10 business mistakes to avoid when starting a business in Uganda.
Let us look at the list of things that you must avoid when starting a business.
Mistake 1; Analysis Paralysis
Analysis paralysis according to Wikipedia is when the fear of either making an error or forgoing a superior solution, outweighs the realistic expectation or potential value of success in a decision made in a timely manner.
It is a state of indecisiveness by a person when he is tasked with decisions to make.
Many starting-up entrepreneurs get stuck in the analysis paralysis of deciding which best business to start and which to stop.
Analysing is good and recommended but it should not enter your way and stop you from starting a business. Think analyse and make a decision as fast as possible.
If you find yourself failing to decide which business to do and it takes you a period of 3 weeks to a month, then you may be experiencing analysis paralysis.
Stop at once and make a decision or you will waste your time in the rat race of making the best decision.
Mistake 2; Naysayers
There is always someone in our lives who has done nothing but he or she feels like he or she knows everything.
These types of people talk about each and everything and they believe they have all the wisdom in this world.
Naysayers can easily discourage you from pursuing your goal of starting a business just by telling you statements like; “you are not yet ready to start your own business”, or “I tried out that business already but it is not profitable”.
Naysayers have no positive statements in their vocabulary, all they know and do is discourage the people who decide to pursue their goals in life.
Most naysayers are actually failures and they live in fear and regret, so when they see someone take a step in life, they want to stop him or her.
Not all naysayers have bad intentions, some do have good intentions and they may give you advice from a good sp[irit but that does not mean that you should take their advice.
In this life, the best person to give you advice should be that person who already has what you have or become.
So pay a little attention to what naysayers say if you want to start your business today.
Mistake 3; Debts
Debts are prisons where we keep ourselves locked up the more debts we take and the longer we take before repaying the debt.
They can be in many ways such as loans, money got from money lenders, money got from friends and family and much more.
Debts are one of the 10 business mistakes to avoid when starting a business in Uganda.
The number one reason that has stopped people from starting their own businesses is the lack of startup capital. With debts, you may never be able to start your business.
Avoiding debts at all costs is what may give you an edge if you have a dream of starting your own business.
Mistake 4; Bad partners
This one does not apply to all business types because some businesses can be run by a single person and do not need a partner, but if your business requires a partner in order to operate, you need to be very keen on the type of person you are going to partner with when starting a business.
Partners in a business are good if they are cooperative and they have the desires of the business at hand but if you find that partners also have their own agendas, the business is most likely going to be at a disadvantage.
If you plan to be with a partner in business, you need to be sure that they will improve the business, not the other way around.
Mistake 5; Market research
Market research is the act of a business owner researching the area where he wants to start a business and see if there is a market for his products before starting the business.
It is supposed to be performed before starting a business but many business owners first start businesses and then carry out market research which is useless now.
Market research acts as an indicator to tell you if there is a market for what you have to offer before you even start the business.
Starting a business before taking the time to see if the area where you will put your business has people willing to buy what you will be selling is not advisable and it is too dangerous for the future of your business.
Many people’s businesses have failed and they ask themselves why yet they forgot to do this crucial step of carrying out research before starting a business.
If you have not yet started a business yet, don’t make the same mistakes that most business owners make of ignoring market research.
Get some time and go to the area where you are planning to start a business, ask people around there if they can support you and buy what you have to offer, check around and see if there are already other businesses selling what you want to sell and get the general picture of the area before investing your capital and starting a business that may only fail later.
Mistake 6; Low capital
Money is the blood that flows in the business body. Without enough money, no business can survive.
As you are starting your business, ensure you have enough money to cater for the business especially 9in the beginning stages of the business where the sales of the business are not yet enough to sustain the business.
As a business owner, you need to ensure that your business has enough money in it to keep it operational.
If you lack money to sustain a business, your business may collapse. If low capital is what you have, it is better you start a business that requires low capital to run than a big business that requires much capital.
The other thing to do as a business owner is to delay taking money from the business when it is still starting until it is strong enough to cater to your needs and the business’s needs.
Related Article; How to start a business with small capital in Uganda
Mistake 7; Doing what you love, not what is feasible
It has been stated many times that if you want to succeed in business, do the business that you love.
This is true but also wrong to some extent because not all the businesses you love are profitable.
Instead of spending your time doing the business that you love that won’t bring money to you, it is better you start a business that makes money and you will develop the love along the way.
There are many people doing what they love and the businesses are profitable too if it is like this please continue doing what you love, but if your hobby business is not profitable, it is not good to invest in your money because you may lose your money.
Mistake 8; Ignoring the competition
Competition is real in business. As a business owner, you don’t need to ignore your competition but rather you have to look for ways how you and your competitors can share the same market.
Competitors are not bad, they are in fact necessary in business.
Competitors keep us competitive and on top of our games because we want our businesses to be better than those of our competitors.
As a result, we keep our businesses topnotch and we end up attracting more customers to our businesses. So if you ignore your competition, you won’t mind updating your businesses regularly which will lead to a loss of customers.
You should take your competitors as your colleagues, not enemies. You can even make associations between you and your competitors.
But one thing to remember is if you want to effectively compete with your fellow competitors, you need to keep your business up to date.
Related Article; How to Face Competition in business in Uganda
Mistake 9; Employing unskilled workers
There is one thing that most business owners get wrong which is employees determine the success or failure of a business.
Employing the wrong people in your business is one of the 10 business mistakes you need to avoid in Uganda that is made by most entrepreneurs starting up a business for the first time or second time who have not yet realised those wrong employees break down your business.
The major challenge that business owners face is family members. Many people have filled their businesses with family members instead of people who are rightly qualified to work in those positions in the business.
The results of these businesses have been far from good.
As you are planning to recruit workers for your business, put emotions aside and make decisions based on the skills and professionalism of the person you want to employ.
Mistake 10; Avoiding Professional Help
No man is an island. The same is true for businesses too. If you want to stay on top of your game as a business owner and an entrepreneur, you need to update yourself daily. Don’t become complacent and think that what you already know is enough.
Things change daily so do the demands of customers and the products and services as well.
The more you distance yourself from business seminars, reading business books, and watching or listening to business music, the more you drag behind while all the other businesses are moving ahead.
Starting your own business does not mean the end, it is in fact the beginning because you need to keep yourself up to date by attending business seminars, reading business books and also interacting with other business owners.
Don’t make the mistake of believing that you know everything about the business. In fact, what you don’t know is more than what you know. The most advancing business owners are the ones that talk to other business owners and they keep on updating themselves on the best ways to take their businesses. This is what you too are supposed to do.
Your Turn…
Here we come to the end of our list of 10 business mistakes to avoid when starting a business in Uganda.
What has touched you most? Let us know in the comments section below.