Entrepreneurship Mistakes: Five Real Reasons Small Businesses Fail

4. Refusing to Disconnect

Yes, your business is going to take up a lot of your time, and it will likely weigh on your mind continually. You won’t have a lot of time to yourself anymore, and many entrepreneurs assume that this is right and proper. While it is true that it will require far more than the regular 40 hours of work, you will still have to disconnect on occasion if you want to be really successful.

Business owners who can’t take a step back from the company risk fixating on problems so much that they eventually burn out. The passion becomes a regular job again – one that eats all your time and doesn’t let you do anything fun. You’ll begin to resent it, and when it starts doing poorly you may start looking at that as a way out instead of another challenge to overcome.

5. Assuming You Can Do it All

Poor management is often cited for causing businesses to fail. This is likely because many entrepreneurs have great ideas but no relevant business experience or effective management skills. Nevertheless, this is “their business” so they want to hoard power at the top and micromanage every decision. The best managers recognize the need to surround themselves with skilled and experienced people who can pick up the slack and improve the company.

Once a business makes it past that five year mark, the statistics say that they have a really good chance to survive the next 10. If your goal is to make it that far, keep some of these things in mind and avoid the issues that have caused so many to fail.

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Mike Russell is a consultant and author working with MakeMillionsMakeChange.com, a site founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mike Mann. There, you can download his free business book detailing his success at using proven methods to build profitable business to fuel his charitable endeavors.