Once you have thought of that once-in-a-lifetime idea and have researched how to become a tech entrepreneur and how to start a business, the first step you will need to take is securing startup funding. Richard Harroch, a venture capitalist, has said, “It’s almost always harder to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer. So plan for that.”

For instance, many new businesses require funding for legal work, logo design, and other expenses. Figuring out the best way to fund your business can be difficult and there are many entrepreneur mistakes you will want to avoid.

Entrepreneur Tips

It often requires a great deal of capital to turn your dream idea into a real business, but you likely do not have thousands of dollars lying around in savings or know others who are willing to gamble away their hard-earned cash. These are a few entrepreneur tips for those looking to raise money for their small business.

Bootstrapping

Most entrepreneurs start by self-funding, a method also known as bootstrapping. Regardless of the amount, there are numerous benefits to investing in yourself. In the future, potential investors will like to see that you incurred monetary risk. Many entrepreneurs bootstrap further by forgoing a salary, tapping into their retirement savings, and taking a side job to earn a living while their business is in its early stages.

Friends and Family

If your friends and family are willing to help fund and grow your small business, this path can provide several advantages. Family and close friends are often willing to invest in their familiarity with you as a person, while larger investors often require evidence of an established and profitable company. Over 30% of startups receive funding from family and friends, totaling over $60 billion every year, more than angel investors and venture capitalists combined, according to Upcounsel.com. To avoid common entrepreneur mistakes, make sure you have a written agreement that outlines the terms and conditions of these investments.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding has recently and rapidly become one of the most popular ways to fund a small business. To be eligible for crowdfunding, you must be able to offer a product, service, or incentive in exchange for a small amount of funding. Since this is viewed as a pre-sale instead of an investment, contributors do not receive equity and the process is not regulated by the SEC. However, equity crowdfunding is an option as well, which allows you to receive small investments. This means your contributors will become shareholders with dividend and voting rights as outlined in your agreement.

Practice Public Speaking

Many entrepreneurs overlook the importance of public speaking and presenting when funding their small business. Along the way, you will likely have to develop and utilize your skills as a public speaker to give presentations and pitch to potential funders. But don’t sweat it, research has found that content is not nearly as important as delivery during a speech or presentation. Surveys have found that content only accounts for 7% of a good presentation. Therefore, it is important to practice the fundamentals of effective public speaking, such as talking points, knowing your audience, eye contact, appropriate pace, and rehearsing. Non-verbal communication accounts for 55% of an effective presentation, while voice accounts for 38%.

Most people are eager to be involved in something special. If not, they can be easily convinced. By utilizing your skills as a public speaker and avoiding entrepreneur mistakes, these entrepreneur tips will help you fund your business and achieve your dreams.

Ask random people on the street whether they are entirely happy with their jobs. Most probably you will get you one, almost unanimous, answer from most. A resounding “No!”

A good number of your interviewees will try to sound optimistic. However, the bottom line is that most people, especially Millenials, find a nine-to-five job dreary. It turns out that job satisfaction has more to it than a good salary. It may be convenient being able to pay your bills on time but merely working to pay your bills is draining.

Furthermore, having money to splash around does little to help attain an ideal work-life balance. The goal of this article is, therefore, to present entrepreneurship as an alternative to employment. It should avail useful entrepreneur tips to anyone with a genuine interest in starting a business.

Common Entrepreneur Mistakes

Becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business can seem like an easy way out when you are part of the employed workforce. However, starting a business has never been a bed of roses.

A recent study conducted by a major U.S. bank has revealed the real situation surrounding modern-day entrepreneurial ventures. Over 82% of small and medium-sized business startups fail within the first few months due to cash flow problems. However, this outcome should not impede your resolve to become an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur tips discussed below will help you avoid some entrepreneurial mistakes that have led many to failure.

1. Competitor Blindness

Except in very rare and exceptional cases, there is a painful reality that entrepreneurs fail to accept when it comes to business ideas. This is the fact that in most cases, there already exists a company or business that has applied the same concept or solution to the problem you’re trying to solve.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs have blindly believed that their product or service is unique or infinitely better than existing offerings. Sadly though, these two assumptions have been the most significant contributors to startup failure.

One way you can avoid this common entrepreneurial mistake is by carrying out thorough and comprehensive research on your intended product or service. You can obtain loads of valuable entrepreneur tips on entrepreneurship blogs, startup podcasts, and other online resources. Be sure to also carry out actual street-level research for a comprehensive picture of market potential.

2. Starting Big

Another common mistake made by startup business owners is the unwillingness to begin at the most basic level in their chosen niche. For example, if you have an improved shoe design idea, then the most basic level for your venture is creating and selling just a single pair. You get to learn a lot from just prototyping one shoe, outsourcing its manufacture and then getting a customer willing to buy it. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs begin by taking jumbo loans to invest in shoe-making machinery.

A successful startup is not founded on money alone but actual, sometimes physical, hard work.

3. Impractical Marketing Strategies

The digital age necessitates that a business embrace technology from the get-go. This means creating a website for the business, coming up with a blog, being active on social media, and so forth.

All this might be convenient for a tech entrepreneur, but it can be overkill when starting out in some business niches. For example, if your product is confectionery, then physically marketing your product at local events is a practical way to attain a viable customer base. As your business grows, you can then opt to make use of online marketing platforms.

4. Lack of Backup Cash

Establishing financial backup comes last in this list of top entrepreneur tips. A startup business will face an initial period of high day-to-day running costs before it begins generating any revenue. These costs will include rent, workers’ payroll, paying suppliers, and many other critical expenses. This is why you need to set up an account exclusively dedicated to meeting the daily monetary obligations of your business. Once your business breaks even, you can then allocate the resources in your backup account to expansion and other business aspects.

In Conclusion

Entrepreneurship remains the only route for those who want to realize true freedom, both in their work and their social life. If you are in this category of free-spirited people, then this article could act as a guide for your entrepreneurial ambition.