observation is exactly why I started taking on one-to-one clients and small groups again and putting out less and less step-by-step programs and formulas.

Now, I do think that systems are REALLY important for everyone.

But nowadays, these systems and formulas need to be more customized to you and your audience.
These days, I think people need more connection and unique support to navigate through the virtual and real worlds and are getting really tired of boot camps.

So, these are just some observations I’ve made when I took a step back and started observing more the past few weeks.

Do you agree or disagree with any of them?

Have you noticed something I didn’t mention here?

Are you guilty of any of these? Are you going to make a change?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.